Emmys dominated by ‘Succession,’ ‘The Bear’ and ‘Beef’; Elton John nabs EGOT
“Abbott Elementary” creator/star Quinta Brunson made history at the top of the 75th Annual Emmy Awards Monday night, becoming just the second Black actress to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
“I love making ‘Abbott Elementary’ so much and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy,” Brunson said as she accepted the award, her second Emmy since winning the award for Comedy Writing last year.
However, the Emmys were dominated in the early parts of the ceremony by Hulu’s “The Bear,” nominated for its first season which aired in 2022.
The series’ star, Jeremy Allen White, won for Lead Actor in a Comedy, while cast members Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach nabbed wins for their supporting roles. Christopher Storer, the show’s creator, added two more statuettes in the Writing and Directing categories, although he was absent from the event.
“I am so full of gratitude to be standing in front of you all,” White told the crowd when he accepted his award. He thanked “all those who have stayed close to me, especially in this past year,” in what was interpreted as a not-so-subtle nod to his split from wife Addison Timlin last spring.
“The Bear” later took home the award for Outstanding Comedy Series.
John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” continued its winning streak at the Emmys, taking home its eighth straight award after winning for Outstanding Variety Talk Series the past seven years. This season, the HBO show beat out “Saturday Night Live” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show” to win the first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series.
Netflix’s limited series “Beef” dominated the night as well, winning five awards in the Limited or Anthology Series categories — two for Lead Actors Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, two for Outstanding Writing and Directing, and one for Outstanding Limited Series.
“Succession” continued its sweeping of award season victories, with the show capping off the night winning Outstanding Drama Series and earlier nabbing wins in the Writing and Directing categories. Stars Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook, meanwhile, took home their respective statuettes for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama.
Culkin, going up to accept his award, ditched his jacket and tossed it on the ground, fighting back tears in his acceptance speech and announcing to the world that he wants to have another child with his wife, Jazz Charton.
When Snook accepted her award, she took time to focus on thanking her newborn baby, with whom she was pregnant during the filming of “Succession’s” final season.
Throughout the night, host Anthony Anderson gave frequent shout-outs to his mother, who sat in the audience and forcefully encouraged people to keep their acceptance speeches short.
The night featured surprise guests from past television hits, including Carol Burnett, who introduced Brunson’s award, and the cast of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” who joked about it being their first time attending the Emmys despite their show being on the air for 16 seasons.
Later in the evening, Elton John reached EGOT status when his concert tour “Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium” won Outstanding Variety Special (Live). His win makes him just the 19th person ever to earn awards at the Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys.
The evening concluded with Anderson introducing a moving tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., acknowledging the fact that the Emmys ceremony was taking place on MLK Day.
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