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Emmy Awards 2024: ‘Shogun’ has record night, ‘Hacks’ outdoes ‘The Bear’ for top comedy prize

Jeremy Allen White, left, Liza Colón-Zayas and Ebon Moss-Bachrach pose in the press room Sunday with their awards for their roles in “The Bear” during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
Jeremy Allen White, left, Liza Colón-Zayas and Ebon Moss-Bachrach pose in the press room Sunday with their awards for their roles in “The Bear” during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
New York Times

New York Times

“Shogun,” FX’s big-budget chronicle of feudal Japan, took best drama honors at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, putting an exclamation point on a record-breaking run for the rookie series.

And at an awards show that can be short on surprises, there was a major one: “Hacks” defeated “The Bear,” the reigning winner, for best comedy.

“Shogun” set a new high at the Emmys, earning 18 awards overall, the most wins for a show in a single year, beating a 16-year-old record set by the HBO mini-series “John Adams.” Hiroyuki Sanada won for best actor in a drama, and Anna Sawai took best actress.

The wins represent a major breakthrough for a foreign-language series. Though it was made by an American network (FX, which is owned by Disney) and appeared on a domestic streaming service (Hulu), roughly 70% of the show’s dialogue was in Japanese. Foreign-language series like “Squid Game” have won a handful of Emmys but never seriously threatened in a top category like best drama.

In the comedy awards, there were some signals during the ceremony that “Hacks” might have real momentum. Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky won for best writing for a comedy series, defeating “The Bear,” which had been the heavy favorite in the category.

Ever since “The Bear” set a record for the most nominations for any comedy series in Emmy history in July, something of a backlash began emerging among some industry observers. Few people questioned the quality of the show, but there was mounting frustration that “The Bear,” a tense workplace series that takes place in Chicago’s dining scene, was even eligible in the comedy awards.

“In the true spirit of ‘The Bear,’ we will not be making any jokes,” Eugene Levy, one of the Emmy hosts, said at the top of the ceremony.

“The Bear” did not go entirely empty-handed. Jeremy Allen White won for the second time in a row for best actor in a comedy, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach won for best supporting actor, making him a repeat winner as well. Liza Colón-Zayas won her first Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy.

Here’s what else happened at the Emmys:

  • Netflix’s ‘Baby Reindeer’ wins big in limited series: Netflix’s out-of-nowhere hit “Baby Reindeer” won a slew of awards in the limited series categories. In addition to the best limited series award, Richard Gadd won for best actor in a limited series, and Jessica Gunning won for best supporting actress in a limited series. Jodie Foster won her first Emmy in her role as a small-town police officer in HBO’s latest season of “True Detective.”
  • ‘The Traitors’ bests RuPaul: There’s a changing of the guard in the reality competition category. Peacock’s breakout hit, “The Traitors,” won the award, upsetting a perennial winner, “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The writing was on the wall. The host of “The Traitors,” Alan Cumming, won the Emmy for best host in a reality show at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend, besting RuPaul who had won that award eight years in a row.
  • A new reign begins for ‘The Daily Show’: When Jon Stewart helmed “The Daily Show” in the 2000s and 2010s, he won in the late-night category a whopping 11 times. With Stewart’s once-a-week return in February, “The Daily Show” has now started another run, winning on Sunday. Stewart was up against Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers.
  • Smaller lineup: The television industry is in the midst of a contraction, and Sunday’s ceremony reflected that. The number of shows submitted in the drama and comedy categories plummeted this year. Some categories (like best talk show) even lost nominee slots because of a lack of submissions.
  • Two Emmys, one year: For the first time in 75 years, there have been two Emmy Awards ceremonies in the same calendar year. The 2023 ceremony was delayed until January because of last year’s Hollywood strikes. That January telecast had just over 4 million viewers, the lowest ever recorded, and producers of the broadcast were hopeful for a turnaround.