By JJ Ledewitz, Arts and Culture Editor
The 77th Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, saw many popular (and less popular) television shows nominated for their excellence. Here is an overview of the major winners and losers of the most recent year of television:
The Winners
The Studio
Apple TV’s satirical series starring Seth Rogen as a Hollywood studio head received a whopping 23 nominations, breaking the record for the most-nominated comedy debut ever. It absolutely swept the Emmys, with Rogen winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The series also took home Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and collected Emmys for its casting, costumes and cinematography. With a second season on the way, The Studio is collecting awards while seeming to poke fun at the environment and people who give out the awards, possibly making its entire satirical aspect come full circle.
Severance: Season 2
Despite only winning two minor Emmys for its brilliantly crafted first season, Severance proved that it could follow up its first season with a fantastic second one, earning 27 nominations and winning eight awards. Britt Lower won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and snuck a fun little reference for true Severance fans on the back of the note she used to read her acceptance speech. Tramell Tillman received the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Seth Milchick, becoming the first Black man to receive the award in Emmy history. The show also received awards for its cinematography and production design. With a smaller gap confirmed between Seasons 2 and 3, keep a look out for Severance dominating the Emmys once again in a few years.
The Penguin
HBO’s limited series, a dark take on the iconic comic book character, received 24 nominations and collected nine wins. Although Colin Farrell didn’t take home an award for his portrayal of the titular character, Cristin Millioti did receive the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her portrayal of Sofia Falcone. The series also took home awards for its costumes, hairstyling, makeup and music. Being a limited series, it seems that The Penguin will not be a future threat in the awards race, although there have been talks of a second season. If a second series does get greenlit, it could be a winner once again.
Other Winners
HBO’s fast-paced medical drama The Pitt received 13 nominations, and won five awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. Noah Wyle collected the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Katherine LaNasa took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Unlike most other TV series, The Pitt will be sticking to the long-forgotten one-season-per-year model, and so with a second season set to premiere in January, The Pitt may be a recurring force at the Emmys for another half-decade.
Netflix’s crime drama Adolescence took home the award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, the first of its eight wins (out of 13 nominations). In the Limited or Anthology Series category, Stephen Graham won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor, and Erin Doherty received one for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Notably, 15-year-old Owen Cooper took home the award for Supporting Actor — becoming the youngest male actor to ever win an Emmy. With there being vague talks about a second season, Adolescence may be a future Emmy threat.
The Losers
The White Lotus: Season 3
Despite being a prominent Emmy threat during its first two seasons (42 nominations and 15 wins over the past few years), the third season of HBO’s dark comedy series got 23 nominations, but won only a single award — Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s theme music. With Tapia de Veer officially not returning for the next season of The White Lotus due to creative differences with series creator Mike White, it seems that the series must pick up the slack to avoid disappearing into obscurity, without anything to garner awards.
The Last of Us: Season 2
With its first season dominating the Emmys two years ago, it seemed like all The Last of Us had to do was avoid the pitfalls of the video game its story is based on. Yet, despite the second season receiving 16 nominations, it only won one award, making it clear that something definitely went wrong. Despite receiving nominations for both its lead actor and lead actress, the only award it claimed was Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour). Unlike two years ago, the series did not win any awards for its special effects, prosthetics or production design. With a third season in the works, something must change, or The Last of Us may be remembered as a one-season wonder.
The Bear: Season 3
For the past two years, The Bear has been a clear threat during Emmy season. Its first two seasons received nominations for a collective 30 Emmys, which translated to 21 wins. This year, the series received 13 nominations but didn’t win a single award. In the comedy category, it was nominated for Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, but to no avail. It seems that the yearly TV series was finally beaten by other shows, although with Season 4 already released, it could take revenge during the next Emmy season.
Other Losers
HBO’s dark comedy Hacks only took home three wins out of its 14 nominations; the only notable award was Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Hannah Einbinder’s portrayal of comedy writer Ava Daniels. With a fifth and final season greenlit, Hacks needs to show more for itself in order to finally receive the awards it deserves.
Despite receiving 11 nominations, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story only won one award: Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Although there was a lot of buzz around the show’s award potential, the Ryan Murphy series didn’t outshine its competition. With much of its cast being nominated in their respective categories, it seems that there were other shows that proved to be better than this was.
This year’s Emmys was somewhat of a success in my book. Severance finally received the awards it deserved. Seth Rogen’s genius comedy making fun of the entertainment industry was celebrated by not only everyday watchers, but by the industry itself. And while HBO succeeded with The Penguin, the platform’s TV series that usually dominate the Emmys — mainly The White Lotus, Hacks and The Last of Us — each barely crawled out of the Emmys alive, hopefully teaching the studio a lesson or two about the increasing importance of creating new content. But like every year, it’s important to remember that the Emmys don’t decide what’s good. That’s the job of the everyday viewer.
Photo Credit: Unsplash