Last Night's Emmys Winners Were Historic, Surprising And Satisfying That's A Pattern Worth Celebrating

 

 

Author's Note: Because I have made it clear those who review an awards shows as if it were entertaining completely miss the point of them, this is not a review of the Emmys in that sense. With that being said, a minor point to the producers.

Considering that even with that ridiculous SVU-Taylor Swift sequence the broadcast was actually running short take the hint and put all of the awards for Limited Series you put in the Creative Arts ceremony this year back in the main broadcast.

 

If I had ever been inclined to use a hashtag about the Emmy winners during the 2010s there's one I would've used over and over.

#EmmysSoPredictable.

I'm not just talking about the fact that year after year some of the greatest shows of the decade such as Jane The Virgin or Parenthood or Billions couldn't get nominated at all or shows like Justified or Episodes never got enough respect. I'm talking that even when the Emmys were nominated shows and performers who deserved it – and to their credit the vast majority did – every year like clockwork they honored the same series and most of the same actors.

This was particularly true in comedy. 30 Rock would win year after year, then Modern Family, then Veep. Jim Parsons and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were always winning, and so were Eric Stonestreet or Julie Bowen. There was some movement in the right direction by the end of the decade, particularly with shows like Barry and Atlanta but it was the same old most of that decade.

For drama, they would coronate Mad Men or Breaking Bad and most excruciatingly for me Game of Thrones, year after year. I'll admit there was more variety in the acting awards during that decade and I was fine with the majority of them – with the exception of Peter Dinklage – but it was getting monotonous. I was relieved more than anyone that Game of Thrones came to an end, if for no other reason then I thought it would give some breathing room to other actors and actresses in drama.

(On a side note, that's probably why I increasingly engaged with the Limited Series era – and why I took it so personally that so many awards were shifted to the Creative Arts this year.)

Then this decade things began to change at the Emmys and its become more prevalent the last three years. Diversity has come. I'm not talking necessarily about the race of the winners (and yes I'm painfully aware that #EmmysSoWhite is circulating again; I'll deal with that in a separate article) but in the fact that increasingly each year there are fewer back-to-back winners in almost every category for acting and in the last several years drama or comedy. More than the Emmys increasingly have the possibility to surprise in a way they didn't five years ago.

And now when history happens – and last night's Emmys was historic – it's historic in a way that seeing Bryan Cranston or Julia Louis-Dreyfus win year after year just isn't. There's meaning and significance attached to it in a way that wasn't there before.

So let's look at how so many of last night's winners made history in a truly incredible way.

The most historic night was held by Matthew Rhys. He became the first actor in the history of the Emmys to win Best Lead Actor in two different categories on the same night. The one he got for Widow's Bay was expected; the one for The Beast in Me absolutely was not yet delighted me more. It demonstrated, as if we needed proof that Rhys is one of the greatest and most versatile actors in TV history up their with such recent 21^st century masters as Bryan Cranston, Jon Hamm and Damien Lewis. (I'll be getting to the actresses in a bit.) He became the first actor of all time to win Best Lead Actor in all three categories: Comedy, Drama and Limited Series. And I think few people could be happier for it then me, save perhaps his wife. (Next year Keri Russell has to win herself by the way.)

Widow's Bay's triumph would be more historic if we weren't seeing history made in Comedy every year. Its 14 wins were an all-time record for a comedy series breaking last year's record set by The Studio with 12, breaking last year's record set by The Bear with 11.

But let's not kid ourselves, even a rabid Hacks devotee like me was overjoyed with most of the winners. This spoke to Kate O'Flynn who deservedly triumphed for her work in 'Beach Reads' and for Katie Dippold who took two Emmys and was delightful in her acceptance speeches. For writing she made it clear that while she had planned to be humble and if she ever won an Emmy she'd keep in the garage she now intended to build a spotlight around it and a mirror that you could see it from every room in her house. I also loved how she said Matthew Rhys' Welsh accent was fake. When she took the prize for Best Comedy she went out of her way to thank her entire crew, the evil entity that allowed them to tell its story and finished her speech with 'Serve The Punch NOW". (Really if she'd been wearing antlers on her head no one would have told her.)

