Shōgun has made Emmys history as the first ever non-English language series to win for best drama.
The historical epic, based on the 1975 novel, picked up four awards during the evening, including Emmys for lead stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, the first Japanese actors to win their respective awards.
Sanada said the show taught him that “when people work together, we can make miracles, we can create a better future together”.
This month, Shōgun, which can be streamed on Hulu and Disney+, made history at the Creative Arts Emmys, where many technical and guest acting trophies are given, winning 14 awards in one night, the most a series has ever won in a single year.
It is the second Emmys in the same year after last year’s ceremony was postponed as a result of the dual Hollywood strikes. In January, the final season of Succession dominated the awards.
Hacks was the surprise winner of best comedy series, beating previous winner The Bear and Abbott Elementary. Star Jean Smart took home the award for lead actress, her third win for the role. The HBO show, about two female comedians working together, also won for best writing for a comedy series.
The Bear took the majority of the comedy awards winning four Emmys including acting trophies for Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Liza Colón-Zayas who beat out Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett to win her first Emmy. “To all the Latinas that are looking at me, keep believing and vote,” she said during an emotive speech. “Vote for your rights.”
The combined wins from last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys and tonight have made the second season of The Bear the most awarded comedy season in Emmys history. Hosts Eugene and Dan Levy joked about the categorisation of the show, which has come under fire in recent months. “Now, 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,” Eugene said.
Netflix breakout Baby Reindeer also won four awards including for limited or anthology series and acting awards for Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning. It also won two Emmys at last weekend’s ceremony.
“I never thought I would be able to rectify what had happened to me and get myself back on my feet again,” Gadd said during his speech for winning a writing award. “Nothing lasts forever and no matter how bad it gets, it always gets better so if you keep struggling keep going and I promise things will be okay.”
During the speech for winning limited or anthology series, he spoke about the importance of making big swings in television. “Take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable, dare to fail in order to achieve,” he said.
Last week, the $170m defamation trial brought against Netflix for the show was dated for next May. The alleged inspiration for the show’s stalker has claimed the drama series has negatively impacted her life.
In the remaining limited or anthology series categories, Lamorne Morris was also named best supporting actor for Fargo and Steven Zaillian won best directing for Ripley.
Jodie Foster was named best actress in a limited or anthology series for True Detective: Night Country, her first Emmy win. She called the making of the show a “magical experience”. She beat out Naomi Watts and Brie Larson.
The final season of The Crown took home just one award for Elizabeth Debicki, who was named best supporting actress in a drama series. It was the actor’s second nomination for playing Princess Diana and first win. “Playing this part based on this unparalleled, incredible human being has been my great privilege,” she said in her speech.
Billy Crudup was named best supporting actor in a drama series for The Morning Show while Slow Horses’ Will Smith won for writing in a drama series.
The US version of The Traitors was named best reality competition program, beating out RuPaul’s Drag Race which has won the award four times before. At last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, Alan Cumming was also named best host.
Much-nominated shows that came away empty-handed during the ceremony included Mr and Mrs Smith, Only Murders in the Building, Fallout and Abbott Elementary.
The night also included a number of cast reunions, including for Happy Days, Saturday Night Live, celebrating its 50th year, and The West Wing. Richard Schiff joked that many of today’s actual political headlines would be deemed “a bit far-fetched if not utterly ridiculous 25 years ago”.
Co-host Dan Levy, who previously won an Emmy for his hit sitcom Schitt’s Creek, called the Emmys “broadcast TV’s biggest night for honouring movie stars on streaming services” in the opening speech.
There were also a number of mentions of Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance and his controversial comments. Only Murders in the Building nominee Selena Gomez referred to herself as a childless cat lady while presenting an award while Candice Bergen also turned an anecdote about her series Murphy Brown into a jab.
“In one classic moment, my character was attacked by vice-president Dan Quayle when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother,” she said. “Oh, how far we’ve come. Today a Republican candidate for vice-president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done. Meow.”
John Leguizamo also spoke on stage about the lack of diversity within the television industry, calling reference to a full-page advert that he took out in the New York Times to criticise the television academy. He spoke about the changes that have taken place, praising this year’s diverse set of nominees but stressing the need for more to be done.
• This article was amended on 16 September 2024. An earlier version of the subheading said Shōgun was a Netflix show. It can be streamed on Hulu and Disney+.
