The fictional team of AFC Richmond may be enormous losers on Apple TV+’s hit series Ted Lasso, but last night they proved to be big winners. The feel-good soccer-themed ensemble scored four Emmys last night, taking home wins for outstanding comedy, series lead actor (Jason Sudeikis), supporting actress (Hannah Waddingham) and supporting actor (Brett Goldstein).
The 73rd Emmy Awards were broadcast live from L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles on the CBS Television Network, hosted by Cedric The Entertainer.
After leading the pack with the most-nominated series regulars ever for a freshman comedy, star and executive producer Sudeikis also became the first lead actor in a freshman comedy series to be honored with awards for both a lead performance and best series for a freshman comedy. Ted Lasso casting director Theo Park also earned the award for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series.
In total, Apple TV+ picked up 11 Emmys. At last week’s ceremony for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Apple landed seven Emmy Awards, including three for Lasso. Apple TV+ also made history by becoming the first streaming service to win the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special in its first two years of eligibility for the acclaimed Apple Original documentary Boys State.
As great of a night as it was for Apple TV+, the night was even better for Netflix. The Crown, the popular drama about England’s royal family, took top honors in seven categories, including outstanding drama series. Those wins helped propel Netflix past all the competition as the streaming service picked up 10 awards during the night, narrowly beating out HBO/HBO Max, which received nine.
With the exception of Josh O’Connor — winner for outstanding lead actor in a drama, who was at the L.A. ceremony — most of the other winners for The Crown — Olivia Colman (lead actress in a drama), Gillian Anderson (supporting actress in a drama), Peter Morgan (writing for a drama) and Jessica Hobbs (directing for a drama), in addition to outstanding drama — accepted their Emmys from a restaurant in London over ZOOM.
The London group mentioned that they were expected at work in just a few hours. “I’d have put money on that not happening,” noted a startled Colman, who then dedicated her win to her father, whom she lost during Covid.
By end of the ceremony, Netflix came out on top in another competitive show category — outstanding limited or anthology series — with a win for The Queen’s Gambit, the acclaimed drama about a chess prodigy grappling with addiction on her way to the highest levels of international competition. In addition, Scott Frank, who adapted The Queen’s Gambit from the novel by Walter Tevis, prevailed as outstanding director for a limited or anthology series.
HBO/HBO Max took home four awards for Mare of Easttown, including outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie (Kate Winslet), Outstanding Supporting actress for a limited or anthology series or movie (Julianne Nicholson), outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie (Evan Peters), and outstanding production design for a narrative contemporary program (one hour or more)
“I just want to acknowledge my fellow nominees,” said an emotional Kate Winslet as she picked up her Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for Mare of Easttown, the HBO drama about a murder investigation in a small Pennsylvania community. “In this decade that has to be about women having each other’s backs, I support you. I salute you. I’m proud of all of you. Mare of Easttown was this cultural moment that brought people together and gave them something to talk about other than a global pandemic.”
In the outstanding variety talk series category, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won for a sixth year straight with three new statuettes for outstanding variety talk series, outstanding writing for a variety series, and outstanding technical direction, camerawork, video control for a series.
Other winning series included two for Lovecraft Country, I May Destroy You, David Byrne’s American Utopia, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and A Black Lady Sketch Show.
HBO Max celebrated its first Emmys ever with three wins for the freshman comedy Hacks: writing (Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky), directing (Aniello) and outstanding lead actress, which went to Jean Smart as a veteran Las Vegas comedian whose manager pairs her with a millennial writer, played by Hannah Einbinder, in an effort to bring a contemporary perspective to her act.
As Smart, who received a rousing standing ovation as she walked to the stage, began her acceptance speech, she immediately made it personal. “I have to acknowledge my late husband, Richard Gilliland, who passed away six months ago,” she said. “I would not be here if not for him.” Gilliland was among those featured in the In Memoriam segment later in the evening.
