Chuck Norris, ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Nicholas Brendon Among Those Skipped By Emmys In Memoriam — SkimNews
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- Chuck Norris, who died last March after eight seasons starring on CBS's Walker, Texas Ranger, was omitted from the Emmys 2026 'In Memoriam' broadcast.
- Nicholas Brendon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Patrick Muldoon (Days of Our Lives, Melrose Place), Daveigh Chase (Lilo & Stitch, Big Love), Jaye P. Morgan (The Gong Show), and voice actors Peter Cullen and Tom Kane were also left out of the televised tribute.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz alluded to Brendon during a separate stand-alone moment, saying 'It has been a tough two years for our beloved cast and crew' following the recent deaths of Buffy co-stars Anthony Head and Michelle Trachtenberg.
- The broadcast's in memoriam segment was anchored by tributes to Dolly Parton, who received a stand-alone remembrance featuring Sally Field and Reba McEntire after her death at the end of August.
- Jamie Lee Curtis delivered a notably emotional tribute to Rob Reiner, while Macaulay Culkin remembered Catherine O'Hara alongside Schitt's Creek co-stars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.
- Unlike past years where omissions triggered widespread social media outrage, this year's reaction was muted, with only a handful of media outlets tracking the skipped names.
- The Television Academy publishes a more comprehensive in memoriam roster on its website, which includes names that did not appear in the live broadcast.
Why it matters: The Emmys face the same annual tension every awards show does: balancing broadcast length against the breadth of losses the industry suffered. With at least nine named omissions — including an eight-season TV star and voice actors behind iconic characters — this year's segment illustrates how the Television Academy's curation choices leave high-profile names out, driving media scrutiny even when viewer outrage is muted.
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