Watch Will Ferrell Hilariously Save the Emmy Awards

This year’s Emmy awards show was many things: bland with strong but brief spikes of humor, oddly focused on things like The Beatles and interpretive dancing, and overwhelmingly shrouded in death.

But despite the award show’s odd vibe, many moments stand out as extraordinary for either their shock or comic value, including Jeff Daniels’ surprising win for Best Actor in a Drama, and Jimmy Fallon’s battle with a lowering mic stand.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the night, however, came way at the end of the broadcast. Yes, the dozens of people who stuck it out through the snubs, the surprises, and the random Beatles/JFK commemoration were greeted with a refreshing bit of comedy in presenting the final two awards of the night.

Typically the “last presenter” job is left to an A-list celebrity and this year was no different, with comic legend Will Ferrell taking the stage. Only he was not alone. In tow were his three adorable children (Magnus, 9, Mattias, 6, and Axel 3). The "family" — including Ferrell — was clad in casual sports gear, because, as Ferrell explained, Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith cancelled at the last minute and he only found out about his presenting duties 45 minutes earlier. There was a soccer game, a birthday party, and a peanut allergy to attend to, and he couldn’t find childcare! What’s a man to do, but walk onstage in his basketball shorts and T-shirt toting three little kids with an iPad and safety blanket? After chastising his kids for wanting to play “Angry Birds” at such a pivotal moment in the broadcast, Ferrell announced the winner of Best Comedy.

The award went to Modern Family — hardly a surprise. Luckily Ferrell returned to inject the program with some more humor, denying his kids a bathroom break. “This is the Emmys, don’t blow it for me, okay guys?” One acceptance speech later, Neil Patrick Harris ended the show — sadly not in song — and the confounding and mildly depressing night drew to a close. But at least, for a few precious minutes, Will Ferrell made everything better.