The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards conducted its ceremony on Sunday, September 20, and aired on ABC with a virtual presentation due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (The Man Show), the late-night host began one of the first major awards shows in the most unconventional year of its existence. Kimmel superimposed clips of past award shows’ crowds to provide him some guaranteed reactions (even from himself at one point) for his jokes. The long-running host’s monologue saw the introduction of cutouts of nominated actors and actresses and even a live Jason Bateman (Arrested Development). Check out Kimmel’s explanation of the long-running Emmy Award show’s different presentation in his monologue below:
ABC’s presentation of this year’s Emmy Awards featured Kimmel standing in a room surrounded by screens that broadcasted the hundred-plus nominees live from their home. Despite this, the virtual presentation set the stage for potential upcoming award shows that must overcome similar challenges and obstacles that affront them during the on-going pandemic.
Announced back in late July, the 2020 Emmy Nominations seemed to have centered on three things: Netflix, HBO original content, and Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek. In total, Netflix amassed thirty-seven nominations and HBO claimed thirty-two. Schitt’s Creek claimed eight nominations and appeared to be a frontrunner in its respective comedy awards.
At the ceremony’s conclusion, Netflix was able to capture only two awards out of its thirty-seven nominations with original shows such as Ozark claiming the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Julia Garner (The Americans) and Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series for Maria Schrader’s (Nobody Loves Me) Unorthodox. With the Supporting Actress Award, Garner has repeated in the category to claim her second prize.
Additionally, HBO obtained the most victories for a network with eleven awards out of its thirty-two nominations. One of the premium network’s biggest winners includes the original drama Succession with four wins for Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Jeremy Strong, The Big Short), Writing in Drama Series (Jesse Armstrong, Fresh Meat), and Directing in a Drama Series (Andrij Parekh, Brave New World). Additionally, HBO’s limited series Watchmen also obtained four awards which included Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Actress for a Limited Series (Regina King, Jerry Maguire), Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Limited Series (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Aquaman), and Writing for a Limited Series. Furthermore, Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming) claimed her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series with her performance as Rue in HBO’s Euphoria while also becoming the youngest ever to win an Emmy for the category.
The Pop TV original comedy series Schitt’s Creek was heavily nominated for the Emmy awards this coming season similar to Netflix’s Ozark and The Crown and Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Yet, unlike these series, the Pop TV original proved its worth by claiming seven awards out of its eight nominations. The comedy show concluded its six-season run this past year and its final season claimed victory for the top comedy Emmy Awards. Winning Outstanding Comedy Series, Directing, Writing, and all four Lead and Supporting Actor/Actress for a comedy series, the series’ only nomination not to win an award was another episode nominated for Outstanding Writing only to lose to its own finale episode entitled “Happy Ending.”
In other streaming news, Apple TV+ claimed its first Emmy Award as a streaming platform with its win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in Billy Crudup’s (Almost Famous) performance in The Morning Show. However, the new Apple streaming platform failed to win any of the other four awards it was nominated for. On the other hand, Hulu amounted to only a singular win with Uzo Aduba’s (Orange is the New Black) win for her Supporting Actress role in Mrs. America.
Check out the full list of the 72nd Primetime Emmy Award Winners Below:
Outstanding Drama Series: HBO’s Succession
Outstanding Comedy Series: Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Limited Series: HBO’s Watchmen
Outstanding Variety Talk Series: HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Jeremy Strong for Succession
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Zendaya for HBO’s Euphoria
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Eugene Levy for Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Catherine O’Hara for Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Regina King for Watchmen
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Mark Ruffalo for HBO’s I Know This Much Is True
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Julia Garner for Netflix’s Ozark
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Billy Crudup for Apple TV+’s The Morning Show
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Annie Murphy for Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Dan Levy for Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Uzo Aduba for FX’s Mrs. America
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for HBO’s Watchmen
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: Jesse Armstrong for Succession, Episode: “This Is Not for Tears”
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Cord Jefferson and Damon Lindelof for Watchmen, Episode: “This Extraordinary Being”
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: Dan Levy for Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series: Andrij Parekh for Succession
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Maria Schrader for Netflix’s Unorthodox
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Andrew Cividino and Dan Levy for Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Competition Program: VH1’s RuPaul’s Drag Race