LIVE UPDATES: 76th Emmy Awards; Eugene and Dan Levy to Introduce 'Shogun,' 'The Bear,' and More Nominees

From nostalgic TV interviews to Lisa Colon-Zayas of “The Bear” beating Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett for Best Supporting Comedy Actress, the night was all about reminding us how amazing and surprising TV is, is, and can be.

Bringing together famous parents, coaches, police officers, doctors and lawyers by featuring the actors who played them in popular TV shows gave viewers the opportunity to remember some of their favorite series and characters.

Some of the cast of “The West Wing” gathered at the end of the evening to delight the audience by presenting an award and encouraging everyone to vote in this year's election. Earlier, Henry Winkler and Ron Howard took to the stage to remember the legendary series that made them household names, “Happy Days.”

While things are controversial these days, it was a welcome reminder that choosing which channel to watch was once the most stressful part of television. But all is not lost, and there was also plenty to remind us that the industry still produces some good work, even in the face of an ever-increasing appetite for content.

Jen Smart's joke about believing Netflix's hit series “Baby Reindeer” was about Rudolph the Red-Nosed was well-timed, providing the perfect setting for the show to win an Emmy for Outstanding Limited/Anthology Series, along with acting awards for star and creator Richard Judd and co-star Jessica Gunning.

In fact, the dark drama is based on Gad's own experience with a woman he said started out as a friend and then turned into a stalker. He offered some wise words in one of his acceptance speeches.

We hope that Hollywood will continue to care about good stories, and rely on a serious urge to “audacity” and risk.

Ultimately, though, Emmy night came back to the subject of acting and the constant need to deliver better performances.

Colon-Zayas became the first Latina to win in her category, a welcome reminder that there are still hills to climb in Hollywood. “Shōgun” took home the top prize for best drama series, becoming the first non-English language series to win the award. “Hacks” was a bit of a surprise winner in the outstanding comedy series category, putting a female-led series that deals with sexism and later-in-life professional struggles in the spotlight.

Capturing the energy of the night, John Leguizamo gave an emotional speech in which he praised the historic Latino nominees and acknowledged other minorities in the Emmy nominee pool, saying he was “one of Hollywood’s most dedicated diversity, equity and inclusion hires,” and going on to define diversity, equity and inclusion as “hard work, excellence and imagination.”

“We are all DEI employees,” Leguizamo said.