Held on Monday, January 15, 2024, the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards honored primetime programming — dramas, comedies, limited series, TV movies, and more — that aired between June 2022 and May 2023. Generally speaking, the Emmys are held annually in September, but the then-ongoing Hollywood labor strikes delayed the ceremony, giving the voting members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences time to award television’s best of the best. Hosted by Black-ish‘s Anthony Anderson, the 75th Emmy Awards handed out a total of 26 statuettes, mostly to the same three programs: Succession, The Bear, and Beef.
Ahead of TV’s biggest night, Succession led its peers with a whopping 27 nominations, including a remarkable 14 acting nominations. Meanwhile, HBO’s The Last of Us, which won big at the 75th Creative Arts Emmys, became the first live-action adaptation of a video game series to garner Emmy nominations in the awards ceremony’s major categories. On the comedy side, The Bear garnered six nominations for its first season, while network hit Abbott Elementary wracked up five nominations. In the end, the actual honors were shared among just a few shows, making for a pretty predictable Emmys ceremony.
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7 Elton John’s EGOT Moment
The “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” Singer Completed Entertainment’s Big Feat
One of the biggest surprises of the night came when Sir Elton John won an Emmy in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category for his Farewell From Dodger Stadium program. The concert, which streamed exclusively on Disney+, made history by being Elton’s final North American show — ever. Not to mention, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour stop marked a full-circle moment for Elton, who performed back-to-back sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium in 1975. Winning the competitive Emmy allowed Elton John to secure the coveted EGOT status. That is, he’s the 19th recipient of the four highly prestigious EGOT awards: an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.
6 The Bear Continues Its Award Season Dominance
Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri & Ebon Moss-Bachrach All Win Emmys
In a surprise to absolutely no one, The Bear continued its awards season dominance, proving the Golden Globes were a preview of what was to come at the Emmys. Both Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri took home acting trophies for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Supporting Actress, respectively. The Bear also took top honors for comedy writing and direction, which all led up to its Outstanding Comedy Series win. While not necessarily a surprise, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s win for Outstanding Supporting Actor wasn’t quite a given, making his Emmys moment a memorable one.
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5 Niecy Nash-Betts Wins An Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy
Ryan Murphy’s Jeffrey Dahmer Story Earned A Frequent Collaborator A Trophy
Co-created by Ryan Murphy, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story sees frequent Murphy muse and collaborator Evan Peters stepping into the titular role. The third Netflix series to pass 1 billion views in 60 days, Dahmer, understandably, drew heat for being yet another program that platformed the serial killer. While Dahmer didn’t have much success in other venues, the series gave Niecy Nash-Betts the opportunity to earn an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy. Considering the stiff competition — Maria Bello, Claire Danes, and Juliette Lewis were all up for the honor — Nash-Betts’ win was a much-deserved one that had viewers holding their breath.
4 Ali Wong, Steven Yeun & Beef Win Major Honors
The Netflix Limited Series Is Making Serious Waves
Much like The Bear, Beef won big at the Golden Globes, and that momentum carried through to the Primetime Emmy Awards. Lee Sung Jin won trophies for his writing and directing on the Netflix limited series — and gave some of the night’s most memorable speeches. Meanwhile, leads Ali Wong and Steven Yeun came out on top in their respective (and incredibly stacked) categories. Toward the end of the night, Beef took home one of the Emmys top prizes, becoming the ceremony’s Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series winner. All the Emmys reiterate the psychological drama-meets-comedy series’ strengths — and why it was one of 2023’s best shows.
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3 Paul Walter Hauser’s Win For Black Bird
The Win Shutout Beef’s Best Supporting Actors
Black Bird stars Taron Egerton as Jimmy Keene, a man facing a 10-year prison sentence without the opportunity for parole. FBI Agent Lauren McCauley (Sepideh Moafi) offers Jimmy the chance to earn a fully commuted sentence, but, in order to nab that clean slate, Jimmy has to befriend convicted serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) and get him to confess to the killing of 14 women (he was only convicted in two of those cases). While Hauser’s win isn’t surprising — he nabbed the Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe for Black Bird — he did outdo two Beef competitors to earn the Emmy.
2 The Last Of Us Doesn’t Add To Its Creative Arts Emmys Wins
Succession Swept The Outstanding Drama Categories
The Last of Us‘ previous Emmy wins prove that the show is at its best when it’s honing in on character-driven stories. At the Creative Arts Emmys, both Nick Offerman and Storm Reid won for their guest spots on the acclaimed HBO series, beating out several other Last of Us actors for the honors. While the post-apocalyptic drama also fared well in terms of behind-the-scenes awards, it wasn’t able to clinch any of the Primetime Emmys. Considering how strong of a final outing Succession had, it’s not surprising that TLOU lost to HBO’s other giant. Still, in other years, the video game adaptation might’ve won more.
1 One Of The Year’s Best Shows Was Snubbed
Andor Walked Away With Nothing
With Success, The Bear, and Beef winning a majority of the night’s awards, there was little room for other series to make a mark on the Emmys stage. A few other programs, like Abbott Elementary, Dahmer, and Black Bird, scooped up one acting trophy each. By and large, the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards went as expected — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. All the winners were incredibly deserving. Unfortunately, the three shows’ dominance meant that a few 2022–23 standouts were completely snubbed, including Andor, The Last of Us, and Yellowjackets.
