Green screens. Over 130 incoming live feeds. An alpaca, somehow. The 72nd Primtime Emmys were destined to be the strangest to date thanks to an unwieldy pandemic that rendered the entire event a remote affair. To their credit, ABC and the Television Academy have been prepared to embrace an impending mess since the initial planning stages. And after five nights of pre-taped Creative Arts Emmys that still managed to end with a blunder—specifically, briefly awarding the Guest Actor In A Drama award to the wrong guy—we were more than prepared to witness a few train wrecks.
But all things considered, the night progressed without much incident at all! In fact, we could have used just a little more excitement. That poor alpaca got gussied up for nothing. Oh well. This is probably a testament to the bottomless possibilities at our fingertips. If the Emmys can progress remotely with only one tiny fire, then maybe the future of tentpole awards ceremonies can promise a slight breakaway from tradition. Imagine what a remote ceremony could look like next year with a little more time to plan.
Besides, there were, more interesting factors that were bound to make this year’s event one to watch, like the absence of now-ended shoe-ins Game Of Thrones, Veep, and even last year’s comedic upset Fleabag, leaving some highly coveted statuettes up for grabs. Prior to Sunday’s big show, the Creative Arts Emmys showed early love to RuPaul’s Drag Race, Watchmen, Saturday Night Live, and Rick And Morty. Quibi even managed to take home some gold, emphasizing that quite literally anything could happen.
The ceremony opened with earnest desperation as host Jimmy Kimmel took the stage to note that fun during these trying times is frivolous, but necessary amid a string of archived audience footage. ABC eventually removed the veil to show that things were “just a little bit different!” this year with a hall full of cardboard cutouts. And then after a string of obligatory social distancing jokes (which progressed throughout the evening, as if there aren’t a ton of other things to lampoon), the actual fun began.
Schitt’s Creek swept the comedy categories and made a little history while Watchmen also managed to win big. The drama suite proved to be a bit of a nail-biter as Succession, Euphoria, and Ozark split the lot. Succession would ultimately win for Outstanding Drama Series, but the variation proved to be one of the less predictable aspects of the night. All in all, HBO took home the most trophies, Netflix managed to cause a little bit of an upset with Ozark, and a win for Zendaya served as a nice bright spot to a quaint evening. Check out the winners below.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead To Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
Schitt’s Creek
What We Do In The Shadows
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession
Killing Eve
Outstanding Limited Series
Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Julia Garner, Ozark
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Sarah Snook, Succession
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
Samira Wiley, The Handmaids Tale
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead To Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead To Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
D’Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made: Inspired By The Life Of Madam C.J. Walker
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs. The Reverend
Louis Gossett Jr. Watchmen
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Jean Smart, Watchmen
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Full Frontal
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
A Black Lady Sketch Show
Drunk History
Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Competition Program
Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness-Queer Eye
Nicole Byer, Nailed It!
Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary - Shark Tank
Padma Lakshmi & Tom Colicchio, Top Chef
Amy Poehler & Nick Offerman, Making It
RuPaul, RuPaul’s Drag Race
Outstanding Animated Program
Big Mouth, “Disclosure The Movie: The Musical!”
Bob’s Burgers, “Pig Trouble In Little Tina”
BoJack Horseman, “The View From Halfway Down”
Rick And Morty, “The Vat Of Acid Episode”
The Simpsons, “Thanksgiving Of Horror”
Outstanding TV Movie
American Son
Bad Education
Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
The Good Place,” Whenever You’re Ready” written by Michael Schur
The Great, “The Great” written by Tony McNamara
Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” written by Daniel Levy
Schitt’s Creek, “The Presidential Suite” written by David West Read
What We Do In The Shadows, “Collaboration” written by Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil
What We Do In The Shadows, “Ghosts” written by Paul Simms
What We Do In The Shadows, “On The Run” written by Stefani Robinson,
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Better Call Saul, “Bad Choice Road” written by Thomas Schnauz
Better Call Saul, “Bagman” written by Gordon Smith Gordon Smith
The Crown, “Aberfan” written Peter Morgan
Ozark, “All In” written by Chris Mundy
Ozark, “Boss Fight” by written by John Shiban
Ozark, “Fire Pink” written by Miki Johnson
Succession, “This Is Not For Tears” written by Jesse Armstrong
Outstanding Writing For A Limited Series, Movie Or Dramatic Special
Mrs. America, “Shirley” written by Tanya Barfield, Written by
Normal People, “Episode 3" written by Sally Rooney and Alice Birch
Unbelievable, “Episode 1" Teleplay by Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman
Unorthodox, “Part 1" written by Anna Winger
Watchmen, “This Extraordinary Being” written by Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson