THE EMMYS RECAP: All the Emmy Awards 2024 winners and highlights as they happened
The Emmys ceremony delivered a rarity, a genuine upset win.
The widely expected triumph for The Bear as best comedy series didn’t convert. Instead, the third season of Hacks upstaged the buzzy series about a traumatised chef, and took home the main series gong.
Hacks also won in writing for a comedy while lead Jean Smart picked up her third Emmy for playing Deborah Vance, a prickly and ageing stand-up comedian.
The Bear didn’t go home empty-handed, winning four other Emmys including three in acting — while showrunner and creator Christopher Storer won in directing.
The series perhaps underperformed for a couple of reasons. The first is that even though these Emmys were to recognise the series’ universally acclaimed second season, the dates were that the show’s third season, which was divisive, was going to air during the voting period.
The other is the bubbling discourse that the intense show wasn’t actually a comedy but a drama with comedic elements.
Hacks has no such identity crisis.
On the drama side, Disney’s Shogun took out best drama as well as a pair of acting gongs for its leads, Japanese actors Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai. It also won an award for directing.
The historical series is an American production but it is mostly in Japanese and Shogun becomes the first non-English language series to win a series Emmy.
The show is set in 17th century feudal Japan and deals with the power vacuum after the death of a ruler as warring factions battle for supremacy.
The other big winner of the night was Netflix miniseries Baby Reindeer, which won four gongs including best limited or anthology series, plus a writing and acting award for creator Richard Gadd and best supporting actress for Jessica Gunning.
Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki won her first Emmy for portraying Princess Diana in the final season of The Crown but fellow expat Naomi Watts lost out for her role in Feud: Capote versus the Swans.
Jodie Foster won an Emmy for her performance in True Detective: Night Country and Fargo actor Lamorne Morris beat out Robert Downey Jr in a competitive category.
There was a reunion for The West Wing and Happy Days while TV icons such as Meredith Baxter, Jimmy Smits, Christine Baranski and George Lopez presented segments themed to “TV cops” or “TV dads” or “TV lawyers”.
Hosts Eugene Levy and Dan Levy even engineered a Schitt’s Creek reunion when they brought Annie Murphy onstage just before the final category before all three threw to Catherine O’Hara to present the award.
All the updates as it happened below.
Cousin takes first gong of the night
The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach has made it two for two with his second Emmy win in best supporting actor in a comedy, winning for his intense performance in The Bear as Cousin Richie.
“I’m so grateful for this show and to work with these beautiful people,” he said.
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Lionel Boyce — The Bear
- Paul W. Downs — Hacks
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach — The Bear
- Paul Rudd — Only Murders In The Building
- Tyler James Williams — Abbott Elementary
- Bowen Yang — Saturday Night Live
Yes, our Nic works a lot in TV
The Only Murders in the Building trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are presenting the first award and they’ve brought their banter to the stage.
One of the jokes references that Nicole Kidman works A LOT in TV.
Martin said, “When I see an actor I don’t know, I just say, ‘I love your scene with Nicole Kidman!’. And nine times out of 10, I’m right.”
Is The Bear a comedy?
It’s been a big talking point whether The Bear should even be entered in the comedy categories given it’s more serious than not.
Eugene Levy made reference to the debate in the opening duologue when he zinged, “Now I love the show. 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.”
Shogun, The Bear lead nominations
Going into the night, American-produced Japanese drama led the way with 25 nominations, followed by The Bear’s second season, which racked up 23 nods.
Shogun already broke records
At last week’s Creative Arts Emmys ceremony, which awards the craft of television, Shogun already broke records by picking up 14 wins in the technical categories.
It bested a record set by John Adams in 2008 when it won 13.
The Disney series took home gongs in casting, production design, make-up and stunt performance among others.
