Oh, What a Joy It Is to Lose an Emmy to Jeff Hiller

Being a gay guy is about a lot of things, but ultimately it’s about watching old awards show acceptance speech clips on YouTube and pausing at the exact moment the winner is announced to over-analyze the facial expressions of the losing nominees. Jeff Hiller’s surprise win in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category at last night’s 77th Primetime Emmy Awards turned that shared tradition on its head, into an absolute triumph for show business-obsessed gay men everywhere.

The Emmy awards had already made history by nominating four openly gay men in the same category. Hiller was up against Bowen Yang for Saturday Night Live, Michael Urie for Shrinking, and Colman Domingo for The Four Seasons. The easy bet would have been on Ebon Moss-Bachrach for his work on The Bear; he won the category the two previous years. Hiller was considered a long shot. His show, Somebody Somewhere, aired its final season on HBO earlier this year. His nomination could have read as the Television Academy finally giving a little bit of love to the critically adored, but generally under-appreciated gem. Instead, they shocked the Peacock Theater by giving him the trophy.

That would have been nice, but the real delight was watching the reactions of Yang, Urie, and Domingo. To say no other actors have been genuinely excited to lose an award might be an understatement. All three were in a state of absolute glee. A short clip of the moment that circulated on X was only five seconds long, but we could watch it for hours.

Before his breakthrough on Somebody Somewhere, Hiller had been a longtime pillar and teacher in New York City’s improvisational comedy scene, and was active in theater. To TV watchers, however, he was probably best known as “that guy who was funny in that one scene in that sitcom I like.” His credits included “Hotel Clerk” in 30 Rock, “Glee Club Guy” in Community and “Tomothy AKA Tomathy” in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. He had carved out a hard-fought career and a space for himself even before mainstream comedy was embracing openly gay male comedians as people worthy of receiving named roles.

Yang, Urie, and Domingo know that struggle well. All three have roots in New York’s theater or comedy scenes. (Urie had even directed Hiller in the off-broadway play Bright Colors and Bold Patterns.) Only one man won, but it’s not hard to imagine why the other three saw it as a shared moment.

Adding to that moment was the fact Hiller delivered what may be the ideal awards show acceptance speech. Feel free to use it should you ever find yourself in a similar situation:

• Two solid one-liner jokes that playfully speak to the importance of the moment.
• A well-selected list of genuine acknowledgement.
• A heartfelt tribute to Bridget Everett (in Hiller’s case, that’s because Everett is his Somebody Somewhere co-star, but consider thanking Everett even if she has nothing to do with your project).
• All wrapped up in under a minute.

We’re sure gay boys will watch, watch, and re-watch this moment on YouTube for decades to come.