㽶ƵֱShogun㽶Ƶֱ had historic wins in an epic 18-Emmy first season, 㽶ƵֱHacks㽶Ƶֱ scored an upset for best comedy on what was still a four-trophy night for 㽶ƵֱThe Bear,㽶Ƶֱ and 㽶ƵֱBaby Reindeer㽶Ƶֱ had a holiday at an .
㽶ƵֱShogun,㽶Ƶֱ the FX series about power struggles in feudal Japan, won best drama series, Hiroyuki Sanada won best actor in a drama, and Anna Sawai won best actress. Sanada was the first Japanese actor to win an Emmy. Sawai became the second just moments later.
㽶Ƶֱ㽶ƵֱShogun㽶Ƶֱ taught me when we work together, we can make miracles,㽶Ƶֱ Sanada said in his acceptance speech from the stage of the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Along with 14 Emmys it , it had an unmatched performance with 18 overall for one season.
㽶ƵֱHacks㽶Ƶֱ was the of its first best comedy series award, topping 㽶ƵֱThe Bear,㽶Ƶֱ which most had expected to take it after big wins earlier in the evening.
Jean Smart won her third best actress in a comedy award for the third season of Max㽶Ƶֱs 㽶ƵֱHacks,㽶Ƶֱ in which her stand-up comic character Deborah Vance tries to make it in late-night TV. Smart has six Emmys overall.
Despite losing out on the night㽶Ƶֱs biggest comedy prize after winning it for its first season at January㽶Ƶֱs strike-delayed ceremony, FX㽶Ƶֱs 㽶ƵֱThe Bear㽶Ƶֱ star Jeremy Allen White won best actor in a comedy for the second straight year, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach repeated as best supporting actor.
And Liza Colón-Zayas was the surprise best supporting actor winner over competition that included Meryl Streep, becoming the first Latina to win in the category.
㽶ƵֱTo all the Latinas who are looking at me,㽶Ƶֱ she said, her eyes welling with tears. 㽶Ƶֱkeep believing, and vote.㽶Ƶֱ
Netflix㽶Ƶֱs darkly quirky 㽶ƵֱBaby Reindeer㽶Ƶֱ won best limited series. Creator and star Richard Gadd won for his lead acting and his writing and Jessica Gunning, who plays his tormentor, won best supporting actress.
Accepting the series award, Gadd urged the makers of television to take chances.
㽶ƵֱThe only constant across any success in television is good storytelling,㽶Ƶֱ he said. 㽶ƵֱGood storytelling that speaks to our times. So take risks, push boundaries. Explore the uncomfortable. Dare to fail in order to achieve.㽶Ƶֱ
㽶ƵֱBaby Reindeer㽶Ƶֱ is based on a one man-stage show in which Gadd describes being sexually abused along with other emotional struggles.
Accepting that award, he said, 㽶Ƶֱno matter how bad it gets, it always gets better.㽶Ƶֱ
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Gadd has.
Jodie Foster won her first Emmy to go with her two Oscars when she took best actress in a limited series for
Foster played a salty police chief investigating a mass killing in the round-the-clock dark of an Alaskan winter on the HBO show. While her castmate Kali Reis missed out on becoming the first Indigenous actor to win an Emmy in the supporting category, Foster praised her, and the show㽶Ƶֱs collaboration with Indigenous contributors.
㽶ƵֱThe Inupiaq and Inuit people of northern Alaska who told us their stories, and they allowed us to listen,㽶Ƶֱ Foster said. 㽶ƵֱThat was just a blessing. It was love, love, love, and when you feel that, something amazing happens.㽶Ƶֱ
Greg Berlanti, a producer and writer on shows including 㽶ƵֱDawson㽶Ƶֱs Creek㽶Ƶֱ and 㽶ƵֱEverwood,㽶Ƶֱ received the Television Academy㽶Ƶֱs Governors Award for his career-long contributions to improving LGBTQ visibility on television. He talked about a childhood when there was little such visibility.
㽶ƵֱThere wasn㽶Ƶֱt a lot of gay characters on television back then, and I was a closeted gay kid,㽶Ƶֱ Berlanti said. 㽶ƵֱIt㽶Ƶֱs hard to describe how lonely that was at the time,㽶Ƶֱ
The long decline of traditional broadcast TV at the Emmys continued, with zero wins between the four broadcast networks.
In the monologue that opened the ABC telecast, , who hosted with his father and 㽶ƵֱSchitt㽶Ƶֱs Creek㽶Ƶֱ co-star Eugene Levy, called the Emmys 㽶Ƶֱbroadcast TV㽶Ƶֱs biggest night for honoring movie stars on streaming services.㽶Ƶֱ
Though other than Foster, movie stars didn㽶Ƶֱt fare too well. Her fellow Oscar winners Streep and Robert Downey Jr. had been among the favorites, but came up empty.
㽶ƵֱRobert Downey Jr. I have a poster of you in my house!㽶Ƶֱ said Lamorne Morris, who beat Downey for best supporting actor in a limited series, said from the stage as he accepted his first Emmy.
The evening managed to meet many expectations but included several swerves like the win for 㽶ƵֱHacks.㽶Ƶֱ
㽶ƵֱWe were really shocked,㽶Ƶֱ 㽶ƵֱHacks co-creator Jen Statsky, who also won for writing, said after the show. 㽶ƵֱWe were truly, really surprised.㽶Ƶֱ
And 㽶ƵֱShogun㽶Ƶֱ got off to a quiet start, missing on early awards and not getting its first trophy until past the halfway point.
Still, it shattered the record for Emmys for one season previously held by the 2008 limited series 㽶ƵֱJohn Adams㽶Ƶֱ in 2008. And its acting wins would have been hard to imagine before the series became an acclaimed phenomenon.
Sanada is a 63-year-old longtime screen star whose name is little known outside Japan, even if his face is through Hollywood films like 㽶ƵֱThe Last Samurai㽶Ƶֱ and 㽶ƵֱJohn Wick Chapter 4.㽶Ƶֱ Sawai, 32, who was born in New Zealand and moved to Japan as a child, is significantly less known in the U.S. She wept when she accepted best actress.
㽶ƵֱWhen you saw me cry on stage, it was probably the 12th time I cried today,㽶Ƶֱ Sawai said backstage. 㽶ƵֱIt was just mixed emotions, wanting everyone to win all that. I may cry again now.㽶Ƶֱ
㽶ƵֱThe Bear㽶Ƶֱ would finish second with 11 overall Emmys, including guest acting wins at the Creative Arts ceremony for Jamie Lee Curtis and Jon Bernthal.
The Levys in their opening monologue mocked the show being in the comedy category.
㽶ƵֱIn honor of 㽶ƵֱThe Bear㽶Ƶֱ we will be making no jokes,㽶Ƶֱ Eugene Levy said, to laughs.
Elizabeth Debicki took best supporting actress in a drama for playing Princess Diana at the end of her life in the sixth and final season of 㽶ƵֱThe Crown.㽶Ƶֱ
㽶ƵֱPlaying this part, based on this unparalleled, incredible human being, has been my great privilege,㽶Ƶֱ Debicki said in her acceptance. 㽶ƵֱIt㽶Ƶֱs been a gift.㽶Ƶֱ
Several awards were presented by themed teams from TV history, including sitcom dads George Lopez, Damon Wayans and Jesse Tyler Ferguson and TV moms Meredith Baxter, Connie Britton, and Susan Kelechi Watson.