Squid Game, Succession, Ted Lasso, and The White Lotus were just a few of the popular shows that had a big night at the Emmys. There were some incredibly odd musical selections (why did Jesse Armstrong receive an Emmy for writing Succession and enter the stage to “Shake Your Booty”?) and scenes that dragged on for far too long (especially Jimmy Kimmel’s play-dead routine, which continued through Quinta Brunson’s comedy writing win for Abbott Elementary). However, there were also inspiring speeches and triumphs, and we’re here to examine five lessons learned from the ceremony as a whole. (The full list of winners is provided here.)
1. The night belonged to the great Sheryl Lee Ralph.
This was not one of those years where you had to try to decide which part of the ceremony was the best.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s acceptance speech for Abbott Elementary’s outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series was not only the highlight of the evening but also one of the best moments of the Emmys. perhaps ever?
Few people could perform “Endangered Species” by Dianne Reeves a cappella as well as Ralph did when he took the stage. Then she gave a stirring, lovely, and inspiring speech about the value of never giving up on your dreams and appreciating everyone who looks out for you.
2. Still, the program needs to devote more time to speeches and less to montages and pre-written banter.
With a few notable exceptions, this particular Emmy ceremony seemed to be quickly burning people out, despite the fact that some of them, like Jennifer Coolidge, were very entertaining. For her role in The White Lotus, Coolidge won the award for best supporting actress in a limited series. When “Hit The Road, Jack” began to play, she decided to dance instead of rushing off stage, which was met with applause from the audience.
Even when those sketches were performed by talented comedians like host Kenan Thompson and the very funny Bowen Yang, dull montages that were little more than “here are some TV shows” were allowed to linger, as were scripted bits that seemed less satisfying than the cut-off speeches. Betting on the charm of a speech rather than another montage will almost never be a mistake; award show producers seem convinced that viewers care more about everything that happens before and after the awards than they do about the actual awards.
3. There were not many significant surprises
Both Ted Lasso and Succession were predicted to triumph in their respective comedy series and drama series categories, and they did.
With victories for Mike White in directing and writing, along with Coolidge and Murray Bartlett in the supporting categories, The White Lotus swept the limited series awards.
But none of those programs won the most awards. Michael Keaton won for lead actor in Dopesick, while Amanda Seyfried won for lead actress in The Dropout. Lee Jung-jae, the first Asian man to ever receive such an honor, won lead actor in a drama series for Squid Game. The fact that someone won for a non-English speaking performance may come as a surprise, but the show’s widespread popularity and the number of nominations it received had already given the impression that it had a good chance of succeeding.
The reality competition category’s most pleasant surprise was probably Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls, which ended RuPaul’s Drag Race’s four-win winning streak. With that victory came (of course) a strong and enthusiastic speech from Lizzo about the value of representation, which became a recurring theme throughout the evening.
4. Still, a lot of repetition is present.
There were many repeat winners despite fierce competition in almost every category and a dearth of programs that dominated the awards in the same way that sitcoms like Frasier and Modern Family once did.
It was the sixth time in a row that Saturday Night Live had won the variety sketch category; the result was fairly predictable. Its only competitor was A Black Lady Sketch Show.
In the outstanding drama series category, Succession won again in 2020, while Ted Lasso won again in 2017 for outstanding comedy series. In the lead and supporting categories, respectively, Ted Lasso actors Jason Sudeikis and Brett Goldstein triumphed once more.
Not only that. Zendaya, who took home the prize for best lead actress in a drama series two years prior for Euphoria, triumphed once more. For the second year in a row, Jean Smart won for lead actress in a comedy series for her role in Hacks. Perhaps most impressively, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver continued to outperform The Daily Show and all other network late-night programming by winning its seventh consecutive award for outstanding variety talk series.
5. People desire to see genuine chances for new winners.
Standards for when a show has won “too much” appear to have changed since the days when there were fewer shows to choose from. In those days, it wasn’t until something racked up five or six wins that pressure started to mount to get something else, anything else, up on stage with a win.
But now that there is so much available and so much that is good, even two wins for Ted Lasso seem redundant, especially when there is a program like Abbott Elementary that feels so new.
The Emmys are beginning to experience an unenviable problem: Even when people disagree with the results of a competition, it may not necessarily be the case that a show was undeserving, but rather that there was another option that should have been considered in a crowded category. Even the legendary Jean Smart, who won countless fans over the course of a remarkable career and was superb on Hacks, may not have been everyone’s first choice. That wasn’t due to her skill; rather, it was because she had to compete against freshmen like Brunson and Issa Rae, who has been nominated for Insecure numerous times but has never won. The Squid Game wins has a fresh feel because of this; it’s a new show.
One thing is for a victory to feel earned, and another is for it to feel thrilling. Bring on the new competitors; even a second or third victory can get stale after a while.