The other records this night were set by two of the greatest actresses in the history of TV. The first was expected as Jean Smart went five for five with her Best Actress in a Comedy for the final season of Hacks. She was humble telling all the women to sit down because "you have to be tired of this saying "She's not that good." Trust me Jean you absolutely are. Combined with her three other Emmys Smart has a total of eight wins which ties her with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cloris Leachman and one other actress whose victory was a shock even to her.

Alison Janney's win for The Diplomat was her eighth Emmy win and her sixth win in drama. This is also the fourth series she has won an Emmy for in her impressive career: four for The West Wing (two Supporting Actress, two lead actress) two for Mom (Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy in 2014, Best Actress in a Comedy in 2015) and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama for Masters of Sex (also in 2014). Combined with her superb work this year in both Palm Royale and Miss You, Love You she remains one of most versatile actresses in the history of TV.

The other historic record was one, honestly, that shouldn't have been one. Stephen Root, who managed to win Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for his work in Widow's Bay, at 77 became the oldest actor to win in that category. And that's nearly as big a travesty as Harrison Ford losing again. Because Root has been one of the greatest actors in television for decades, no matter which genre he chooses to act it, drama, comedy, horror or animation. I was appalled to learn that this was only the second nomination in his entire career and that his first was for Barry back in 2019. I don't know who would have been more pissed if he'd lost: the Sea Hag or the Raven.

Just as significant, I'd argue, were all of the rewards for actors who've been in the business a very long time but haven't until now gotten the awards they deserve. The most deserving, of course, was Rhea Seehorn and I suspect the cheer I let out when she finally won an Emmy for her incredible work in Pluribus could have been heard from space. My admiration for her work in Better Call Saul is well documented and of course nothing new. And it was a glorious victory.

Just as deserving was Vince Gilligan's, who despite having created two of the greatest shows in TV history, somehow had not yet won an Emmy for writing. He finally did on Emmy night for the Pilot of Pluribus and continued to enhance his reputation for being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood. He thanked his fellow writers and said he was especially proud of Valerie P. Chu, who'd been nominated for The Pitt this year. I didn't know that Chu was the writer's assistant in Better Call Saul and the way she smiled made me love both her and Vince all the more.

Perhaps the most enduring win was Tom Pelphrey for his incredible work in Task. Arguably one of the great performances of 2025 Pelphrey like the show he was part of it seemed determined to be the bridesmaid. After losing to Patrick Ball in the Astras it seemed he would go home empty handed. But the split in the nominees in The Pitt worked for Pelphrey just as it almost certainly benefited Janney for Supporting Actress but you'd never know that given how Ball was more then willing to stand for one of the great actors of our time.

The wins of Seehorn and Pelphrey combined with several deserved first time winners who have short-changed despite decades of great TV. These include David Harbour and Linda Cardellini's deserved wins for DTF St. Louis which completed its sweep of the Emmys by winning Outstanding Limited Series. And the victories of Betty Gilpin and Shailene Woodley for Widow's Bay and Paradise were equally rewarded for two of the most versatile actresses in TV who've done multiple shows and gotten so few nominations for their work. All of them meant as much to me as Noah Wyle's second consecutive win for The Pitt.

With all of these wins it's now clear I'm picking up five trends looking at the Emmys over the 2020s, all of them encouraging.

1. Every year comedy's are sweeping the Emmys.

The decade began with Schitt's Creek winning all seven Emmys in competition: all four acting awards, writing, directing and best series. Since then three different years have managed to earn six out of those seven awards: Ted Lasso in 2021, The Bear in 2023 and Widow's Bay yesterday. Throw in the fact that The Studio set a record last year and you have trends were comedy has become as dominant every year in the way shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad could be in drama.

This might lead to dullness were it not for the fact…

2. Six different comedies have won the grand prize this decade.

Save for Ted Lasso going back-to-back in 2021 and 2022, each year this decade has brought a different winner that usually sweeps. This was proved in what was arguably one of the biggest surprises in Emmy history in the fall of 2024 when The Bear managed to win eleven Emmys but lost Best Comedy to Hacks.