While NBC’s iconic comedy franchise Saturday Night Live picked up an Emmy for outstanding variety sketch series, other variety awards went to HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — which received two awards (outstanding variety talk series, outstanding writing) — and to Showtime’s Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020, which picked up the award for outstanding live variety special. Colbert, whose remarks included praise for his writers, dryly thanked “Ted Lasso for not being in this category.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race, from VH1, continued its dominance in the outstanding competition program category, for which it has won the gold for the past four years.
Other winners of the evening included Ewan McGregor, who took lead actor in a limited or anthology series movie for his performance in the title role of Netflix’s Halston; Michaela Coel, for writing for a limited or anthology series or movie, for HBO’s I May Destroy You (which she also starred in, co-produced and co-directed); and, for Disney+, the televised version of the Broadway musical Hamilton, which won for pre-recorded variety special.
In addition to the programming categories, the Television Academy’s prestigious Governors Award was presented to the iconic dancer, choreographer, director, producer and philanthropist Debbie Allen.
“I’m trying not to cry and be equal to the situation because it’s been many years in the making,” said Allen, who was introduced by Ava DuVernay, Michael Douglas, Jada Pinkett Smith and Ellen Pompeo. “It takes a lot of courage to be the only woman in the room most of the time. A lot of courage and creativity and fight and faith to believe that I could keep going, and I have, and I brought a whole lot of people with me.”
It was the second Emmy of the season for Allen — during the Creative Arts weekend, she won the award for outstanding choreography for scripted programming for her work on Netflix’s Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square.
REELated: Emmy Predictions: Will ‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘The Crown’ own the ceremony?
When combined with results of the three Creative Arts ceremonies held the previous weekend, Netflix led all platforms with 44 Emmys for the year, followed by HBO/HBO Max with 19, Disney+ with 14 and Apple TV+ with 10.
NBC led the broadcast networks with eight.
Others with multiple wins included VH1 with six; ABC and FX Networks with three each; and two each for Adult Swim, CNN, Fox, National Geographic and Showtime.
Single winners were Apple TV, Facebook Watch, IFC, Oculus, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Quibi and YouTube.
A complete list of Emmy winners is below:
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
HANNAH WADDINGHAM as Rebecca Welton Ted Lasso
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
BRETT GOLDSTEIN as Roy Kent Ted Lasso
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
JULIANNE NICHOLSON as Lori Ross HBO Mare Of Easttown
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
EVAN PETERS as Detective Colin Zabel Mare Of Easttown
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
PETER MORGAN, Written by
The Crown
War
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
JESSICA HOBBS, Directed by
The Crown
War
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Margaret Thatcher NETFLIX The Crown
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
TOBIAS MENZIES as Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh NETFLIX The Crown
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
- JOHNATHAN APPEL, Writer
- ALI BARTHWELL, Writer
- TIM CARVELL, Writer
- LIZ HYNES, Writer
- GREG IWINSKI, Writer
- MARK KRAMER, Writer
- DANIEL O’BRIEN, Writer
- JOHN OLIVER, Writer
- OWEN PARSONS, Writer
- CHARLIE REDD, Writer
- JOANNA ROTHKOPF, Writer
- CHRISSY SHACKELFORD, Writer
- BEN SILVA, Writer
- SEENA VALI, Writer
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER HBO
- John Oliver, Executive Producer/Host
- Tim Carvell, Executive Producer
- Liz Stanton, Executive Producer
- Jeremy Tchaban, Co-Executive Producer
- Christopher Werner, Supervising Producer
- Laura L. Griffin, Producer
- Kate Mullaney, Producer
- Catherine Owens, Producer
- Matt Passet, Producer
- Marian Wang, Producer
- Charles Wilson, Producer
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
