But some people did, or at least pretended to, prompting plenty of laughs from the audience. In a bit later in the telecast, the late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel dragged the show’s format. “Well, well, well, how’s the old no-host thing going?” Colbert said.

“What a dumb idea,” Kimmel responded. “You know what has a host? Applebee’s has a host.”

We’re “the real victims,” Colbert said. “If we let this slide, the next thing you know, they’ll start using Alexa to present the nominees.” Which, of course, cued the Alexa voice: “O.K., here are the nominees for lead actress in a comedy series.”

To help steer the broadcast, the show included an announcer, with a twist. The actor and comedian Thomas Lennon was there to offer commentary, jokes and jabs between segments. “I’m your sherpa through the lulls,” he said, after Tony Shalhoub accepted the first award of the night: best supporting actor in a comedy, his fourth win.

The extra 20 minutes, usually allotted to the host, were used to try to educate viewers about the nominated programs. With the bulk of the nominees coming from premium networks and streaming services, viewers who primarily watch network shows may feel out of the loop, possibly accounting for some of the diminished interest. (In fact, the network that broadcast the show on Sunday, Fox, was nominated for only 18 awards, the least of any network. HBO, on the other hand, was nominated for 119.)