‘Succession’ dominates drama Emmys, ‘The Bear’ dominates comedy and Quinta Brunson makes history

LOS ANGELES — “Succession” secured its legacy with its third best drama series award. “Bear” reigned as the best comedy of the night, and two shows about feuding families topped the acting awards at Monday night’s Emmys.

“Abbott Elementary”’s Quinta Brunson and “Beef”’s Steven Yeun and Ali Wong also joined the Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony, which was finally held four months late after a tumultuous year of strikes. The day achieved historic victories at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. In Hollywood.

“Succession,” the HBO epic about the dysfunctional generations of a mismatched media empire, won the grand prize for its fourth and final season. She also won best actress in a drama for Sarah Snook and best actor in a drama for Kieran Culkin.

“We all gave it our all and the bar was very high,” Snook said.

FX drama “The Bear,” about a feuding family and a struggling restaurant at the center of a talented chef’s life, won best comedy series for its first season. It also stood out in the comedy acting categories, with Jeremy Allen White receiving the best actor award, Ayo Edebiri receiving the best supporting actress award, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach receiving the best supporting actor award. All three were candidates for the first time.

“This is a show about family, it’s about finding family and real family,” Edebiri said from the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles while accepting the first award of the night.

[ ‘The Bear’ review: A culinary ace takes over a Mr. Beef-esque sandwich shop. Chaos and dark comedy in one of my favorite shows of the year ]

Instead of the usual producer speeches, real-life elite chef Matty Matheson, who plays a newbie kitchen handyman on “The Bear,” spoke for the show while surrounded by cast members toward the end of the Fox telecast.

“I love restaurants so much that, for better or worse, we’re heartbroken,” Matheson said, before taking a long kiss from Moss-Bachrach’s mouth.

Brunson won best actress in a comedy for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” which she created, becoming the first Black woman to win the award in more than 40 years and the first Black woman to win the award for a television show in more than a decade .

“I’m so happy to be able to live my dreams and perform comedy,” Brunson said, breaking down in tears during his acceptance. The writer-actor was among the notable stars on the Emmy silver carpet.

“Succession” won six Emmys in total, including best supporting actor in a drama for Matthew Macfadyen and best writing in a drama for series creator Jesse Armstrong. The only drama acting category she didn’t win was supporting actress, chosen for the second time by Jennifer Coolidge of “The White Lotus.”

“Bear” won every category it was nominated for on Monday night, placing 10th overall, the top earner of any show, on top of the four categories it previously won at the Creative Arts Emmys.

As Netflix’s “Beef” won best limited series, Yeun and Wong became the first Asian Americans to win in their respective categories; Yeun won the award for best actor in a miniseries and Wong won the award for best actress. Creator Lee Sung won Emmy awards for writing and directing. He received eight Emmys in total, following three wins at the Creative Arts Emmys.

Brunson had won an Emmy for his mockumentary “Abbott Elementary,” about a predominantly black and chronically underfunded elementary school in Philadelphia, but this was his first as an actor. Isabel Sanford of “The Jeffersons” was the only Black woman to win this category in 1981.

Three Black women won major awards at the royal holiday show: Brunson, Edebiri and Niecy Nash-Betts, who won best supporting actress in a limited series for “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.”

In the Netflix show, Nash-Betts played the neighbor of a serial killer whose complaints to the authorities about his behavior are ignored.

“I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has been left unheard and over-policed,” she said.

“Is everyone having fun at the chocolate Emmys tonight?” host Anthony Anderson said during the show. “We’re going to kill it tonight! … This is like MLK Day and Juneteenth rolled into one!”

The tweaked awards calendar has eliminated some kinks. Edebiri and White won Emmy awards for the show’s first season, eight days after winning a Golden Globe for the second season.

As younger brother Roman Roy, Culkin eclipsed his older brother and father to win his last leading actor Emmy for “Succession.”

He was nominated twice for best supporting actor for the movie “Succession” but did not win any of them. But in the final season, in which her character went from a humorous aside to an emotional disaster at the center of the show’s drama, she was cast in the lead category and gained the support of her fictional father Brian Cox and brother Jeremy Strong.

After praising his on-screen family, he moved on to his own family, drawing big laughs during his speech when he told his wife, Jazz Charton, that their two young children weren’t enough. “I want more,” she said. “You said if I won we could talk about it.”

Snook won her first Emmy for “Succession” for her portrayal of the family’s lonely daughter, Shiv Roy, and her show husband, Macfadyen, won the second Emmy of his career for his portrayal of son-in-law Tom Wambsgans, who launched the HBO series. He finished as a hanger and the closest thing we had to a winner.

Emotions were at their peak from the beginning of the ceremony. Edebiri and Brunson immediately cried as they took the stage, and the first presenter, Christina Applegate, who said she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, received a standing ovation when she walked out using a cane with Anderson’s help. With tears streaming down her face, she struggled to get past the nominees and winners.

Anderson told the candidates at the beginning of the night that instead of their speeches being interrupted by music, her mother, actor Doris Bowman, who was sitting in the audience, would tell them when it was time to move on. But more often he silenced his son by making jokes.

The theme of the 75th Emmy awards was honoring the history of television. Anderson described the show as “Mr. Rogers” arranged and performed TV theme songs including “Good Times,” and many cast reunions were spread throughout the show.

Actors like Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell from “Martin,” Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman from “Cheers,” and Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers from “All in The Family” performed glimpses of reenactments of the sitcom sets before presenting their awards.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reunited to host the 2001-2005 “Weekend Update” cast from “Saturday Night Live.”

“We’ve reached a stage in life where we can only present awards sitting down,” Fey said.

One notable appearance came from Katherine Heigl, who joined Ellen Pompeo and other former “Grey’s Anatomy” cast members on the hospital room set after leaving the series, which was about to begin its 20th season, under less-than-ideal circumstances in 2010.

“Yes, there have been changes over the years,” Heigl said with a wry smile. “But the one thing that hasn’t changed is the amazing fan base.”