Emmys 2024 winners: Shogun breaks records, Hacks upsets The Bear

If anyone was going to break the Emmys record for most wins by a single series in a year, who had a Japanese series about feudal warlords on their bingo card?

Shogun won 18 Emmys across the primetime and creative arts ceremonies, beating out John Adams’s 2008 record of 13 wins by a considerable margin.

During the main portion of this year’s race, Shogun won best drama, lead actor in a drama series for Hiroyuki Sanada, lead actress in a drama series for Anna Sawai and directing for a drama series.

Shogun, which is primarily in Japanese, is the first non-English language title to win a series Emmy. Squid Game was the first to be nominated in 2022 but lost out to Succession.

The series’ co-creator Justin Marks expressed his continued disbelief that its network, FX which is owned by Disney, “greenlit a very expensive, subtitled, Japanese period piece whose central climax revolves around a poetry competition”.

The four high-profile gongs added to its already record-breaking tally out of the creative arts ceremony last year where Shogun triumphed in a range of craft categories including cinematography, visual effects, casting and guest actor for Nestor Carbonell.

The series is set in 1600 Japan in the immediate aftermath of the death of its ruler. The power vacuum sees factional warlords battling for the future of the realm, including Lord Toranaga (Sanada), an esteemed commander who the other regents are plotting against.

Sanada is a legendary actor in Japan, having started as a child actor in 1966. More recently, he has appeared in western productions including Westworld, Avengers: Endgame, John Wick 4, Bullet Train and Lost.

He said in his acceptance speech, “I’m beyond honoured to be here with amazing nominees,” and added, “Thank you to all the cast and crew of Shogun, I’m so proud of you. It was an East meets West dream project with respect. Shogun taught me that when people work together, we can make miracles. We can create a better future together.”

Sanada is only the second actor of Asian descent to win an Emmy for best actor in a drama series, following Squid Games’ Lee Jung-jae.

Anna Sawai also became the first woman of Asian descent to win an Emmy for best actress in a drama series. She plays Lady Mariko, who acts as a translator between the Japanese characters and Blackthorne, an Englishman who enters the game at a critical time.

Sawai, a New Zealand-born Japanese actor who has also been in Pachinko, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and F9, said during her speech that Sanada had “opened doors and continues to open doors for people like me”.

She also credited her mother for her portrayal of Mariko. “Mum, I love you, you are the reason I’m here,” she said. “You showed me stoicism and that’s how I was able to portray Mariko.

“This is to all the women who expect nothing and continue to be an example for everyone.”

Shogun’s triumph at the Emmys is indicative of audiences’ willingness to embrace stories from beyond their own backyard. The advent of streaming has led to international shows and formats finding a broad base of fans around the world.

Squid Game remains Netflix’s most streamed original series on its platform, and a second season is being released in December.

Shogun is available globally on Disney’s streaming platform. Because of its success, what was envisaged as a limited series is now proceeding to a second season.

It adapted from a 1975 novel by James Clavell which had previously been made into a 1980 TV American show. To illustrate the vast progress in the time between the 1980 and 2024 series, the first version didn’t even subtitle the Japanese dialogue.

Taking risks in programming was the theme of Baby Reindeer writer, producer and actor Richard Gadd’s acceptance speech.

“Look, I know the industry is in a slump right now, and I know it might force or put pressure on networks and stuff to tighten the purse strings and broaden the slate.

“I do believe no slump is ever broken without a willingness to take risks. I think if Baby Reindeer has proved anything, it’s that there’s no formula to this.

“You don’t need big stars, proven (intellectual property), long-running series or catch-all storytelling to have a hit. Really, the only constant across any success in television is good storytelling.

“Good storytelling that speaks to our times. So, take risks, push boundaries and explore the uncomfortable.”

Gadd’s semi-autobiographical series won four awards on the night including limited series, writing and actor in a limited series for Gadd and supporting actress in a limited series for Jessica Gunning.

The wildly popular show captured the zeitgeist with its story about an aspiring comedian and writer whose experiences with a stalker provoke him to confront his trauma over a previous assault.

But it wasn’t without controversy after internet sleuths unearthed the identity of the so-called real-life Martha. Fiona Harvey “outed” herself after being harassed online and is now suing Netflix for what she claims was its lack of care in obscuring her identity.

On the comedy side, Hacks pulled off a huge upset when it bested The Bear to win comedy series.

Hacks’ co-creator, writer and actor Paul W. Downs seemed genuinely surprised when he took to the stage and started with, “I have no thoughts in my brain, let’s brace ourselves, I’m about to get emotional”.

Downs pulled it together immediately and mentioned that he wanted to see more stories about the 60-plus demographic on TV. “You know, there are about 20 per cent of our population is over 60-plus, and there are only three per cent of those characters on television.

“I would like to see more of them, because while I’m a great young supporting actor, I really want to be a good old lead.”

Hacks tells the story of Deborah Vance, an ageing stand-up comedian who is paired up with a Millennial writer and their generation clash teaches them both lessons.

Jean Smart won her third Emmy for playing Deborah while Hannah Einbinder was nominated for the younger character. Hacks also won an Emmy for writing.

The series’ third season was universally acclaimed and dropped its episodes just before the eligibility window closed for this year’s awards.

Even with the critical praise, Hacks was still expected to lose to The Bear, which was the undisputed frontrunner in the category and won last year.

But two things may have hampered The Bear. One was that while The Bear’s second season fell into this year’s eligibility period, the show premiered its third season during the voting period, and that was a more divisive batch of episodes.

The second reason is the show has been caught up in a “Is it a comedy?” discourse with some critics pointing out that The Bear is more of a drama with comedic elements. Hacks is absolutely a comedy.

Emmys hosts Eugene and Dan Levy even joked about the hoopla in their opening duologue. The older Levy zinged, “Now, I love the show, and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy, but in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes.”

Still, The Bear had a good night, picking up four trophies including three acting gongs for stars Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Liza Colon-Zayas.

While Shogun, Hacks and The Bear dominated the awards, plenty of other series picked up throughout the night.

Jodie Foster proved that star power and talent are still a winning combination, winning for her role in True Detective: Night Country. But not all movie stars triumphed. Robert Downey Jr was the frontrunner in the very competitive actor in a limited series category for The Sympathiser but lost out to surprise winner New Girl star Lamorne Morris, who won for his role in Fargo.

Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki won supporting actress in a drama for her role as Princess Diana in the final season of royal show The Crown, while Billy Crudup repeated his win as the supporting actor in a drama for Morning Wars. He previously won for playing the same character in 2020.

Ripley writer and director, Oscar winner Steven Zaillian picked the directing award for Ripley, Netflix’s stunning black-and-white adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s book which starred Andrew Scott in the title role.

Spy thriller Slow Horses won a gong for writing for a drama series, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver continued its streak even after a category switch to scripted variety series while The Daily Show saw returning guest host Jon Stewart take to the stage to accept its victory in talk series. The Traitors won in reality competition series.

The Levys were a steady hand as hosts, bringing their trademark wit and Canadian warmth with jokes that weren’t too punchy but with plenty of good humour. They even engineered an onstage Schitt’s Creek reunion with Annie Murphy and Catherine O’Hara.