Award shows are often as memorable as the winners and their acceptance speeches. Heading into the 76th Emmys, the conventional wisdom was that Television Academy voters would make it a predictable victory for “Shōgun” and “The Bear.” And indeed, both series did well and made history with their victories. But there were still enough surprises during the broadcast, hosted by Eugene and Dan Levy, to ensure an interesting evening.
Of course, the biggest shock came at the end of the broadcast, when ‘Hacks’ achieved a surprising victory over leader ‘The Bear’ in the outstanding comedy series category. That was a clear bow from the writing side of the TV Academy to reward a beloved show that revolves around comedy – as a point of contrast to shows that tap into the drama side of the drama equation. For producers Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay, these kinds of surprises are what they’re looking for.
“It was a wonderful upset,” says Rouzan-Clay. “We didn’t see it coming!” Harmon added, “It’s a reminder that we literally have no idea who’s going to win. We’ll find out along with everyone else. If you had a camera on us during the show, you would see us going crazy several times.
Perhaps voters and viewers were exhausted from following the second Emmy telecast of the year. Still, Collins, Harmon and Rouzan-Clay were able to list some big highlights from this year’s winning squad: Liza Colón-Zayas, Lamorne Morris, Jean Smart. “And Jodie Foster!” exclaims Collins about the “True Detective: Night Country” actress taking home her first Emmy.
The number of streaks and sweeps that Emmy races have generated in recent years can make it seem like winning is more of a volume game for major platforms than an artistic contest. The real problems facing the industry, from layoffs and cutbacks to ever-increasing competition, make it easy to be cynical about the importance of gold statues. But at its best, television has an incredible power to educate and enlighten audiences and elevate talented artists. “Shōgun” winner Hiroyuki Sanada nodded to this special quality as he breathlessly accepted his first trophy of the evening, for Drama Lead Actor. The Peacock Theater quickly fell silent as the Japanese native poured his heart out to the crowd. Sanada respectfully called “Shōgun” an “East-meets-West dream project,” noting that his work on the series taught him that “when people work together, we can create miracles.” Together we can create a better future.”
Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast gathered after the awards this week to take another look at the highlights, lowlights, surprises and more from the 76th Emmys. Listen below!
Here’s a look at some other notable moments from the evening (and here’s the return to a normal schedule, with a full year before next year’s ceremony).
Create record
You’d think it would be difficult to break awards records in an era with so many prestigious, Emmy-worthy series. But maybe that’s exactly the reason: With a plethora of shows splintering votes in a fragmented viewing environment, those that break through have a better chance of winning. Such was the case with FX’s “Shōgun,” which made history by winning a total of 18 awards — by far the most ever in a single year (leaving the previous record holder, “John Adams,” who earned 13 in 2008).
In addition to being the drama series winner, “Shōgun” once again made more history with drama actress winner Anna Sawai (the winner of the first category of Asian descent) and scored wins for Sanada and for drama directing (Frederick EO Toye).
“The Bear” didn’t win a comedy series, of course, but it did make history with its 11 wins – the most in a single year for a comedy, surpassing its own previous record of 10, set last year. But this was the first time facing ‘Hacks’, and Jean Smart is almost impossible to beat. The Max series provided serious competition for the FX drama series, scoring outstanding comedy series wins for its lead actress (Smart) and for comedy writing – a nice run for a show that was predicted to be overshadowed. Down-the-line voting may have worked in recent years, but “Hacks” viewers are passionate and have no problem switching when it comes to Smart.
TV Academy voters also switched their reality competition support to Peacock’s “The Traitors,” which won the series award (the first program Emmy for that streamer) and the hosting Emmy for star Alan Cumming. The category was previously owned by “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
And then there was that year’s Cinderella story, Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer,” which took home the top prize in the limited/anthology series, as well as wins for creator-star Richard Gadd in both the lead role in the limited/anthology actor as well as in limited/anthology writing, and for star Jessica Gunning in limited/anthology actress. All told, Gadd was the standout performer of the 2024 Emmys, picking up three statuettes in one night.
Comedy counts
It wouldn’t be an awards show in 2024 without a few conversations about which category “The Bear” belongs in. Co-host Eugene Levy even kicked off the evening with a joke: “You might expect us to joke about whether ‘The Bear’ is actually a comedy, but in the true spirit of ‘The Bear’ we won’t joke That got a chuckle from star Ayo Edebiri, who took home last year’s trophy when she competed in the supporting category. This year, that win went to her co-star, Liza Colón-Zayas, who was completely taken aback and didn’t could believe she beat Meryl Streep.
Outside of the comedy category, there was more comedy. The Levys opened the show by mocking the entire ceremony in the most endearing way possible, calling it “TV’s biggest night celebrating movie stars on streaming,” and, well, they weren’t wrong. Their monologue and one-liners throughout the evening – including a “Hot Ones” shoutout and poking fun at each other’s failed auditions – provided plenty of laughs.
They also brought it back to “Schitt’s Creek,” comparing that show to “Reservation Dogs,” which ultimately earned a nomination for its final season. “You could say that Academy voters have found a program that has been creatively flourishing for years and say, ‘Hey, look what we discovered,’” they joked. It was also quite touching to see the duo reunited with their “Schitt’s Creek” family when they invited Annie Murphy and Catherine O’Hara to join them. The group – despite their win in 2020 – was never able to perform together on stage at the Emmys due to the pandemic.
The co-presenters did not delve into politics in their monologue, but the evening’s winners did not shy away from making a nod to the upcoming elections; Candice Bergen did it best by bringing up a “Murphy Brown” storyline in which her character was criticized by the vice president for having a child. ‘Oh, we’ve come so far. Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having children. So as they say, my work here is done,” she said before adding a loud “meow.”
Nostalgia attempt
After the first ceremony of 2024 provided so many excellent nostalgic moments, the TV Academy struggled to do the same this time around. That said, while the tropes of TV dads, TV moms, TV doctors and TV cops weren’t nearly as impressive as cast reunions (“Happy Days” and “The West Wing” were fun!), there are a few did work. Listening to Connie Britton reminisce about playing a demon-bearing mother
“American Horror Story” and being so much more than “the coach’s wife” on “Friday Night Lights” was moving. Kathy Bates joking about the death of her career after not thanking Ryan Murphy for an “AHS” win was hilarious! Could they have been executed better to create more emotion? Certainly. But the will was there. Additionally, nostalgic elements were still present outside of specific segments, most notably when Joshua Jackson walked into “I Don’t Want to Wait” to honor “Dawson’s Creek” producer Greg Berlanti with the Governors Award. He may have been embarrassed, but the viewers – both in the room and at home – were pleased.
