TV John Oliver thanks his late dog in his Emmys speech: 'I feel like Sarah McLachlan' "I’m not well versed in sincerity as a British person and as a comedian so I didn’t want to get upset," the comedian added in the press room. By Jessica Wang Jessica Wang Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog. EW's editorial guidelines Published on September 15, 2024 10:09PM EDT John Oliver's speech at the 2024 Emmys unwittingly turned into an ASPCA commercial. The comedian and the Last Week Tonight crew continued its awards streak at Sunday's ceremony, securing the win once again for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and besting Saturday Night Live. Making the speech on the crew's behalf, Oliver thanked his recently deceased pup and quipped that he felt like Sarah McLachlan after the play-off music disrupted his remarks. "We have the most fantastic dog," said Oliver. "She was at our wedding, she got us through the pandemic, she was with us through pregnancies." Emmys 2024: See the complete list of winners When the music began, the comedian quipped it was the "perfect choice of music," as he and has family recently had to say goodbye to the pup. "I feel like Sarah McLachlan right now," he said. "She was an amazing dog. This isn't just for her, this is for all dogs. They all deserve a treat." John Oliver accepts Outstanding Scripted Variety Series at the 2024 Emmys. VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. In his speech, Oliver also thanked his wife and children, and, of course, HBO for not "canceling us over the last decade." "That was never a guarantee," he said. "I appreciate it. Please carry on." In the press room, Oliver addressed being played off while remembering his pup, conceding that he felt "slight relief, because I’m not well versed in sincerity as a British person and as a comedian so I didn’t want to get upset. I’m very grateful they gave me a parachute. We had a great dog and had to say goodbye this week." See all the stars at the 2024 Emmys He also spoke about striking the delicate balance of humor and seriousness on the show, especially with the upcoming presidential election. "I think whenever we are most serious we’re probably about to do the dumbest thing you can imagine," he said. "We make sure to have that ripcord available to us… It’s the mixture of the two that is the most fun and satisfying for us. If we ever do something really dark, we’ll do something utterly puerile." Speaking of the presidential election, "I don’t know" who will win, Oliver said. "I think it depends. We have over the last decade slowly tried to keep our show separate from party politics. As for who wins, that’s the concern. I think it’s going to be very, very close, and one of the candidates won’t accept a loss, won’t be mentioning his name. That will be intense over the next couple of months. We try and make those main stories relatively timeless." The 2024 Emmys is airing live from Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Watch Oliver's homage above. With additional reporting by Sydney Bucksbaum.