There have been years when the Primetime Emmys telecast is riddled with surprise, out-of-left-field winners, and until the very last minute, this ceremony was not one of them. As the experts predicted, “Shōgun” pretty much ran the table, and it and “The Bear” both set records for the most awarded shows ever for a drama and a comedy, respectively. As the hosts Eugene and Dan Levy also noted in their opening banter, “Shōgun” actually set its record during the Creative Arts Emmys with 14 wins, and only furthered that record with four wins on Sunday. And “The Bear” set its record despite providing the one true shock of the night, its loss for best comedy to “Hacks”!
Meanwhile, the Emmys did manage to slip in some unexpected wins — in one case, one even went to, yes, “The Bear.” Here they are.
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A comedy won best comedy over “The Bear”
Given the seven Emmys “The Bear” won at the Creative Emmys Awards earlier in September, the smart money — even the dumb money — was on the FX series to win its second consecutive award for best comedy. Instead, in one of the biggest Emmys upsets in recent memory, “Hacks” won in the category instead.
One significant factor in the voting could have been that “Hacks” causes its audience to laugh with regularity, whereas “The Bear,” for its many laudable qualities, treats laughter as a rare and expensive seasoning. It also likely didn’t help that Season 2 debuted in June 2023, almost 14 months before voting began, meaning that the far more poorly received Season 3, which premiered in June 2024, was fresher in voters’ minds. Season 3 of “Hacks,” meanwhile, was arguably its strongest yet.
The upset was foreshadowed, perhaps, when “Bulletproof” — the Season 3 finale of “Hacks” — beat “Fishes,” the lauded Season 2 episode of “The Bear” that recounts the worst Christmas dinner of all time. Yet given the juggernaut of “The Bear,” and how beloved the episode “Fishes” is within its pantheon, it sure seemed like a good bet to win in the comedy writing category (as it did for its first season). Yet “Bulletproof,” written by “Hacks” creators Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs ended up winning — possibly because it shows the range of the Max comedy, veering from a hilarious scene on an airplane to the finale’s twist of Ava (Hannah Einbinder) blackmailing Deborah (Jean Smart) to get the job she wants. (“Fishes” didn’t get blanked, though: “The Bear” creator Christopher Storer won the comedy directing Emmy for it later in the ceremony.)
Even so, “Hacks” triumphing over “The Bear” in the top category is a massive shock. Someone better check on Carmy!
Deputy Witt Far defeats Iron Man!
Lamorne Morris seemed genuinely surprised to win for his role on the most recent season of Noah Hawley’s “Fargo,” and so were we all: delightedly so. Morris, best known as a comedy actor, shined in his role as an earnest police deputy who forms an unlikely bond with the kidnapped housewife Dot Lyon (Juno Temple): First, she saves his life, then he saves hers. It’s great! Morris brought depth and heart to the part of Witt Farr, and has now been rewarded for it. And this category was a tough one, too, with recent Oscar winner and gargantuan movie star Robert Downey Jr. being the favorite going into the night for playing multiple roles in the HBO limited series “The Sympathizer.”
Liza Colón-Zayas from “The Bear” wins over Hannah Einbinder and Meryl Streep
While the male nominees from “The Bear” — Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach — were both locks to win from the get-go, almost no pundits had the women from FX’s restaurant, er, comedy set to win. While Ayo Edebiri couldn’t quite overcome the juggernaut that is “Hacks” superstar Jean Smart in the lead category, veteran actor Liza Colón-Zayas thrilled the audience with her unexpected win over the favorite, Hannah Einbinder from “Hacks,” not to mention national treasures Meryl Streep (“Only Murders in the Building”) and Carol Burnett (“Palm Royale”).
“The Traitors” banishes “RuPaul’s Drag Race” from the reality competition category
For five out of the last six years, only “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” has managed to loosen the grip “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has had on the reality competition category — until this year, when Season 2 of the delectable Peacock series “The Traitors” managed to sashay “Drag Race” away. The win was foreshadowed by last weekend at the Creative Arts Emmys, when “The Traitors” emcee Alan Cumming — who delights the audience in every episode, as he also delivers tartan fabulousness — won the award for reality competition host, breaking RuPaul Charles’ eight-year winning streak for “Drag Race.”
Season 2 of “The Traitors” — which premiered on Peacock in January, and rolled out weekly, building momentum as it went — was simply undeniable. The show had everything, from the meme-inspiring charms of Bravo star Phaedra Parks (“Oh lord, sweet baby Jesus, not Ekin-Su”) to the squint of “Survivor” villain Parvati Swallow — to the surprise winners in the finale, “The Traitors” became a phenomenon this year.
The year the Lizzo “Big Grrrls” competition won was a fluke, and that show is unlikely ever to return. But “The Traitors” is here to stay as a yearly event, providing “Drag Race” with its only formidable challenger in years. (Brings opera glasses to eyes): We can’t wait to see how this turns out.
Craven network executive (Billy Crudup) beats unscrupulous warlord (Tadanobu Asano)
Though “Shōgun” was an unstoppable force on Sunday night, one of the show’s best performances — Tadanobu Asano as the morally bankrupt, charming Yabushige — was overlooked in the drama supporting actor category. Instead, “The Morning Show’s” Billy Crudup won for his hilariously over-the-top portrayal of network executive Cory Ellison in the show’s third season. (Typical Cory quote: “Alex Levy is Lazarus, and that makes me Jesus. Except I’m in more houses seven days a week.”)
It was Crudup’s second Emmy for playing Cory, having already won for the show’s first season in 2020. (In Season 2, Crudup was nominated as well, but lost to Matthew Macfadyen from “Succession,” in the first of his two Emmys.)
“Slow Horses” races past “Shōgun” for writing
Of “Shōgun’s” many overwhelming attributes, arguably the most impressive is its writing: first written in English, then translated into Japanese through a deeply complicated, multifold process. Perhaps this game of cinematic telephone struck some voters as too diffuse to honor, or perhaps more voters were just charmed by Apple TV+’s puzzle-box spy drama. Whatever the reason, the win by “Slow Horses” creator Will Smith (not that one!) over “Shōgun” writers Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks and Caillin Puente was a surprise. The moment did provide this great line from Smith: “First of all, relax. Despite my name, I come in peace.”
“Last Week Tonight” and “The Daily Show” cannot be stopped
Since 2003, just three shows have won in either the variety series or variety talk series category: “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” (and, once, the version hosted by Trevor Noah), “The Daily Show” spin-off “The Colbert Report,” and “The Daily Show” spiritual spin-off “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” That’s it!
Then for the previous Emmys, the TV Academy moved “Last Week Tonight” to the newly christened variety scripted series category because, technically, “Last Week Tonight” isn’t a talk show, where it went up against “Saturday Night Live,” which had owned the newly defunct variety sketch series category. For the 2022-2023 Emmys — when there was the barest pretense of competition with the inclusion of the final season of “A Black Lady Sketch Show” — “Last Week Tonight” proved triumphant. History repeated itself with the 2023-2024 Emmys, even in the wake of one of the stronger seasons of “Saturday Night Live” in recent memory.
Meanwhile, “The Daily Show” (now hosted by five people, including Stewart) won again in the variety talk category, beating long overdue nominees like “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
It may be an unresolvable issue given the current TV landscape, but there must be a better way than to shoehorn two specific shows into one catchall category, while another show steamrolls the competition no matter what. Surely there must be!
