On Sept. 15, 2024, the 76th Emmy Awards were held in Los Angeles, hosted by the father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek), with some surprising outcomes.
Because of the writers and actors strikes last year, this was the second Emmys ceremony of 2024. The first one was in January after it was postponed from last September.
To begin this recap, let’s start on the red carpet. Actor D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs, FX) showed up with a red handprint on his mouth, which is a symbol representing missing and murdered Indigenous women, bringing awareness to the ongoing problem on reservations across the country. Furthermore, he made history by being the first Indigenous man to be nominated for the Lead Actor category.
For the awards, The Bear, Shogun, Baby Reindeer, and Hacks were the big winners of the night.
Hacks was a surprise winner of Best Comedy Series, over The Bear, and Jean Smart won Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
Out of the 23 record-breaking nominations, season two of The Bear won 11. Jeremy Allen White won Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Ebon Moss-Bachrach won Best Supporting Actor, and Liza CĂłlon-Zayas was the first Latina to win Best Supporting Actress. Christopher Storer won Best Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode “Fishes” (S2E6), the most chaotic, impressive, and well-done episode I’ve ever seen. It includes an impactful storyline in which we understand why Carmy is the way he is. Recently, The Bear released its third season. However, it did not make the cutoff deadline to be considered for awards this round.
Shogun makes history with a record of 18 Emmy wins. It is the first non-English language show to win Best Drama Series, and the stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai were the first Japanese actors to win Emmys (Best Actor and Best Actress in Drama Series). The director, Frederick E.O. Toye, also secured his Emmy for Best Directing for a Drama Series. The triumph represents a massive win for FX/Disney, and the show may be FX’s most-watched series ever. Fun fact: it is the second TV adaptation, the first being adapted by Paramount Television in 1980, earning 12 Emmy nominations at the time.
Baby Reindeer also had a big night. Richard Gadd, the show’s creator and lead actor, won Best Actor on a Limited Series and Best Writing for a Limited Series. Jessica Gunning, who plays Martha, won Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series. The show received the top award in the Best Limited Series.
Also in the Limited Series category, Lamorne Morris (Fargo) won Best Supporting Actor, Steven Zaillian (Ripley) won Best Directing, and Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country) won her first-ever Emmy for Best Actress after five decades of TV work.
The Crown, one of the biggest Netflix shows, was nominated in 18 categories but won only three. Elizabeth Debicki won Best Supporting Actress for a Drama Series for her incredible role as Princess Diana. She was the only actor to win for the show this season. The show had an extraordinary run at the Emmys for its six seasons and won 23 Emmys out of 87 nominations.
One of the most popular Apple TV+ shows, The Morning Show, won three out of 16 nominations for this season. One of them was Best Supporting Actor for a Drama Series for Billy Crudup, which is the main glue and pillar of the show.
Some popular series were not able to guarantee their Emmys this season. Only Murders in the Building had a total of 21 nominations and won three of them. Some of the nominees were Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Da’Vine Joy, Matthew Broderick, lead actors Steve Maritn and Martin Short, and first-time nominee Selena Gomez.
The comedy show Abbott Elementary had nine nominations and, unfortunately, did not receive an award in any of the categories. The nominees were Quinta Brunson, winner of Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2023, Janelle James, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Tyler James Williams.
There are some debates arguing whether some shows are being nominated in the right category (like being clearly a drama show but being nominated as a comedy show), resulting in the real comedy shows losing their opportunity to get an award.
One of the most recent Apple TV+ shows, Lessons in Chemistry, debuted at the Emmys with ten nominations but only won in one category. Unfortunately, Oscar winner Brie Larson was nominated and did not receive an Emmy this time. Lessons in Chemistry is based on Bonnie Garmus’ book, one of my favorite readings of 2023.
More details on this year’s winners and nominees are listed on the Emmys website.