“Widow’s Bay”, a genre-bending comedy-horror series about a cursed New England town, emerged as the biggest winner at the Primetime Emmy Awards with six honours.
Meanwhile, medical drama “The Pitt” secured its second consecutive Emmy for best drama series on Monday night.
Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” beat the final season of “Hacks” to claim the comedy series prize.
“Hacks” star Jean Smart won her fifth Emmy for playing determined stand-up comedian Deborah Vance.
Matthew Rhys also made Emmy history by becoming the first person to win two lead acting honours at the same ceremony, taking home awards for his role as the mayor of a small town in “Widow’s Bay” and for the Netflix psychological thriller “The Beast in Me”.
Smart’s victory made her the first performer to win the Emmy for best comedy actress in every season of a show’s run. “What a ride this has been!” Smart said on stage while thanking the creators of the HBO Max series.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won best comedy actress in six of “Veep”’s seven seasons, is the only woman who came close to matching Smart’s achievement.
The ceremony offered Hollywood a rare moment of celebration as the industry continues to face production cuts, concerns over artificial intelligence and uncertainty surrounding the proposed Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros.
Discovery, a deal that has divided the industry and faces legal challenges.
Most winners avoided potentially divisive issues in their acceptance speeches, instead focusing on their families, co-stars and colleagues.
Noah Wyle, who won his second consecutive Emmy for playing Dr “Robby” Robinavitch in “The Pitt”, described the moment as “overwhelming”.
Calling himself a “Hollywood kid”, Wyle told the audience, “This is the only club I’ve ever wanted to join. Thank you for accepting me.”
Rhys won the best comedy actor award for “Widow’s Bay” and the best actor prize in a limited series for “The Beast in Me”.
Elsewhere, “Widow’s Bay” star Stephen Root defeated “Shrinking” favourite Harrison Ford to win best supporting actor in a comedy.
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”, which CBS cancelled before airing its final episode this year, won best variety series.
Murder mystery “DTF St. Louis” took home the award for best limited series.
Rhea Seehorn won best drama actress for her role as a misanthropic woman battling an endlessly kind alien hive mind in Apple TV’s new series “Pluribus”. It was her first Emmy win.
Addressing fellow nominees Keri Russell of “The Diplomat” and Zendaya of “Euphoria”, Seehorn quoted feminist activist Gloria Steinem, who died this month aged 92.
“We are linked, not ranked. I feel that way about all you women,” Seehorn said.
The Emmy winners were selected by more than 27,000 writers, directors, performers, producers and other television professionals from the Television Academy.
FOX HONOURED FOR HIS HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
The Television Academy honoured Michael J Fox for his advocacy for Parkinson’s disease research and treatment.
Speaking from a wheelchair, Fox said Hollywood’s support had helped him continue acting after his Parkinson’s diagnosis.
“It’s because you stood up for me,” he told the audience.
Mariska Hargitay, star of NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, hosted the ceremony, breaking with the tradition of having a comedian serve as emcee. NBC broadcast the event live, with Peacock carrying the stream.
“It’s a lot of pressure, but it is so reassuring to see so many familiar faces out there, and I’m not just talking about how many of you I’ve arrested on SVU,” Hargitay joked.
In a pre-recorded sketch, Hargitay’s “SVU” character Olivia Benson investigated whether singer Taylor Swift, an Emmy nominee this year for a concert film, would attend the ceremony.
Swift made a surprise appearance as a rookie detective and pointed out that the singer’s categories had been decided at a separate ceremony the previous week.
Benson then correctly concluded that Swift would be in Kansas City watching her husband, Travis Kelce, play on Monday Night Football.
Here are the winners in some of the main categories.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
The Pitt
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Widow’s Bay
BEST LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES
DTF St. Louis
BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Matthew Rhys, “Widow’s Bay”
BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”
BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus”
BEST ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Matthew Rhys, “The Beast in Me”
BEST ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Sally Field, “Remarkably Bright Creatures”
BOB HOPE HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Michael J Fox
