By Jack Schreiber ’26
Monday, January 15th, marked the 75th Emmy awards. This historic award show has celebrated the best in television every year since its inception, and 2024 was no different. Hosted by Anthony Anderson and his Mom, the show commemorated the many great shows of 2023.
2023 was an incredible year for television. The year was jam-packed with some of the best shows of the decade. Whether it’s The Last of Us, the rare example of an adaptation honoring and in some ways improving its video-game counterpart. Jury Duty was one of the funniest shows of the year, and the absolute torture put onto real man Ronald Gladden left all of its viewers in stitches. Andor singlehandedly revived the Star Wars franchise for so many people, delivering a nuanced and unique perspective on the world that has been much desired for years. The White Lotus had its second season that many believe surpassed the first.
2023 was also a big year for concluding long-running shows. The sweeping Netflix original The Crown found its final season in 2023, intensely following the tragic story of Princess Diana. Barry concluded this year, and despite a mid-season drought found its footing and delivered a haunting and powerful conclusion to Bill Hader’s masterpiece. Ted Lasso concluded, and everyone’s favorite wholesome fish-out-of-water story about an American coaching a professional soccer team, despite his complete ineptitude hung up the cleats. Finally, Better Call Saul had its sixth and final season, but the controversy on that show’s relationship with the Emmys will be touched on later.
While 2023 was an amazing year for television overall, the Emmys celebrated three distinct shows, each almost entirely sweeping their given genres. One of the shows in this trinity was Beef. This Netflix original focused on a road rage incident between Amy Lau (Ali Wong) and Danny Cho (Steven Yeun). Despite its simple premise, Beef delves into an intense rivalry that destroys both of the main characters’ lives. The show is an intense look at human relationships, focusing on themes such a loneliness, revenge, and depression. Both of its leads took their respective limited series acting awards home. The show’s creator Lee Sung Jin also took home two awards, one for Writing in a Limited series, the other for Directing in a Limited Series. Lee gave a powerful speech about achieving your dreams despite challenges. Ultimately, Beef also took home best Limited or Anthology Series.
The second highly awarded show was FX’s The Bear. The show follows Carmine “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), and his struggles owning and operating his deceased brother’s restaurant in Chicago. The second season in particular focused on Carmy and other employees creating and opening their own restaurant, titularly labeled The Bear. Allen White took home the Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. Additionally, Ayo Edebiri snagged the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, and her speech was a highlight of the night. Furthermore, Ebon Moss-Bachrach took the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, for his role of Richard ”Richie” Jerimovich. Christopher Storer also stole two Emmys for The Bear, Directing and Writing for a Comedy Series respectively. To conclude its sweep, The Bear ultimately won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series.
Finally, the most nominated show of the evening, and the one that took home the most awards was HBO’s Succession. Another series that found its conclusion in 2023, Succession tells the story of the Roy family media empire ATN, heralded by patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox). The children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Siobhan “Shiv” (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) fight over the throne to Logan’s illustrious empire. While not much can be said about the fourth and final season without delving into spoiler territory, the bombastic conclusion was certainly recognized profusely at the 75th Emmys. Matthew Macfadyen snagged the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role of Tom Wambsgams, Shiv’s fiancee and dark horse pick for ATN CEO. The two Roy siblings Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin collected their flowers, snubbing at times three other Succession actors. The show’s creator Jesse Armstrong took the award for Best Writing in a Drama Series, and Mark Mylod took the award for Directing in a Drama Series. Both of the awards were for episode three Connor’s Wedding, which is the second highest rated episode of television of all time on IMDB. The show concluded its historic run by raking in Best Drama Series.
Of course, The Emmys did recognize the other shows of 2023. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took home Writing and Best Scripted Variety Series. Tik Tok’s favorite person to impersonate Jennifer Coolidge snagged the Drama Supporting Actress Emmy for the aforementioned The White Lotus. Quinta Brunson made history, being the first women of color in over 40 years to win the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her sitcom Abbot Elementary. Niecy Nash-Betts delivered a powerful speech dedicated to black women who have gone unheard and over-policed. Her award was from her supporting actress role in the limited series Dahmer- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Ru Paul’s Drag Race won its 29th Emmy, this time for Best Competition Program. Elton John earned his EGOT, a term given to people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger’s Stadium. Finally, Paul Walter Hauser delivered an unorthodox slam poetry acceptance speech for his Supporting Actor award for a Limited Series.
No award show can go without its fair share of controversy and questionable choices. While the Emmys’ faults pale in comparison to disastrous hosting of this years’ Golden Globes by Jo Koy, the Emmy’s had snubs left and right and a category issue. As mentioned, Better Call Saul concluded this year with its incredible sixth season. The show has been nominated a total of 53 times since its beginning in 2015, but the real kicker is that it has never won once. Yes, the Breaking Bad follow-up has an absolutely horrific winning record. Many fans were crossing their fingers that Bob Odenkirk would finally be recognized by the Emmys for his role as Saul Goodman, having played the character since 2009, but Odenkirk was once again defeated. While Kieran Culkin certainly deserved the win for his Succession role, Bob Odenkirk’s lack of winning for TV’s favorite criminal criminal defense lawyer is absurd.
Another decision that left many viewers confused was the choice to label The Bear as a comedy series. While the show certainly has its funny moments, at many points it strays very far from the comedic realm. The episode titled Fishes in particular highlights the show’s dramatic and anxiety-inducing nature. Many fans have even claimed that Succession is more of a comedy than The Bear, due to its satirical nature and witty one-liners. Overall, the streaming era has made it much more difficult for the show-runners to categorize series into genres.
Overall, the 75th Emmy Awards, or the biggest night in television, was a resounding success. The hard work displayed by all involved in the making of a television show was recognized and rewarded.