The 2024 Emmys Isn't Anthony Anderson's Mother Doris Bowman's First Showbiz Gig

Primetime Emmy Awards host Anthony Anderson, like many of the guests, wasn't going to attend alone. Anderson brought his mama Doris Bowman along for the ride. Anderson told People that he couldn't do the gig without his mother, with whom he is really close. "I can't host the Emmys without having Mama Doris on the stage with me, so we're finding some smart ways to incorporate her into the show," he shared with the outlet.

That smart way he incorporated Mama D in the show? She's the send-off music! If someone starts going too long in their speech, she holds up a cardboard clock sign with a red line through it and starts talking them off the stage. She started her role with her son when his monologue started to go on a bit too long. "Time's up, baby," she said via E! Online. "Wrap it up."

Audiences can tell that Bowman is used to the cameras. While most celeb parents are probably less equipped to quip with the best of them in such a public way, Mama D has no problem with it. That's probably because she's no slouch in showbiz herself. 

Anthony Anderson's charming mama Doris Bowman has done a few projects in her time. From a single episode role as Doris in "Black-ish" to Flossie in "The Truth" and Dorothy in "Common Bond," she's been walking the showbiz walk. But the two have also been capturing hearts in their travel-focused show "Trippin' with Anthony Anderson and Mama Doris." Per TV Insider, the show follows the duo as they adventure through Europe for six weeks. 

In speaking to Today, Anderson told the outlet that Mama Doris always wanted to be an entertainer, which is part of the reason he loves to work with her. Although he quipped that Bowman would admit to being a bad actor, that isn't stopping him from doing gigs with her. 

"But because of my success in this game, and the relationships that I've built, I'm able to give my mother the opportunity that she never got," Anderson told Today. "Now that she's at a certain age, she's comfortable in the skin that she's in, and just being who she is. Just being her authentic self, the sky's the limit for her."