Hacking shocked favorite The bear for Best Comedy at the 2024 Emmys on Sunday night, bringing a dramatic shot into a monotonous race at the last possible moment.
The Hannah Einbinder-Jean Smart story about two dysfunctional comedians came out of nowhere, beating FX’s Chicago-set dramedy after an awards season and a night of The bear Victory seemed as inevitable as the next “Yes, boss” greeting.
In the meantime Shogun and Netflix Baby reindeer won the main prizes in the drama and miniseries categories.
While The bear was seen as nothing more than a borderline comedy, which drew derision from some insider circles in television. However, the show topped most pundit lists and won just about every major award it was up for during Sunday’s three-hour awards ceremony.
With 23 nominations, the comedy also received more recognition than any other comedy in history.
But Hackingby Max, had the last laugh in this category, as the series by Paul Downs, Jen Statsky and Lucia Aniello about aging, hopes and uncertainty in show business won the top prize in its third season.
“We really believe that (comedy) can bridge divides,” Aniello said as he accepted the top award. “If you laugh with someone, you have something in common with them.” Downs used the opportunity to call for greater representation of older actors.
Smart previously won an Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy for her portrayal of the snarky comedian Deborah Vance – her sixth overall. Her heartfelt eulogy contradicted what her character herself would have said. Hacking He also received an award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series. Downs thanked everyone who “watched the show or was watched by the show,” and emphasized what a weird comedy kid he, Statsky and Aniello (sort of) were.
But few observers of the awards ceremony had expected that the trio would take the stage again at the end of the evening.
The surprising turnaround finally came in the wake of The bear Star Ebon Moss-Bachrach accepts the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy to open the 2024 Emmys. Moments later, two more Carry Wins as Jeremy Allen White won Best Actor in a Comedy and Liza Colón-Zayas won Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, becoming the first Latina to do so in the category. And creator Christopher Storer later won for directing a comedy series.
“I’m so grateful for this show and to be able to work with these wonderful people,” said Moss-Bachrach, who plays the talkative Richie in the critically acclaimed show and keeps it simple. When White took the stage, he offered a poignant moment in which “this show (The bear) changed my life; it instilled in me the belief that change is possible… you are never truly alone.”
The experts will try to CarryThe series is failing at the biggest possible moment, with theories likely involving the fact that FX released the show’s third season in June. The polarizing episodes that TV Academy members didn’t decide on may still have made them think differently about the well-received second season when they voted this summer.
The comedian classification may also have hurt. At the start of the 2024 Emmys, co-host Eugene Levy poked fun at the unconventional choice of the leading comedy nominee in Emmy history. “I love the show,” he said. “And some of you may be expecting us to make a joke about whether The bear is actually a comedy. But in the true spirit of The bear We won’t joke.”
Shogunstormed through the end of the 2024 Emmys after stalling early, while Baby reindeer won four Emmys, including for best miniseries.
“You have given the green light to a very expensive Japanese historical drama with subtitles, the climax of which is a poetry competition,” Shogun Co-creator Justin Marks said of Disney and FX/Hulu, “I have no idea why you did this.” Shogun won an incredible 14 Creative Arts Emmys – a record – and was nominated for a total of an equally record-breaking 25 Emmys.
RenThe creator of took the opportunity to make a similar point to Marks on the topic of corporate risk.
“I know the industry is in a crisis right now,” said actor and creator Richard Gadd as he accepted the top award for a miniseries for his Netflix show. “(But) a crisis can never be overcome without taking risks,” he said, taking a swipe at “IP” and other more business-oriented methods of greenlighting shows. He added that “there’s no magic formula for this.” Gadd was a relatively unknown actor before his big break with his drama of stalking, pursuit and abuse.
Shogun won both Best Performance in a Drama categories after coming away empty-handed in two earlier categories. Hiroyuki Sanada, a legend in his native Japan, won Best Actor for his role as the shrewd strategist Lord Yoshii Toranaga, while Anna Sawai won Best Actress for her complex portrayal of Mariko in FX’s historical epic.
