Los Angeles: After a year of unprecedented turmoil in Hollywood due to WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, this year’s 75th Primetime Emmy Awards that recognizes some of the best works on TV finally took place on Tuesday.
The ceremony turned out several surprises with the ‘The Bear’ bagging six awards while to ‘Better Call Saul’ saw most losses ever, reported Variety.
The evening’s highlights included Jennifer Coolidge thanking “all the evil gays,” Niecy Nash-Betts thanking herself and “every Black and Brown woman who have gone unheard, yet overpoliced,” and nominee Christina Applegate’s emotional, humorous presence as the show’s first presenter.
HBO’s “Succession” had its final victory lap after the Jesse Armstrong-created series finished in May of last year, with well-deserved awards for actresses Sarah Snook.
What the show didn’t have a great deal of was shocking surprises or upsets, but there were still some unexpected wins throughout the night. Here they are!
‘Better Call Saul’ ended forever as the most snubbed series of all time
Now we see Jimmy McGill shouting, “Zero for 53?!” It’s true that you didn’t win any Emmys, Jimmy/Saul. Not for Bob Odenkirk, who received six nominations for drama main actor because of his enduring, beloved role in “Breaking Bad,” which served as the inspiration for the AMC spinoff. Not Rhea Seehorn, who gave a superb, nuanced performance as Jimmy’s friend, partner, and eventually wife, Kim Wexler.
Not for the show’s excellent writing, not its directing, nor for any of the supporting characters (Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito). And not the programme itself, which was nominated seven times since its 2015 premiere. What is the opposite of Jimmy’s flip, frightening “S’all good, man!” at the end of “Better Call Saul” Season 4, when he says it to a terrified Kim?This show being completely, utterly, you-cannot-ever-take-this-back-TV-Academy-members blanked.
“Ted Lasso” is shut out
‘Ted Lasso’ was an Emmy-winning comedy series for its first two seasons, taking home multiple accolades including lead actor (Jason Sudeikis) and supporting actor (Brett Goldstein), as well as individual trophies for supporting actress (Hannah Waddingham, 2021) and director (MJ Delaney, 2022). Often, the Emmys pick a show they love and stick with it for multiple years (e.g. “Veep,” “Modern Family,” “30 Rock”). However, the third and, most likely, last season of “Ted Lasso” was completely ignored this year due to poor reviews from critics, viewers, and, apparently, Emmy voters. (The programme did, however, win two Creative Arts Emmys: one for Sam Richardson’s original music and lyrics and another for guest acting in a comedy.)
‘The Bear’ wins all the Emmys
According to Variety, in place of ‘Ted Lasso’, FX’s restaurant dramedy ‘The Bear’ not only won best comedy for its freshman season, it won practically everything else: actor (Jeremy Allen White), supporting actress (Ayo Edebiri) and actor (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), directing and writing (both to Christopher Storer). It’s all the more remarkable considering these awards are ostensibly for a season that first streamed on Hulu all the way back in June 2022. Given that “The Bear” just won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for best comedy for its second season, its fair to say that Carmy and Co. will be on the menu again for the 2023-2024 Emmys in September.
‘Last Week Tonight’ beats ‘Saturday Night Live’ in first head-to-head matchup
Following an almost a millennium-old announcement, the rules were altered in December 2022, and John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” became the inaugural winner of the Television Academy’s new Scripted Variety Series category. Consequently, “Saturday Night Live” lost to the topical HBO show, which has annihilated all entrants in the variety discussion category since 2016, rather than defeating “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” as it has done in the traditional variety category in recent years.
Since there doesn’t seem to be a perfect answer in this case, let’s suppose that the regulations could very easily be changed again. Lorne Michaels of “SNL” is undoubtedly not happy about this development. Later in the show, “Last Week Tonight” was awarded for Writing for a Variety Series as well.
Trevor Noah won for his final season of ‘The Daily Show’.
It was a fairly open field when Oliver was disqualified from the variety talk category, but the wise bet was on Stephen Colbert to win the Emmy for ‘The Late Show’. Rather, “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” emerged victorious for Noah’s last season of hosting the show (his last episode aired in December 2022, demonstrating just how dated this year’s Emmys felt). With the exception of “The Colbert Report,” which took home the Emmy instead, “The Daily Show” won nearly every Emmy in this category while Jon Stewart was its host. That being said, I apologise to everyone who hosts variety shows but was never a part of “The Daily Show,” as you will never be an Emmy winner, reported Variety.
