O'Hara, Reiner Tributes Bookend Emmys In Memoriam — SkimNews
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- Catherine O'Hara (d. January at 71) and Rob Reiner (killed in December with his wife Michelle by their son Nick) framed the opening and closing tributes of the Primetime Emmys' In Memoriam segment.
- Macaulay Culkin, joined by Schitt's Creek co-stars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy, honored O'Hara with the line: "By extension, she's all of our moms. She always showed up," later adding, "She may have forgotten me — twice — but we will always remember her."
- Jamie Lee Curtis, close friend of the Reiners (her husband Christopher Guest collaborated with Rob Reiner on two Spinal Tap films), revealed that Reiner's son had won a Guest Actor Emmy for The Bear the week before — a 48-year gap between acting Emmys that surpassed Reiner's father Carl's previous record of 37 years.
- Curtis also paid tribute to director James Burrows, who helmed more than 1,000 episodes of TV comedy before his death, calling him a standard-setter "cherished and studied for generations to come."
- Dan Levy shared the lesson O'Hara taught him on Schitt's Creek: "Say yes. … It will amaze you on a daily basis and it will change your life," as Noah Kahan performed Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" over the annual reel.
- The annual reel included fashion designer Bob Mackie (who died hours before airtime), Louise Lasser, Vincent Pastore, and Anthony Geary, while notable omissions — Chuck Norris (Walker, Texas Ranger) and Nicholas Brendon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) — sparked social media criticism; the Television Academy posts a longer list on its website.
- Curtis's voice wavered throughout her time onstage, reflecting both her lineage as the daughter of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh and the personal weight of honoring a friend killed alongside his wife in a family tragedy.
Why it matters: Curtis's tribute surfaced a bittersweet Emmy-history detail other outlets' headlines glossed over: Reiner's son Nick won a Guest Actor Emmy for The Bear the same week — a 48-year record gap that surpassed grandfather Carl Reiner's 37-year mark. The segment's omissions of Chuck Norris and Nicholas Brendon also reignited the perennial debate over how the Television Academy fits a year of TV deaths into tight broadcast airtime.
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