BY LONDON DERNIS
When the calendar flipped to September, entertainment fans everywhere started their countdown for the Emmy awards. Countless predictions were made and nominated shows were binged in preparation for the biggest annual celebration of television.
While the Oscars recognize film and the Grammys recognize music, the Emmys recognize television, completing this media award trifecta. The Emmys celebrate excellence within various areas of television and emerging media. The program itself is run by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). This is symbolized by the design of the Emmy award statuette with a winged woman to represent art and an electron to represent science.
NATAS, founded in 1946, first presented the Emmys in 1949. The awards are voted on by academy members who vote in their own discipline. Currently, there are over 25000 members across various categories. The “popular” awards are those that go to the series and to actors. While not as “popular”, recognition is equally important for the awards that are also given for special achievements, creative arts and technical categories.
“The mission of the Television Academy is to promote creativity, diversity, innovation and excellence through recognition, education and leadership in the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences,” according to the NATAS website.
The Emmys have multiple days of celebration. The Primetime Emmy Awards are what the event is known for, premiering in the fall. Around a week before this event, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards honors technical, creative and craft categories.
The Emmys deviated from its norm and took place twice in 2024. Due to writer and actor strikes, the 2023 Emmys were postponed from Sept. 18, 2023 to Jan. 15, 2024. Since the eligibility period remained from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, there were several outdated nominations; So while “The Bear” had just won Golden Globes for season two a week prior, it won Emmys for its first season.
Fast forwarding to Sept. 15, 2024, The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards took place. The night was one that will join the longstanding history of the event, having had many standout moments.
Continuing in the discussion of “The Bear”, the intense show sparked up extensive controversy in the media for entering itself into the comedy category yet again. While this tactic worked for the 2023 Emmys, it didn’t this time around. Shocking all in attendance, including the winners themselves, comedy series “Hacks” took home the statuette for outstanding comedy series.
Still, “The Bear”, comedy or not, is an objectively outstanding show with 96% rotten tomatoes. The show took home several Primetime Emmy Awards in the comedy genre including outstanding series, supporting actress, lead actor, supporting actor and lead actress. Adding up these wins with their Creative Arts Awards, the show received a total of 11 statuettes, a record for the most wins in a single season for a comedy series.
Moving to the drama category, Samurai show “Shogun” made history by winning a record-breaking 18 emmys, the most for any show’s first season (four Primetime Emmys and 14 Creative Arts Emmys). Best Actor in a drama Hiroyuki Sanada and Best Actress in a drama Anna Sawai both took home statuettes as the first Japanese actors to win an Emmy in their respective categories.
“I really felt the weight of the moment and what it all means, historically and for my cast,” Sanada said in his acceptance speech.
Memorable moments were a common occurrence over the course of the night, especially when after six seasons, Netflix’s “The Crown” attended its final Emmys. By its end, the show earned a total of 87 nominations and 21 Emmys. Elizabeth Debicki, playing Princess Diana, accepted the award for Supporting Actress in a drama.
“Playing this part based on this unparalleled, incredible human being has been my great privilege,” Debicki said in her acceptance speech. “It has been a gift.”
Moving on to another big winner of the night, Netflix’s limited series “Baby Reindeer” won numerous awards. This show follows the true and heartbreaking story of abuse that the creator and lead actor Richard Gadd went through.
“The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling, good storytelling that speaks to our times,” Gadd said, accepting the award for outstanding limited series. “So take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable. Dare to fail in order to achieve.”
Gadd’s touching speech is true to the values of the Television Academy and the reason as to why humans create the art that is television. Today’s society exists in the uncomfortable, and there is no better place to reflect this than on a screen. With production not slowing down any time soon, the Emmys continue to recognize and celebrate the importance of television.
