On September 15th, the 76th annual Emmy awards aired on ABC. This award show is television’s biggest night of the year, where the very best television programs of 2024 are honored. The ceremony was hosted by “Schitt’s Creek” stars and father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy. You might think that if you don’t watch a lot of the shows that are nominated, you may not enjoy this award show. However, I personally believe that this is not the case. As long as you like fun humor, cool celebrities in wonderful outfits and/or emotional speeches, the Emmys can be the television program for you. As far as the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) award shows go, the Emmys are usually not my favorite, as the Oscars and the Tonys usually have more excitement. That opinion has not changed after watching this year’s Emmy ceremony, but I still think this award show was quite entertaining and I am glad I took the time to watch it. This year’s Emmys will be available on Hulu until September 22nd if you want to watch them, but in case you are not able to, or you are curious about an analysis on the show, here are all of the highlights and notable recognitions from the event.
As mentioned before, the Levys had control of the night. The two have long histories in comedy and considering they’re a father-son pair, the two have such a natural chemistry together, which worked perfectly for hosting. They started off the night with their opening monologue, which had the audience busting guts. Some of my favorite jokes include calling the Emmys “broadcast TVs biggest night for honoring movie stars on streaming services.” There was also a quip about the controversy of whether or not “The Bear” is a comedy (which I will talk about more later), where Eugene said that while people may expect jokes about the series, “but in the true spirit of ‘The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes”. There were also many fun jokes about how one may connect to the different series, such as having a teacher that changes your life like in “Abbott Elementary”, or you may have a “codependent, borderline homoerotic relationship with [y]our boss” like in “Hacks”. I also appreciated the delightful jokes about the Levys’ parent and child relationship, both in their personal and professional lives. A lot of times in award show monologues, there will be a few duds that did not get as many laughs as the writers were probably hoping for. Fortunately, the audience seemed to love practically all of the jokes. In addition to this monologue, the two also had great moments throughout the night, whether they were standing in the crowd or commenting on awards that had recently been given out. Then, their greatest moment was at the end of the night, the two reunited with their “Schitt’s Creek” co-stars Annie Murphy and Catherine O’Hara to give out the final award, which was a sweet finish. After the success of this night, I hope to see the Levy pairing host an award show again soon, as they have proven their hosting prowess.
The first and last awards of the night were given in the comedy categories. In a way, you could say that the awards were bookended with humor. There were a lot of fantastic comedic series that got recognition this year. For instance, there were some inspired first-time nominees like D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai for “Reservation Dogs” and Matt Berry for “What We Do in the Shadows”. However, despite the unique choices in nominations, the winners were a bit predictable, as the two big winners have won a lot in the past. First, there was the show that took home the top comedy prize, “Hacks”. This series about an aging comedienne teaming up with a young comedy writer has been impressing audiences with its witty humor since day one. Now, its third season is getting love. That includes the iconic Jean Smart winning Outstanding Actress in a Comedy series for the third time in a row, a second award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, and the series winning Outstanding Comedy Series for the first time ever. I’d also like to mention how co-creator Paul W. Downs made an excellent and emotional speech honoring this win that was probably one of my favorites of the night. Even though it has been a long time favorite at award shows, fans can finally see it come out on top. Then there is the other big winner of the comedy category, “The Bear”. This series won Outstanding Actor for Jeremy Allen White, Outstanding Supporting Actress for first-time nominee Liza Colón-Zayas. While no one is going to argue with the merits of the series about running a restaurant in Chicago, as it is quite popular, there has been debate about whether the show should be entered in the comedy categories. Many fans see the show as being too intense to compete against obvious funny shows like “Hacks” or fellow nominee and previous winner “Abbott Elementary”. These people likely have a point, as the constant portrayal of mental breakdowns and family struggles seem a bit serious. Nevertheless, as long as “The Bear” is going to keep winning awards and as long as they are able to enter in the comedy categories nothing will likely change. People may not always like the outcome, but at least in this case, there are still excellent shows getting recognition.
The drama categories can often be the ones that get a lot of attention, as drama series can sometimes be seen as more “prestigious” than comedy categories. Like the comedy categories, there were some fun first time nominees, like Walton Goggins in “Fallout”. However, unlike the comedy categories, the drama categories gave special honors to a show in its first season. This year, “Shōgun” was the big winner. In fact, if we include the Creative Arts Emmys, the series won 18 Emmy awards this year, the most ever for a single season of television. In addition, “Shōgun” is the first Japanese language series to win Outstanding Drama Series. It also took home Outstanding Actor and Actress in a Drama series, for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai respectively. It’s also worth mentioning that they both gave excellent speeches, which I find is often the case when people win from their first nomination. Also, the series was Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series winner as well, which proves there was a dominant showing. However, the love was spread as the supporting categories went to other programs. Billy Crudup took home Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in “The Morning Show”. While the show has been nominated for many Emmys, the only other Primetime Emmy award that this show has won was also for Crudup for a previous season. He must be doing something right. Then for supporting actress, that award went to Elizabeth Debicki, who played Princess Diana in “The Crown”. While Debicki certainly is a top-notch actress, people always have a soft spot for Lady Di and, in turn, people who respectfully tell her story. In addition, the most recent season of “The Crown” was its final season, so the voters probably felt the show needed some recognition on its way out. Overall, it looks like there were many drama series that got a lot of appreciation, but “Shōgun” has now solidified its place as a modern television classic.
