Does anybody bear in mind the primary season of Arrested Improvement beating out the ultimate season of Intercourse and the Metropolis for the Emmy? Or the enduring second when “Moonlight” snatched the Greatest Image Oscar from “La La La” after a historic kerfuffle? The awards present isn’t any stranger to stunning upsets, and this yr, FX’s “Bears” discovered itself among the many most jaw-dropping and well-known moments, dropping the Emmy for Excellent Comedy Collection to HBO/Max’s “Hackers” .
Regardless of dropping within the prime classes, “Bear” broke the all-time comedy collection file with 11 wins, an enormous feat that makes it all of the extra jarring to hit the jackpot solely in comedy lead, writing and, in fact, win.
I by no means imagined {that a} present that had gained 5 performing Emmys — tied for probably the most in historical past with The Crown in 2020 for a drama — would find yourself dropping the massive one.
After months of debate over whether or not “Bears” qualifies as a comedy — a query that Emmy hosts Dan and Eugene Levy could not assist however joke about — the failure raises the query of whether or not “Bears” is even time Turning to comedy?
Don’t name it an identification disaster; name it an identification disaster. Let’s examine what it’s. Let’s deal with a primary query: If “Bear” had been to compete within the TV collection class, doubtlessly going head-to-head with the web model of “Shogun,” wouldn’t it have a greater likelihood?
At its core, “Bear” is a 30-minute present, a format historically related to scenario comedies and lighthearted reveals. However its gritty exploration of hysteria, grief and trauma usually brings it nearer to the realm of intense drama. Let’s not overlook, it’s additionally in English. So, does it have a spot in drama? Contemplating the depth of the storytelling, I feel sure.
Take Shogun, for instance, a grand and visually beautiful narrative set in feudal Japan. There is no doubt it is a highly effective pressure, however as we have seen with non-English-language reveals like Squidward, Netflix’s most-watched collection of all time, even breakout worldwide hits It is onerous to win the highest prize. Squidward could not surpass the third (and weakest) season of HBO’s Succession on the 2022 Emmy Awards, which solely scored 4 out of 25 nominations. Hollywood’s hesitancy to completely embrace non-English programming stays an impediment, however that barrier seems to have disappeared this yr. However reality be informed, the areas it beat did not excite most trade members and voters. The strike in Hollywood makes it simpler for “Shogun” to pivot from a restricted collection to a characteristic movie. Nonetheless, on this sense, The Bear, with its common themes and English format, is likely to be a extra viable contender.
The excellence between comedy and drama is getting blurry on the Emmys. In 2015, the Tv Academy applied a rule that mechanically classifies any present shorter than half-hour as a comedy, whereas longer reveals are labeled as drama. Nonetheless, in 2021, this strict classification system was deserted, permitting reveals to decide on their class no matter airing time.
The shift has sparked a broader dialogue about what constitutes “comedy” in tv at this time. Reveals like “Bear” and previous nominees like “Barry” and “Orange Is the New Black” have drawn a line between the 2 genres, mixing humor with darker, extra dramatic narratives.
The query, then, is not simply whether or not “Bears” ought to compete in dramas—it is about whether or not the road that separates the 2 classes nonetheless is sensible. For now, Emmy voters appear to have determined that, at the least this yr, “The Bear” would not match their definition of a comedy sufficient to beat a extra historically structured present like “The Crackers.” “Hackers” scored simply three wins, the fewest wins within the comedy class since “Fashionable Household” Season 5 in 2014 and its fifth win in a row. I feel comedy is enjoyable once more now.
As we look forward to the 2025 Emmy Awards, there’s a whole lot of hypothesis surrounding Bears’ placement, particularly with season three already airing to combined evaluations. Will it proceed to perform within the realm of comedy, or ought to it lastly embrace its darker, extra dramatic identification?
Whereas the loss within the prime class could have grabbed the headlines, the evening was not with out main milestones.
Veteran Puerto Rican actor Lisa Colón-Zayas made historical past as the primary Latina actress to win the Supporting Actress in a Comedy position for her touching efficiency as Tina Marrero in “Bear.” She joins a small, albeit small, variety of Latino nominees within the class, following Sofia Vergara (Fashionable Household) and Rosie Perez (The Flight Attendant) , however nonetheless rising. Contemplating what she completed in season three, possibly that is simply her first time on stage.
Her victory was met with enthusiastic assist from the Latino neighborhood. When introducing Cris Abrego, the Tv Academy’s first Latino president, actor, producer and comic John Leguizamo took the chance to shout out everybody within the room Latino nominees embody Selena Gomez, Nava Mau and Issa López. Leguizamo additionally used his platform to handle the longstanding underrepresentation of Latinos in Hollywood, quipping, “Everybody performs us besides us.” For these advocating for better Latino visibility, It was one of the highly effective moments of the evening.
“common”
Courtesy of Katie Yu/FX
On the drama entrance, “Shogun” made Emmy historical past with 18 wins, solidifying its standing as probably the most awarded collection in Emmy historical past. Hiroyuki Sanada turned the second Asian actor to win the Lead Actor in a TV Drama Collection for his position as Lord Yoshii Toracho, and the primary Asian actor to win two statuettes, together with Excellent TV Drama Collection as a Producer. His co-star Anna Sawai turned the primary Asian performer to win the award for Lead Actress in a Drama for her heartbreaking position as Toda Mariko.
Twenty-three years after James Earl Jones made historical past as the primary black actor to obtain a supporting actor (restricted) position in “Warmth Waves,” Lamorne Morris turns into the fifth to star in North Dakota Deputy Constable Whit Leifer gained the award for his efficiency by a black actor on “Fargo.”
In the meantime, within the restricted collection class, Richard Gadd swept three nominations for “Child Reindeer,” profitable three for producing, writing and performing, marking the primary time anybody has gained within the class. The collection he created gained an performing Emmy Award.
FX Networks was the evening’s largest winner, taking dwelling extra statuettes than some other community for the primary time in historical past. Notably, that is the primary time in 15 years that neither HBO nor Netflix has topped the studio charts.
As an awards analyst, I am all the time searching for patterns—some overarching narrative that ties collectively the evening’s winners. Usually, the collective decisions of Tv Academy voters inform a easy story. However what about this yr? The information was much less public. Maybe the most important takeaway from this yr’s awards present is that, regardless of such predictions, the Emmys nonetheless handle to shock us.
Isn’t that what makes award reveals a lot enjoyable?
