The 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held on September 18, 2005, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards show was broadcast on CBS.

The show, which aired three weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, featured a mini-telethon for Habitat for Humanity and gave DeGeneres more opportunity to use the show to somberly remember the victims of the Gulf Coast. Opening the show was the famous 1970's band Earth Wind & Fire with a comedic version of "September", in collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas. The show featured tributes to ABC-TV anchor Peter Jennings (who died seven weeks earlier) presented by rival anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw and to talk show host Johnny Carson (who died in January 2005) by close friend and Late Show host David Letterman. Also, the show featured Emmy Idol, five segments in which famous TV stars performed popular TV theme songs in a format like American Idol.