New shows like “The Studio” and first-time acting winners swept in major categories at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday.
Comedian Nate Bargatze hosted the 77th annual show, which also raised $350,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Bargatze introduced this donation through a bit that encouraged concise thank-you’s by removing money from the charity donation each time a speech exceeded 45 seconds.
HBO Max series “The Pitt” and Apple TV+ series “The Studio” took home the Outstanding Drama and Comedy Series awards, with both series in their first seasons.
Each episode of “The Pitt” covers one hour in a single day in a Pittsburgh emergency room. Creator and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill dedicated the Outstanding Drama Award to “healthcare workers, [the] frontline” and “first responders.”
“Respect them. Protect them. Trust them,” Gemmill said in his speech.
In the press room, the cast and crew spoke about audience response to “The Pitt,” including instances where the show aided real families in medical emergencies.
“Never in a million years did we think we’d have [this] impact on individuals and their health, both people in the public and from healthcare workers,” said co-executive producer Joe Sachs.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s “The Studio” broke the record for most Emmy wins in a first season with a whopping 13. The series stars Rogen as a movie studio executive and follows the studio as they attempt to stay creative and relevant while keeping corporate at bay.
“The way that we make this show, everyone really has to come together in a sort of glorious fashion,” Rogen said in his acceptance speech for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for episode “The Oner.”
Winners in acting categories included many first-timers, like Cristin Milioti’s win for her leading role in HBO’s “The Penguin” and Britt Lower’s for “Severance.” Among these winners was 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who won Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series and now is the youngest acting Emmy winner of all time. Cooper won for his role as Jamie Miller in Netflix’s “Adolescence,” a 13-year-old boy who is arrested for murdering a girl in his class.
While many newcomers took home Primetime Emmys, legacy favorites like talk series “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and scripted variety series “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” won in their respective categories.
In the press room, The Knockturnal spoke with John Oliver following his win in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series category about how the writer’s room tackles commenting on today’s political climate, and the importance of using television and humor to process current events.
“It’s very nice to have an outlet when the world is difficult,” Oliver said. “It’s very nice that we get to come together and work on something that speaks to how we feel. I don’t think we take it for granted that we get to do that. I’d be lost without it.”
The 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
(Feature photo courtesy of the Television Academy)