Your binge-watching will pay off on September 22, 2019 when television’s greats walk the red carpet for the 71st Emmy Awards and honor the best in primetime television programming. To celebrate the year’s most exciting night in television, gather your friends for an Emmy Awards Viewing Party, and dedicate the night to the biggest Emmy Award winners and iconic television shows of all time.
Whether you watch a television show every single week, or view all the episodes in one sitting, one thing’s guaranteed: If a show has a good theme song, you’ll recognize it forever. For your Emmy Award viewing party, download this playlist packed with theme songs from television’s most iconic shows, and ask guests to identify which show each song is from in as few notes as possible, just like the popular 1970s show, Name That Tune.
Television has been responsible for a countless number of memorable moments in pop culture, and the Emmy Awards have been honoring those achievements each year since 1949. From acting to writing to directing, many shows and actors have won multiple Emmy Awards, so we hand-selected a party menu that pays tribute to some of the biggest Emmy winners of all time, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to Game of Thrones.
Which show has received the most Emmy Award nominations for any series ever? Saturday Night Live, of course! With over 70 wins, it’s no wonder SNL has been on the air consistently since 1975. Alec Baldwin has been a regular host on the show, and one of his most memorable – and most quoted – sketches was “Delicious Dish” with Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon in 1998. Baldwin played Pete Schweddy who goes on a fake NPR cooking show to make his very own Schweddy balls: “Popcorn balls, cheese balls, rum balls, you name it.” Kick off your viewing party by following Baldwin’s lead, and make a selection of “balls” for appetizers, such as Grandma’s Meatballs and Mushroom-Spinach Tofu Balls.
If you’re rooting for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – which had the most Emmy wins ever by a Comedy Series in its first season – you’ll definitely want to serve a classic Matzoh Ball Soup and pretend that you’re sitting at a table at Carnegie Deli with Midge and Susie talking and eating after a show.
Since 2019 is the last season for Game of Thrones, it’s only fitting to dedicate your main dish to the show that has received the most Emmy nominations in the entire history of scripted shows. Food has a frequent role on the show, especially when King Renly Baratheon was alive, a character known for his tendency towards indulgence and excess. He frequently holds royal feasts after a tournament, with copious amounts of bread, cheese, meats and desserts. For your viewing party, serve a dish fit for a king like this Roasted Ham with Maple Bourbon Glaze, alongside Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Collection Pinot Noir, and soon you’ll be saying to your guests, “I drink wine, and I know things.”
Everyone knows someone like Lisa on The Simpsons, the show with the most Emmy Awards by an Animated Program. She’s an extremely intelligent girl, far beyond the standards of a third grader, who is the pillar of morality with a deep desire to overachieve. After bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo in 1995, Lisa became a vegetarian; so show her some love by serving a Root Vegetable Galette as a side dish or as a main course for vegetarian guests.
It’s impossible to look back on Emmy Award history and not give a tribute to Mary Tyler Moore who won the most Emmy’s for acting in a Comedy Series on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In the show’s first season, Mary says to her best friend Rhoda, “I don’t know why I’m eating this chocolate. I should just apply it directly to my hips.” Do Mary proud and make a decadent chocolate dessert that she’d devour, like these elegant Dark Chocolate Panna Cottas paired with Francis Ford Coppola Director’s Cut Cinema.
Download our printable award ballots for your upcoming viewing party.
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