Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers took the stage at the 2023 Emmys to pay tribute to their former colleague Norman Lear, as well as other notable television figures who had passed away since the previous ceremony.
Charlie Puth, together with Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter’s group The War and Treaty, sang the former’s 2015 hit song See You Again during the Memoriam section. As Matthew Perry’s surname was revealed in the video tribute, the section ended with a performance of the Friends theme song.
In keeping with the ceremony’s theme of television reunions, Reiner and Struthers recalled memories of their time as co-stars on the iconic CBS sitcom All in the Family, which started in 1971 and ran for nine seasons.
“There’s a Yiddish word that describes Norman’s genius — it’s ‘kochleffel,” Reiner went on to say. “For all you non-Jews out there, a kochleffel is a ladle that stirs the pot, and when Norman the kochleffel stirred the pot, he wound up changing American culture.”
According to the description, the audience chuckled when they watched Succession actor Nicholas Braun nod confidently when the word first appeared on screen.
“To all of the members of all of our television families who have passed on, ‘Those were the days,’” Struthers continued, with Reiner joining her for the final four words, which referenced the All in the Family theme song.