The 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards show took place on Sunday, September 15th, to honor the biggest stars and shows in television this year. “Shogun” took home the most awards between both the Primetime and Creative Art Emmys, taking home a grand total of 18 awards, the most for a drama series in a single year, with “The Bear” taking home the second most, with 11, which is the most for a comedy series in a single year.
“Shogun” had a big day on the night, taking home awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor in a Drama Series with Hiroyuki Sanada, Lead Actress in a Drama Series with Anna Sawai, and Directing for a Drama Series. According to Gretty Garcia of Cosmopolitan, in her acceptance speech Anna Sawai said, “This is to all the women who expect nothing and continue to be an example for everyone. Thank you so much!” (Garcia, Sept. 15th). Sawai was the first woman of Asian descent to win the Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Moving over to the awards for comedy shows, where a major upset took place in the award for Outstanding Comedy Series, where “Hacks” upset “The Bear” for the award. Throughout the show, as “Hacks” took home more awards, like Lead Actress in a Comedy Series with Jean Smart and Best Writing for a Comedy Series, people could start seeing a potential upset happening, and it did. “The Bear” still took home 11 awards in total, with Jeremy Allen White taking home Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and the show also took home both Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
There is some controversy revolving around “The Bear” and the fact that it’s in the Comedy category despite it being a more series and dramatic show. According to Patrick Ryan of USA Today, even the hosts made jokes about it, saying, “Now, I love the show, I love the show, and I know some of you will be expecting us to make a joke about whether “The Bear” is really a comedy. But in the true spirit of “The Bear”, we will not be making any jokes,” (Ryan, Sept. 15th). We’ll see if they move the show to the Drama category next year.
