By Diana Morose
The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards Show was held Sunday Sept. 15 at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles making it the third Emmys event held this year.
The last Primetime Emmys was held back in January, having been pushed back due to the strikes by writers and actors, but we’re all caught up now and back on schedule!
The event was hosted by father-son duo Dan and Eugene Levy and throughout the show they threw humorous barbs at one another -- most notably a back and forth about losing out on award-winning roles to actors present within the audience. Their segments kept the event lighthearted and tried to keep the momentum going for each category nomination, but there were moments that lulled.
There was a running segment where actors were paired together as presenters based on a commonality shared due to the notable roles they played. One was ‘TV Dads,’ featuring George Lopez, Damon Wayans and Jesse Tyler Ferguson presenting the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a comedy series.
The segment was a bit lackluster as there was not much differentiation from the talking points of other presenters. The only difference was that set designs were incorporated. It felt like this aspect could have been left out so that award winners had ample time to give their speeches instead of being rushed through them due to the time constraints.
One of the main sticking points from the 76th Primetime Emmys was the championing of diversity and inclusion.
John Leguizamo applauded the diversity in the Emmy nominees and gave an impassioned speech about Latin representation. He has previously been a large voice urging for actors of color to be recognized in Hollywood. In 2022, Leguizamo wrote an open letter to Hollywood addressing this, which was published in the Los Angeles Times. He remarks during his speech that “not complaining doesn’t change anything.”
There were numerous first time Emmy winners and nominees that broke ground for their communities. For the first time in 17 years, Indigenous actors, Lily Gladstone, D’Pharaoh Woon-ATai and Kali Reis, were able to land acting nominations at the Emmys. Liza Colón-Zayas became the first Latina actress to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in “The Bear.”
Shows like “The Bear” and “Baby Reindeer” won four awards respectively while “Hacks” took home the award for Best Comedy Series. While this might have come as a shock to some due to “The Bear” winning many of the acting categories for a comedy series, there has been controversy around whether the show is miscategorized as a comedy instead of a drama. There were jokes throughout the event made about this that leaves questions of whether the differing opinions on the matter made the judges hesitant to award “The Bear” for Best Comedy over an unambiguous comedy like “The Hacks.”
“SHOGUN” was the focal point of the night, winning 18 Emmys out of 25 nominations, an all-time record for wins for a single season of television. The historical drama set in feudal Japan is the first primarily non-English language show to win Outstanding Drama Series in Emmy history. Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai were awarded their first Emmys for the series, simultaneously becoming the first Japanese actor and actress to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
While some may have Emmys fatigue due to the multiple events within the same calendar year, it was a refreshing night of firsts on the diversity front with talent being recognized in first-time winners.
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