And it's not like there haven't been room for surprises within these sweeps. Hacks came away with twelve Emmys during this decade, including two for writing, one for directing and one for Hannah Einbinder for Supporting Actress. We've also seen room for several individual surprises for shows like Abbott Elementary and Somebody Somewhere. And there have been room for differences. So far in the 2020s a different woman has won in Best Supporting Actress in a comedy every year.

3. Drama is becoming more balanced then it was in the 2010s.

Aside from The Crown sweeping every major award in 2021 and Succession doing close to the same thing in 2023 (I guess I can forgive Jennifer Coolidge now) there's been quite a bit more division in the Emmys that get given out in drama.

In 2022 Succession managed to win Best Drama and three other Emmys but finished behind Squid Game in total Emmys won which won six Emmys. Euphoria and Ozark have done decently during this decade (I can acknowledge that without being a fan of the show.) Last year Severance was the big winner in terms of total Emmys including acting awards for Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower but it lost Best Drama to The Pitt that won five. The Pitt actually tied for second that year with Andor which also won Best Writing in a Drama.

This year we had even more suspense when it came to drama. Both The Pitt and Pluribus had won four Emmys in the Creative Arts category. But last night it didn't win either Supporting Actor award (we'll get to that) and Rhea Seehorn and Vince Gilligan took two awards while Noah Wyle won Best Actor. So when The Pitt managed to repeat as Best Drama, I suspect Wyle and John Wells breathed a sigh of relief. The Pitt tied with Pluribus for most wins for a Drama with six apiece.

Which brings me to the next point.

 

4. As opposed to comedy, in Drama the Academy is sharing the wealth more than it used to.

In 2024 Shogun did set a record for most wins for a Drama for an Emmy with 16. But on Emmy night itself the Academy did give some credit to others. Billy Crudup took his second Emmy for The Morning Show and Elizabeth Debicki won for The Crown. And of course Slow Horses stunned everybody when it managed to win Best Dramatic Teleplay.

The slow but steady success of Slow Horses may be the biggest sign yet of the Emmys willing to give recognition to less flashy shows. For the second consecutive year it won Best Director for a Drama and its third consecutive Emmy in a major category. (Small plug: I predicted that win.) This year was saw a similar trend with Paradise and The Diplomat each winning their first Emmys in competition. Throw in Tom Pelphrey's victory and its clear the Emmys may be willing to share the love in a way in drama in a way it wasn't before.

 

5. In Limited Series, the battle between Netflix and HBO continues.

These two powerhouses have been battling for contention throughout the decade. In 2020 Watchmen managed to deservedly take all comers. In 2021, it was more of a stalemate: The Queen's Gambit took Best Drama and Best Directing from Mare of Easttown took three of the four acting awards while I May Destroy You took Best Writing. In 2022 Season 1 of The White Lotus not only took all comers but Netflix could barely field a contender as Hulu managed to get three of the four remaining nominations for Limited Series and won Best Actor and Actress for Michael Keaton and Amanda Seyfried respectively.

In 2023 the movement shifted back to Netflix when Beef took all comers and HBO wasn't even in that particular category. In 2024 Baby Reindeer managed to take most of the major awards as Night Country was basically left out in the cold. In 2025 Adolescence ran roughshod over everybody.

But this year when the second season of Beef was the heavy favorite DTF St. Louis won the hearts and votes of Emmy voters. Netflix could take solace in Matthew Rhys win for The Beast in Me and Sally Field's surprising upset for the TV film Remarkably Bright Creatures. (This would have meant more if, well, you know.)

 

I don't know if the era of Prestige TV is over. (This year I saw yet another obituary for it because The Bear had ended. Which is odd as I thought it had ended after Succession ended, and then Better Call Saul..) My feelings on that are already noted for the record and considering that many of these critics are still trying to review the Emmys as if they were binge watching the most recent season of Heated Rivalry  I'm not sure how much I trust them.

What I do know is that having seen the last three years of nominations and winners the Emmys are becoming better at both, more capable of surprise and more gratifying for me to enjoy when it comes to honoring the best in television then they may have been when we were in the Golden Age of TV.

In other words #EmmysSoPredictable is dead and I couldn't be more thrilled. Time to get ready for the fall season and see what contenders and new faces await.