Emmy awards 2024: A night of historic wins and memorable moments

It doesn’t matter what your age is or where you live. There’s just something about an award show that draws you in.

If it’s not the Grammys or Eurovision as an emotional rollercoaster, it’s the Emmys, and there are plenty of big wins to celebrate after this year’s annual event.

Biggest wins of the night

The Emmys are a night of glitz and glamour. The biggest stars come together to celebrate the most popular TV shows and honour the hottest TV celebs. The crowds gathered at the LA Live Peacock Theatre for the announcement of the wins in the different categories.

It’s a refreshing change after the 2023 ceremony got delayed until January 2024. This also means that the stars gather for the awards ceremony for the second time this year.

The Bear

Their co-star, Liza Colón-Zayas, also won her first Emmy as a supporting actress. The Hacks star Jean Smart won as the lead actress in a comedy, and to everyone’s surprise, HBO’s Hacks also won an outstanding comedy over The Bear, which many believed would be the frontrunner.

Despite the loss in this category, The Bear managed to break its own record of 10 comedy wins in a single season (last year) and collect 11 trophies this year.

Shogun

Another impressive range of wins came from Shogun, which added Outstanding Drama, Lead Actor (Hiroyuki Sanada), Lead Actress (Anna Sawai), and Directing for Frederick E.O. Toye.

Shogun is a hit FX series that reimagines the popular previous version of the show. It was the leaders of the night with 25 nominees.

What’s it about? The show is an adaptation of James Clavell’s best-selling novel based in medieval Japan. It is a story that infuses history with fantasy, creating an immersive, fascinating tale that now and again touches on an elevated state. In the plot, Toranaga uses Blackthorne (his captive) to wangle himself into position to become Shogun.

Fair warning: the plot is as complex as the Japanese history. It took Clavell four years to write and has over half a million words. It might just take 4 years to read, but luckily, you can watch the show.

Other big wins

It was a big night for Jodie Foster, who took home the first Emmy of her career for starring in HBO’s True Detective: Night Country.

Most wins for the Emmy’s 2024, including Creating Arts:

A big surprise

While the majority of wins were suspected and awaited, some surprised many, such as Hacks earning the top comedy award. This series is about two female comedians from different generations.

That being said, Hacks has quickly established itself as a favourite in the industry, getting recognition for exploring changing entertainment norms.

A surprising win was David Beckham’s Netflix docuseries, Beckham: What Makes David Run. At the Creative Arts Emmys, the docuseries won in the Documentary or Nonfiction Series Category. Beckham was in complete disbelief at the win after it was nominated in five different categories.

Some remarks afterwards

Another thing that made the show a bit more drag was the whole ‘Tribute to—character name here—‘segment, which featured tributes to different dads, moms, doctors, coaches, cops, lawyers, and others.

Throughout the tributes, actors who played that specific archetype would come up. Then, there would be some banter about what it is to play that character. After this, they would hand out an award that had no direct correlation with the archetype, their speech, or the tribute. It was kind of odd and seemed like a waste of time and talent. It might be best if they stick to the montages.

Fur-friendly moments

One thing that you would’ve noticed is the increased focus on house pets on social media and even at the 2024 Emmys. Relatively early in the evening, singer and actress Selena Gomez made a joke about her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Martin Short and Steve Martin basically being ‘childless cat ladies’ – a nod to GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance’s generalisations about the Democratic party.

We can’t forget Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, who accepted the award for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series. Oliver had a lot of interesting moments, starting by saying "Husband" in place of his son Hudson’s name. He also got teary-eyed as he thanked his recently deceased family dog, with the music playing louder to get Oliver and his team moving.

Oliver said that it’s a perfect choice of music that makes him feel like Sarah McLachlan. He finished paying tribute to all dogs, stating that all dogs are very good girls and very good boys that deserve a treat. He finished strong, telling the producers to ‘Play me off now’.