Of course, we can’t forget about the limited and anthology series. They may celebrate shows we do not know as well, but I find the fact that these shows basically have one chance to give it their all to be quite exciting. This year there were a variety of limited series that received recognition. However, there was one show that unquestionably came out on top. The big winner of the limited series was “Baby Reindeer”, the British dark comedy series about a bartender and his stalker. The series was based on a true story in star Richard Gadd’s life, who ended up winning Outstanding Actor, Writing and Limited Series/Anthology. He made a lot of speeches at the Emmys, and each of his speeches were quite heartfelt. Another winner from the show was Gadd’s co-star, Jessica Gunner, who won Outstanding Supporting Actress and also gave a great speech. This series was an instant hit on Netflix, so these awards should come at the surprise of no one. In terms of interesting wins in the limited series categories, people were not expecting Lamorne Morris to take home Outstanding Supporting Actor for the anthology series “Fargo”, yet that was the scenario that occurred. To be clear, no one was disappointed by this win, as Morris has been a well-regarded actor for a while so viewers enjoyed seeing him get a win. Then there was Outstanding Actress, which went to Jodie Foster for “True Detective: Night Country”. Interestingly enough, this was the first Emmy award for the highly accomplished actress, who already has two Oscars under her belt. Some people may argue that this award was more of a legacy award in that sense. Nevertheless, everyone likes Foster so it is not a bad thing to see her win and give an excellent speech, so we all win in that sense. Because of the nature of these categories, they are going to look completely different next year, and I am excited about how next year’s crop of limited and anthology series will compare to this year’s group.
Now, would it really be one of my award show analyses if I didn’t talk about the best dressed attendees of the night? While there were many outfits that were not my cup of tea (can people stop wearing dresses with a lot of material on the hips?), there definitely were many outfits that caught my eye in the best possible ways. For instance there was the dress worn by nominee for “The Bear’s” Ayo Edebri. She wore a strapless Bottega Veneta dress with a long slit in the leg. It had a red-orange and black mosaic color that paired perfectly with her large gold earrings. It is a sleek award show look that was full of effortless style. Another great look was Christine Baranski’s, who was nominated for “The Gilded Age”. She wore a shiny gold Oscar de La Renta gown. It was off the shoulder with gathered fabric at the top, along with big white flowers at various spots. The dress cut was classic while the shiny pattern was more modern, which led to an exquisite look all around. In addition to these dresses, I also liked what Selena Gomez was wearing. The actress was nominated for her role in “Only Murders in the Building”. She wore a soft black Ralph Lauren gown that cascaded behind her. The dress had a halter collar and for a nice pop, the halter neckline was bejeweled in silver. This type of dress is timeless and is able to look classy, exciting and I would definitely wear it if I was going to the Emmys. I also feel the need to highlight some of the best male looks that I liked. If there is one thing that I care about in this world, it is that we need to have men taking more risks in their formal attire. Tyler James Williams, who was nominated for “Abbott Elementary”. He wore all black, with his button up shirt being sleeveless, showing off his muscles. This look is having fun, but does not push the envelope too far. I also appreciated the suit worn by Jonathan Bailey, nominee for “Fellow Travelers”. He wore a Giorgio Armani suit with a large cumberbund, an off white silk shirt that was only half buttoned, and red sunglasses to top off the look. The look is reminiscent of a classic suit, but he was able to put a playful spin on the outfit to make it his own. I could talk all day about my favorite looks, but these were the ones that grabbed my attention in an instant.
In terms of award shows, I would say that the 76th Emmys were able to pull off a successful night. There were no obvious flubs and it looked like every bit/awards presentation was able to transition seamlessly into the next one. Otherwise, I can’t think of a big problem that I had with the ceremony. The reason I love award shows is because they are a celebration of the arts. With the Emmys, millions of people turn on their television to learn about the best television programs, possibly getting some recommendations for themselves. “Shōgun” and “Hacks” may have brought in new fans from this special, which is definitely deserved. In addition, we get to see hardworking people from all areas of the industry receive praise for their work, proving that many people enjoyed their tireless efforts. That aspect is always special to see. Furthermore, we get to see their fabulous outfits. There are still some other award shows for television series coming up, like the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild awards, but this year’s ceremony has solidified the best of this year’s television programs in a thrilling way.