Shogun Frederick EO Toye also won for Best Direction of a Drama. Toye thanked influences like Kurosawa for “letting me steal from them every day.” Previously, two actors from Shogun lost to Billy Crudup for Supporting Actor in a Drama for his role as the complex Cory in The morning show.
Colón-Zayas said she had not written a speech because she could not imagine doing so in the presence of nominees such as Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett. She ended her remarks with a call to arms. “To all the Latinas looking to me: keep believing and go vote. Vote for your rights.”
At the ceremony, John Leguizamo also made a passionate plea for the racial issues in Hollywood and referred to an advertisement he had seen in the New York Times In June, he called on Emmy voters to recognize more people of color.
The actor on the Emmys stage on Sunday night said he was “almost happy and certainly less angry because tonight we have one of the most diverse groups of nominees in the history of the Emmys.” He noted that it was a “DEI” hire: “hard work, excellence and imagination.” (Leguizamo got a joke along the lines of The bear as “the charming story of white people obsessed with Michelin stars who want to make kale taste good.”)
An equally political moment was experienced by presenter Candice Bergen when she responded to the furore caused by Dan Quayle over her Murphy Brown the character’s decision to have a child as a single mother on the show more than three decades ago. “Today, a Republican candidate would never attack a woman for having children. So my work here is done,” she said, poking fun at vice presidential candidate JD Vance for making disparaging remarks about women who don’t have children. She added a “meow” for maximum feline effect.
Staying on the subject of motherhood, in a tribute to television mothers, Connie Britton recalled the days of yesteryear “when married couples slept in separate beds, which led to the question: ‘How did she even become a mother?'”
Alan Cumming accepts the award for reality competition series for his piquant human chess game The traitors, The social situation was also cheekily addressed. After saying that there was “something in the water in Holland”, where many reality formats start, he joked: “So let’s find it, let’s drink it and all of America’s problems will be solved.”
On the subject of politics: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver received the Emmy for Best Variety Series. The host of the HBO series, however, kept it apolitical and focused on his beloved dog, who recently died, dedicating the show to “all dogs… you all deserve a treat,” drowning out the playoff music. Sharp-witted comedian Alex Edelman, who won the award for Best Writing for a Variety Special for the broadcast of his live show Only for usspoke equally candidly about the death of his good friend and director Adam Brace shortly before the premiere of their show on Broadway.
Oliver’s previous series The daily show took home the other top prize in the late-night category, winning for best talk series. Longtime host Jon Stewart — who returned to the Comedy Central airwaves earlier this year to host once a week — took to the 2024 Emmys microphone after the win to make a few self-deprecating jokes about how hard that one day at work really was.
In the monologue, co-host and Eugene Levy’s son Dan Levy also made a cheeky joke about another critically beloved contestant, Reservation dogswhich garnered a lot of Emmy love in its final season (like its Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek). “The Television Academy discovered a show that had been thriving creatively for years and said, ‘Hey, look what we’ve discovered.'”
Also on Sunday, Elizabeth Debicki was nominated for her role as Princess Diana in the final season of The crown.
Netflix Baby reindeer bucked some historical trends that contradicted controversial true stories.
Jessica Gunning won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries for her role as the creepy Martha in the series, while Gadd also won for Screenplay for a Miniseries and Best Actor in a Miniseries. “I never thought I’d ever get my life together,” he said after winning the first award. “And here I am, over a decade later, winning one of the most important awards for screenplay. If you’re struggling, keep going. Keep going.”
At a moment in 2024, Fargo The star and supporting actor of the hit miniseries Lamorne Morris said when he realized he had no more time: “I’m going to do something else on my podcast and thank the other people I forgot to thank.”
The saying of the evening in the middle of the show came from Slow horses Creator Will Smith, who said with a serious expression on the winner’s podium for his Emmy as a writer: “Despite my name, I come in peace.”
When it was all over, it was Hacking who came to kill.
Check out all the looks from the red carpet.
