41 Emmy Awards Jokes: The 2010 “Modern Family’s Takeover, Glee’s High Note & The Breaking Bad Double-Punch” Edition

In 2010, the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards officially renovated the television landscape. It was the year Modern Family ended the reign of “30 Rock,” Glee made being in a choir the coolest thing on Earth, and Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul proved that chemistry is the most profitable and dangerous subject in school.

The 2010 Emmy Red Carpet Top 10: “Skinny Ties, Tracksuits & Musical Fever”

1. The Modern Family Coronation: Why did it win Best Comedy in its first season? Because the Academy decided that looking at the camera after every dumb joke Phil Dunphy makes is the peak of modern humor.
2. The Mad Men Three-peat: Why did it win Best Drama again? Because Don Draper drinks so much whiskey that the Academy is afraid to sober him up for fear of ruining the 1960s vibe.
3. The Breaking Bad Double: Why did Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul win together? Because in 2010, “Chemistry” meant more than science—it meant nobody in the room wanted to meet these two in a dark alley.
4. The Glee Phenomenon: Why did Jane Lynch win? Because Sue Sylvester is the only person who can insult the entire entertainment industry in a tracksuit and have everyone beg for more.
5. The Jimmy Fallon Hosting: Why was his opening a hit? Because he forced the casts of Glee, 30 Rock, and Mad Men to sing “Born to Run,” proving everyone in Hollywood is just one musical number away from happiness.
6. The Jim Parsons Breakthrough: Why did Sheldon Cooper finally get an Emmy? Because the Academy finally understood what “Bazinga!” meant (or they just wanted him to stop explaining quantum physics to them).
7. The Lost Finale Bitterness: Why didn’t Lost win on its way out? Because half the Emmy voters were still trying to figure out if the characters were in purgatory or just on a very expensive vacation.
8. The Kyra Sedgwick Win: Why did she win after five years of nominations? For proving that The Closer wasn’t just the title of the show, but the fact that she finally closed her deal with the Emmys.
9. The Temple Grandin Sweep: Why did a movie about a woman building machines for cows win 7 trophies? Because Claire Danes acted so well that half the audience wanted to become agricultural engineers.
10. The Conan vs. NBC Drama: Why the jokes? Because Conan O’Brien appeared as an “unemployed” man, creating the most expensive and hilarious branding crisis of the year.

The Full 2010 Emmy Jokes Archive

11. Worst Dressed (The 2010 Ruffle Invasion): Why so many ruffles? Because the red carpet looked like it was attacked by an army of luxury pajamas.
12. Outstanding Comedy: Why Modern Family? For making us realize that being a “normal family” requires at least three camera crews in your living room.
13. Outstanding Drama: Why Mad Men? For reminding us that in 1964, the only thing more important than an ad campaign was the next round of Martinis.
14. Outstanding Lead Actor (Comedy): Why Jim Parsons? For proving that being the most annoying person in the room is a legitimate career path.
15. Outstanding Lead Actress (Comedy): Why Edie Falco? For Nurse Jackie, proving that after being a mob wife, being a pill-popping nurse is basically a vacation.
16. Outstanding Lead Actor (Drama): Why Bryan Cranston? For the hat-trick (three wins in a row), officially making Walter White immortal.
17. Outstanding Lead Actress (Drama): Why Kyra Sedgwick? Because nobody gets the truth out of people more effectively while eating that much candy.
18. The Aaron Paul Win: Why did Jesse Pinkman get an Emmy? For making the word “Bitch!” the most desirable punctuation mark in America.
19. The Eric Stonestreet Upset: Why did Cam win over Mitchell? Because nobody can hystericize with such grace and in such colorful shirts.
20. The Archie Panjabi Surprise: Why did The Good Wife win? Because Kalinda Sharma is the only person who can solve a crime wearing leather boots without saying a single word.
21. The Sherlock Buzz: Why the whispers? Because Benedict Cumberbatch just started proving that being a brilliant sociopath is a British national sport.
22. The 30 Rock Slide: Why did they stop winning everything? Because Liz Lemon finally bought enough cheese and the Academy figured she was happy enough.
23. The Dexter Finale: Why did Michael C. Hall lose again? Because being a serial killer is fine, until Walter White starts cooking.
24. The Betty White Phenomenon: Why did she win for hosting SNL? Because in 2010, Betty White was older than the internet but worked it better than most teenagers.
25. The Al Pacino Win: Why You Don’t Know Jack? Because if Pacino plays a doctor helping people die, you do it with a smile and an Emmy in your hand.
26. The Daily Show’s 8th Win: Why is Jon Stewart still here? Because 2010 politicians were providing him material faster than he could mock it.
27. The Amazing Race’s First Loss: Why did they lose to Top Chef? Because after seven years, the Academy finally got hungry and preferred food over running through airports.
28. The 24 Farewell: Why did Jack Bauer leave without the big prize? Because saving the world 8 times in 8 days didn’t have enough “emotional depth” for the voters.
29. The Parks and Recreation Snub: Why didn’t Amy Poehler win? Because Leslie Knope would have needed city council approval to accept the statuette.
30. The True Blood Craze: Why were these vampires nominated? For proving that in Louisiana, blood tastes like success and high ratings.
31. The Pacific Miniseries: Why did it win? Because if Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg send soldiers to war, the Academy sends them trophies by airmail.
32. The Neil Patrick Harris Streak: Why did he win two awards that night? Because being Neil Patrick Harris is a full-time job consisting of being awesome.
33. The South Park “200” Controversy: Why the jokes? Because Matt and Trey tried to show Muhammad and ended up as the only people in Hollywood with more enemies than nominations.
34. The Ricky Gervais Video: Why the mockery? For the clip where he insulted everyone in the room while sitting in London with a beer in his hand.
35. The Sofia Vergara Red Carpet: Why was she a hit? For proving that a Barranquilla accent is the most effective weapon of mass destruction in comedy.
36. The Friday Night Lights Justice: Why were Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton the center of attention? For proving that “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts” finally reached the voters’ hearts.
37. The Community Snub: Why the whispers? Because the Academy didn’t understand Abed’s meta-jokes, which was the most meta thing about the night.
38. The 30-Second Rule: Why was the orchestra so brutal? Because the show was so long that by the end, Jimmy Fallon was considering a musical number about napping.
39. The Boardwalk Empire Teaser: Why was everyone waiting? Because Steve Buscemi and Martin Scorsese promised a forbidden America where nobody drinks Martinis.
40. The 2010 Final Emmy Vibe: Why the breakthrough? Because it was the year old legends (Lost, 24) gave way to new giants (Modern Family, Glee), and TV officially became “smart.”
41. The Twitter Explosion: Why was it the first “Social Media Emmy”? Because for the first time, fans could yell at the Academy for the results in real-time without leaving their couches.