From satisfying victories to surprising triumphs, here are all of the major award winners in Comedy, Drama, Limited, and Variety from TV’s 73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
Simulcast on Foxtel’s FOX ARENA channel and headlined by first-time host Cedric the Entertainer, the ceremony was held in Los Angeles and with reduced attendance due to COVID-19 safety concerns, a step up from last year’s virtual only event.
Some of the year’s biggest shows including Ted Lasso, The Crown, and The Handmaid’s Tale were awaiting wins for their upwards of 10 major nominations each. While Netflix beat HBO for most network nominations for the second year in a row, with 29 across the 27 major categories.
The biggest winner of the night was Netflix with The Crown, which swept up wins in all of the Drama categories it was nominated in. While Hacks proved to be a threat to Ted Lasso sweeping in Comedy, with three wins claimed against the latter’s four. Series like The Handmaid’s Tale and WandaVision failed to take home any Emmy win, missing out against some truly tough competition.
An award by award breakdown of the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards is as follows.
After the glitz and glamour of the red carpet, the show kicked off with Cedric the Entertainer launching a TV-themed parody of Freddie Scott’s ‘Got What I Need’, complete with rapped verses by Lil Dicky and Rita Wilson.
Ted Lasso took home the first two awards in the Supporting Actress and Actor in a Comedy Series categories, with Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein winning for their main roles. For one of the most popular comedies of the year, it was an unsurprising and great start for the AppleTV+ original.
Next up was Supporting Actress and Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, where Julianne Nicholson and Evan Peters both picked up wins for their performances in Mare of Easttown.
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series went to Peter Morgan for The Crown, who accepted the award live from an Emmys celebration in London, and was told to wrap up his speech a mere few seconds into it. Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series followed, where The Crown scored again with Jessica Hobbs‘ direction in the season four finale, ‘War’.
For Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, The Crown’s Gillian Anderson won the Emmy for her incredible performance as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, one of the most expected and deserved wins of the night. The award for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series went to another The Crown star, Tobias Menzies for his role as Prince Philip, but many tipped the late Michael K. Williams to win posthumously for his performance in Lovecraft Country. This was the first surprise of the night, with Williams forever staying unrecognised at the Emmys for several incredible television performances delivered throughout his career.
The Emmys for Outstanding Variety Talk Series and Writing for a Variety Series went to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, with Oliver admitting he was rooting for Conan, which ended after a 30-year series run earlier this year.
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series had only two nominees in the category, so flip a coin between Saturday Night Live and A Black Lady Sketch Show, and your odds proved great if you landed on Saturday Night Live, which took home the Emmy for the fifth year in a row.
The cast of last year’s big Emmy winners Schitt’s Creek presented Writing for a Comedy Series, where the Emmy was awarded to the team from Hacks. Directing for a Comedy Series was another Hacks win, with Lucia Aniello beating the three Ted Lasso nominations in this category.
For Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, a third Hacks pick up with Jean Smart grabbing a pretty solid win for her role as Deborah Vance. The Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series was awarded to another firm favourite, Jason Sudeikis for playing the titular character in Ted Lasso.
For a fourth time in a row, RuPaul’s Drag Race won the Emmy for Outstanding Competition Program. A category that never looked to waiver elsewhere.
The 2021 Television Academy Governors Award recipient was actress, dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen, best known for playing dance teacher Lydia Grant in the musical-drama series Fame, which aired from 1982 to 1987.
Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie went to Scott Frank for The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Limited time to deliver his very lengthy speech saw Frank shutdown the ‘get off’ music when it played. Twice. The Writing Emmy for the same category went to favourite Michaela Coel for I May Destroy You.
The Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Emmy was given to Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown, taking home her second career Emmy. Lead Actor was scored by Ewan McGregor for his work as Halston in Halston, who didn’t seem to be on the radar for the win compared to his fellow nominees.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is usually pretty contentious, but a win for The Crown’s own Queen Elizabeth, Olivia Colman, wasn’t too much of a surprise, especially because of the snub last year when the Emmy went to Zendaya. Lead Actor in a Drama Series was awarded to another The Crown star, Josh O’Connor, who played the young Prince Charles.
The Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) went to Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020. Conan O’Brien couldn’t help but join in for the onstage celebrations. The Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) Emmy was awarded to the Disney+ musical sensation, Hamilton.
The In Memoriam segment saw the Emmys pay tribute to several stars lost in front of and behind the scenes this year, including Larry King, Christopher Plummer, Alex Trebek, Helen McCrory, Jessica Walter, Cicely Tyson and Michael K. Williams.
The Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series was an unsurprising win for Ted Lasso, which faced stiff competition from Emmy rival Hacks, as well as other popular comedies like Cobra Kai and Emily in Paris.
For Outstanding Drama Series, The Crown was pretty well tipped to take its first Emmy in this category after four seasons, and succeeded on this occasion, much to the overwhelming delight of all those involved live in London. The series proved to be popular sweeping in Lead Acting, Supporting Acting, Directing and Writing, totaling seven wins for the night.
The final Emmy of the night was for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and it was claimed by The Queen’s Gambit, which seemed pretty locked after some other wins earlier this year at both the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.
In the end, Netflix walks away with 10 wins, and HBO falls in second with only six. No doubt the teams at The Crown, Hacks, Ted Lasso, and Mare of Easttown will be happy, all claiming three or more major wins for the night.
