The duel was served on Emmy night. On Sunday, The Bear It arrived as the most nominated comedy in history, with 23 nominations (30 Rock reached 22 in 2009), but Shogun as a drama with 25; in addition, it had already won 14 awards at the technical-artistic Emmys, held last week, and The Bearseven. The drama about feudal Japan was four, and when the cooking comedy was also four, the big surprise of the night arrived: Hacks won the award for best comedy of the year, to the surprise of its creators and the audience gathered at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. In total, there were 18 Shogun, a record, 11 for The Bear and six for My stuffed reindeer as a limited series.
When the film industry starts to warm up its engines to award its best films, the small screen comes first with its awards, the Emmys. This year, once again, the Television Academy has placed itself first on the list in September (with permission from last year’s awards, which were moved to January due to the strikes of actors and scriptwriters) in a three-and-a-quarter-hour gala that was light but loaded with advertising breaks, and with interventions in which gratitude prevailed over any speech. Beyond Liza Colón-Zayas and the protagonists of The West Wing of the White Housewho encouraged people to vote, and Candice Bergen, who lightly joked with Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, it was barely noticeable that there are 50 days left until the presidential election.
Comedians Eugene and Dan Levy kicked off the 76th awards ceremony at five o’clock in the afternoon, Western Standard Time (eight in the East; two in the morning in mainland Spain). Father and son launched into a 10-minute speech that brought smiles, more than laughter, or not as many as those of the presenters who came later, who enthused the audience: Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, who couldn’t help but laugh even among themselves. If next year they are taken from investigating murders at the Arconia to present awards, no one would have any complaints. Something similar happened halfway through the ceremony, when Billy Crystal’s appearance to present an award and relive old anecdotes helped to revive the audience; also with Christine Baranski, Viola Davis and Gina Torres to talk about legal series, raising general applause.
The night started without surprises when Ebon Moss-Bachrach won best supporting actor in a comedy for The Bear (Disney+). He then repeated the best leading actor, Jeremy Allen White, for his perfectionist chef Carmen Berzatto in The Bear“This series has changed my life,” the actor admitted, trembling, as if he had not imagined winning it even remotely, thanking his family, his sister, who accompanied him (those who were waiting for Rosalía continued to wait), and his children.
Her co-star Liza Colón-Zayas made her even more emotional, in her first nomination and first award at the age of 52: “How, how can I think that this is possible, in the presence of Meryl Streep, Carol Burnett, Sheryl Lee Ralph? Mommy, thank you,” said the best supporting actress, terribly moved. “To all the Latinos who are watching me: keep believing and vote.” In comedy, Jean Smart, for her role as a comic diva who has fallen on hard times in Hacks (Max), already gave a preview when he took it from Ayo Edebiri for The Bear. Also in comedy, the best direction was for the episode Peces (Fishes)of The Bearthe sixth of the second season and one of the best of the series. The best direction went to Hacks by its chapter Bulletproof.
In the drama section, Billy Crudup was the surprise winner as best supporting actor for The Morning Show (Apple TV+), snatching away Shogun the first of the night. But then, clearly, the series about samurai and Japanese feudal lords rebounded with awards for its leading actors, Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai.
The Morning Show He took one with Crudup, just like The Crown, what The film collected its last awards ever. Elizabeth Debicki took home her first winged statuette in her second nomination for her faithful portrayal of Princess Diana of Wales in the last years of her life. She was up against her fellow actress Lesley Manville as Margaret of England and no less than four actresses from the same genre. The Morning Show. The direction for the best chapter was won by Slow Horses, and the script, Shogun.
In limited series, Netflix’s disturbing hit triumphed My stuffed reindeer, with the award for best series and its actors. The brainless role of Martha gave Jessica Gunning the award for best supporting actress. And Richard Gadd came on stage three times. The first time, for writing the best script, as its creator and protagonist: “I didn’t think I would get my life back after what happened to me. This is for those who have gone through bad times. Nothing lasts forever, no matter how bad you are, keep going, keep going, keep going.” He then repeated as best actor, to finish by collecting the award for best limited series. “There would be no barriers broken if nobody dared,” he said then. “The only constant in any success on television is telling good stories. So take risks, break boundaries, explore the unexplored.”
In her fourth nomination, Jodie Foster won her first Emmy, for best actress in a limited series for True Detectivewhich he dedicated to his co-star, also nominated, Kali Reis, and his wife, Alexandra Hedison: “The love of my life.” Lamorne Morris took home the supporting actor award for Fargo, snatching it away from Robert Downey Jr. for The sympathizer. The award for best direction of a limited series went to Steve Zaillian for Ripley. The Traitorspresented by Alan Cumming, who is surprising this season, also won as reality show or competition; the best talk series was The Daily Showhosted by Jon Stewart.
Cris Abrego, “the best guy,” as John Leguizamo said when introducing him, is the first Latino to preside over the Television Academy, but he did not speak in Spanish. The real nod to the Latino public, who reported that there were five nominees and demanded “more stories about excluded groups, blacks, Asians, Jews, Arabs, LGBT,” was Leguizamo himself. Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, as presenters, also emphasized this: “Good evening, welcome to the Emmys. Greetings to those who speak Spanish in this room and to the more than 50 million who speak Spanish in this country.” He was the only Spaniard heard in the room.