The 2024 Emmy Awards Were Aggressively Fine

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 16, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 16, 2024 |

It’s crazy that television is arguably bigger than movies now, but the Emmys still aren’t nearly as big a draw as the Oscars. This year — which has featured two Emmy ceremonies within nine months of each other, thanks to the writers’ strike — was no exception. The ceremony also had two major things going against it: a Sunday night football game and no ability to watch it for those who don’t have cable (or an antenna). This seemed particularly misguided seeing as how less than a week ago, I watched a live event — the Presidential debate — on Disney+, so clearly Disney+/Hulu are capable of airing live events. Why did they opt not to here?

Eugene and Dan Levy hosted, and the best that could be said for them was that they were fine. We’re apparently in the era of awards shows where making fun of the celebrities is not a thing we do anymore because apparently 1) celebrities can no longer take a joke, and/or 2) some of the jokes are actually mean-spirited (hi! Ricky Gervais!), which is no fun, either. This is why Kimmel has been so reliably decent over the last several years: He razzes the industry, but he doesn’t skewer it. It’ll be interesting to see how Nikki Glaser fares at the Golden Globes.

As for the awards themselves? Much of the evening went mostly as expected: The Bear took home a lot of awards in comedy, as did Shōgun in drama and Baby Reindeer in limited series. The surprises were in the awards those three shows did not win, in particular a very well-deserved Emmy for Best Comedy to Hacks, which has indeed gotten better (and the lack of comedy in The Bear may have caught up to The Bear in the comedy category). Jean Smart also took home the best lead actress in that category.

The other fun surprises were seeing Lamorne Morris win for supporting actor in Fargo, which was probably as big a surprise to him (and Robert Downey, Jr.) as anyone else. RDJ’s role in The Sympathizer was basically created for Emmy consideration.

Likewise, Liza Colón-Zayas’s win over Meryl Streep, Hannah Einbinder, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Carol Burnett had to be a shock to her and everyone else. Her acceptance speech was nice, too.

And that was the general tenor of most of the night’s speeches: They were nice. Barely memorable, but nice. Like the hosts. The whole thing was fine. Here were the winners.

Outstanding Comedy Series:
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Hacks
Only Murders in the Building
Palm Royale
Reservation Dogs
What We Do in the Shadows



Outstanding Drama Series:
The Crown
Fallout
The Gilded Age
The Morning Show
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Shōgun
Slow Horses
3 Body Problem



Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series:
Baby Reindeer
Fargo
Lessons in Chemistry
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country



Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series:
Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows)
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Jeremy Allen White (The Bear)
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs)



Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)
Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building)
Maya Rudolph (Loot)
Jean Smart (Hacks)
Kristen Wiig (Palm Royale)



Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
Idris Elba (Hijack)
Donald Glover (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
Walton Goggins (Fallout)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)
Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun)
Dominic West (The Crown)



Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show)
Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age)
Maya Erskine (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
Anna Sawai (Shōgun)
Imelda Staunton (The Crown)
Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show)



Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:
Matt Bomer (Fellow Travelers)
Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer)
Jon Hamm (Fargo)
Tom Hollander (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans)
Andrew Scott (Ripley)



Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:
Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country)
Brie Larson (Lessons in Chemistry)
Juno Temple (Fargo)
Sofía Vergara (Griselda)
Naomi Watts (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans)



Outstanding Reality Competition Program:
The Amazing Race
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Traitors
The Voice



Outstanding Talk Series:
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert



Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:
Lionel Boyce (The Bear)
Paul W. Downs (Hacks)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear)
Paul Rudd (Only Murders in the Building)
Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)
Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live)



Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:
Carol Burnett (Palm Royale)
Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)
Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building)



Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Tadanobu Asano (Shōgun)
Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)
Mark Duplass (The Morning Show)
Jon Hamm (The Morning Show)
Takehiro Hira (Shōgun)
Jack Lowden (Slow Horses)
Jonathan Pryce (The Crown)



Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Christine Baranski (The Gilded Age)
Nicole Beharie (The Morning Show)
Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown)
Greta Lee (The Morning Show)
Lesley Manville (The Crown)
Karen Pittman (The Morning Show)
Holland Taylor (The Morning Show)



Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:
Jonathan Bailey (Fellow Travelers)
Robert Downey Jr. (The Sympathizer)
Tom Goodman-Hill (Baby Reindeer)
John Hawkes (True Detective: Night Country)
Lamorne Morris (Fargo)
Lewis Pullman (Lessons in Chemistry)
Treat Williams (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans)



Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie:
Dakota Fanning (Ripley)
Lily Gladstone (Under The Bridge)
Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer)
Aja Naomi King (Lessons in Chemistry)
Diane Lane (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans)
Nava Mau (Baby Reindeer)
Kali Reis (True Detective: Night Country)