- Lorne Michaels, Executive Producer
- Steve Higgins, Produced by
- Ken Aymong, Supervising Producer
- Lindsay Shookus, Producer
- Erin Doyle, Producer
- Tom Broecker, Producer
- Caroline Maroney, Producer
- Erik Kenward, Produced by
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Hacks
There Is No Line (Pilot)
- LUCIA ANIELLO, Written by
- PAUL W. DOWNS, Written by
- JEN STATSKY, Written by
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
LUCIA ANIELLO, Directed by Hacks
There Is No Line (Pilot)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
JEAN SMART as Deborah Vance Hacks
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
JASON SUDEIKIS as Ted Lasso Ted Lasso
OUTSTANDING COMPETITION PROGRAM
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE VH1
- Fenton Bailey, Executive Producer
- Randy Barbato, Executive Producer
- Tom Campbell, Executive Producer
- RuPaul Charles, Executive Producer
- Steven Corfe, Executive Producer
- Mandy Salangsang, Executive Producer
- Michele Mills, Executive Producer
- Tim Palazzola, Executive Producer
- Thairin Smothers, Senior Producer
- John Polly, Co-Executive Producer
- Zoe Jackson, Co-Executive Producer
- Lisa Steele, Co-Executive Producer
- Camilo Valdes, Co-Executive Producer
- Michelle Visage, Producer
- Alicia Gargaro-Magana, Producer
- Jen Passovoy, Supervising Producer
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
SCOTT FRANK, Directed by NETFLIX The Queen’s Gambit
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
MICHAELA COEL, Written by HBO I May Destroy You
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
KATE WINSLET as Mare Sheehan HBO Mare Of Easttown
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
EWAN MCGREGOR as Halston Halston
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
OLIVIA COLMAN as Queen Elizabeth II The Crown
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
JOSH O’CONNOR as Prince Charles The Crown
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE)
STEPHEN COLBERT’S ELECTION NIGHT 2020: DEMOCRACY’S LAST STAND BUILDING BACK AMERICA GREAT AGAIN BETTER 2020
- Stephen T. Colbert, Executive Producer/Host
- Chris Licht, Executive Producer
- Tom Purcell, Executive Producer
- Jon Stewart, Executive Producer
- Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Co-Executive Producer
- Barry Julien, Co-Executive Producer
- Opus Moreschi, Co-Executive Producer
- Denise Rehrig, Co-Executive Producer
- Aaron Cohen, Supervising Producer
- Paul Dinello, Supervising Producer
- Emily Gertler, Supervising Producer
- Jay Katsir, Supervising Producer
- Matt Lappin, Supervising Producer
- Bjoern Stejskal, Supervising Producer
- Sara Vilkomerson, Supervising Producer
- Ballard C. Boyd, Producer
- Michael Brumm, Producer
- Gabe Gronli, Producer
- Paige Kendig, Producer
- Jake Plunkett, Producer
- Adam Wager, Producer
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (PRE-RECORDED)
HAMILTON
- Sander Jacobs, Executive Producer
- Jill Furman, Executive Producer
- Maggie Brohn, Executive Producer
- Jon Kamen, Co-Executive Producer
- Dave Sirulnick, Co-Executive Producer
- Justin Wilkes, Co-Executive Producer
- Thomas Kail, Produced by
- Lin-Manuel Miranda, Produced by
- Jeffrey Seller, Produced by
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
TED LASSO
- Bill Lawrence, Executive Producer
- Jason Sudeikis, Executive Producer
- Jeff Ingold, Executive Producer
- Bill Wrubel, Executive Producer
- Liza Katzer, Co-Executive Producer
- Jane Becker, Supervising Producer J
- amie Lee, Supervising Producer
- Kip Kroeger, Supervising Producer
- Brendan Hunt, Producer
- Tina Pawlik, Produced by
- Joe Kelly, Consulting Producer
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
THE CROWN
- Peter Morgan, Executive Producer
- Suzanne Mackie, Executive Producer
- Stephen Daldry, Executive Producer
- Andy Harries, Executive Producer
- Benjamin Caron, Executive Producer
- Matthew Byam Shaw, Executive Producer
- Robert Fox, Executive Produce
- Michael Casey, Producer
- Andy Stebbing, Producer
- Martin Harrison, Producer
- Oona O Beirn, Producer
OUTSTANDING LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES
THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT
- William Horberg, Executive Producer
- Allan Scott, Executive Producer
- Scott Frank, Executive Producer
- Mick Aniceto, Producer
- Marcus Loges, Produced by
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
