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2023/24 Emmy Awards Recap!

Written by Katie Marzullo. Published: January 16 2024

 

Last night, the Primetime Emmy Awards celebrated 75th years of honoring television excellence by honoring [checks math] about 2% of the programs that actually aired last year. It was a night of, well, no surprises really, as the winners were, with very few exceptions, a carbon copy of the Golden Globes last weekend. And those that weren't were repeats from the previous Emmys.

 

"Succession" and "The Bear" both dominated the night in their respective Drama and Comedy Series categories with 6 wins each, including Series, Supporting Actor (Matthew Macfadyen and Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Supporting Actress (Ayo Edebiri), Lead Actor (Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Allen White), Lead Actress (Sarah Snook), Directing (Mark Mylod and Christopher Storer), and Writing (Jesse Armstrong and Storer), with Quinta Brunson ("Abbott Elementary") and Jennifer Coolidge (who also won last year for "The White Lotus") being the only non-"Succession"/"The Bear" creatives to win anything. Of note is that this is Brunson's first Emmy for acting after having won a writing Emmy for "Abbott Elementary" last year, which also makes her the first Black woman to win Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 42 years!

 

Not far behind was, of course, "Beef", who nearly swept the Limited/Anthology Series or TV Movie categories -- Best Series, Lead Actor (Steven Yeun), Lead Actress (Ali Wong), and Writing and Directing for Lee Sung Jin -- with supporting actors Niecy Nash ("Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story") and Paul Walter Hauser ("Black Bird") being the only non-"Beef"-ers to take home an award.

 

Also worthy of note:

 

- "RuPaul's Drag Race" continued to slay the competition by winning Outstanding Reality Competition Program, bringing its overall Emmys total to 29.

 

- AMC's "Better Call Saul" ended it's run with a spectacularly dubious stat: being the most snubbed show in Emmy's history. Yep, after 53 nominations over the course of 6 seasons, the critically-acclaimed "Breaking Bad" spinoff won exactly ZERO. ZILCH. NADA. Oof!

 

- Sir Elton John finally joined the EGOT ranks when his "Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium" won Outstanding Variety Special (Live)!

 

As for the show itself, it featured a ton of tributes and reunions of iconic shows including "The Sopranos", "Cheers", "Martin", and "Ally McBeal", plus appearances by TV legends like Carol Burnett, Joan Collins, and Rob Reiner. So, while the winners portion of the broadcast may not have been that exciting, the stuff in between was effective in keeping one's attention!

 

See y'all again in September!