Netflix UK’s breakout miniseries wins six gongs to lead pack

The US TV Academy honoured Netflix limited series Adolescence, HBO Max drama The Pitt and Apple TV+ comedy The Studio at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles yesterday (14 September).

The Pitt won the drama series award to upset category favourite Severance from Apple TV+ in a strong showing for the medical drama that also saw Noah Wyle beat frontrunner Adam Scott (Severance) in the lead dramatic actor contest. Wyle collected the first Emmy of his career, as did his co-star Katherine LaNasa in supporting dramatic actress.

The Pitt

Noah Wyle in The Pitt

The Studio claimed the comedy series award after Seth Rogen was named lead comedy actor earlier in the ceremony. He returned to the stage several times to share directing and writing honours, as well as the series trophy, with co-creator Evan Goldberg and fellow collaborators. Rogen won four in total.

Apple started the ceremony on 79 nominations and a field-leading 27 for Severance. The company finished the night with its best Emmys haul on seven wins, rising to 22 including last weekend’s (September 7 and 8) Creative Arts Emmys when The Studio won nine, followed by HBO Max’s The Penguin on eight.

HBO Max entered the Emmys awards cycle on a company-record 142 nominations and Netflix on 120. Both companies finished on 30 apiece.

Adolescence triumphs

Adolescence won six Emmys, more awards on Sunday than any other show. It earned honours for best limited or anthology series or movie, and lead actor for Stephen Graham, who told the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles: ”I’m just a mixed-race kid from a block of flats in Kirby. It shows you that any dream is possible.”

At 15, Owen Cooper became the youngest person ever to win in any male acting Emmy category when he received the limited or anthology series or movie supporting actor prwize as the troubled youth at the centre of the four-part drama. 

Adolescence co-star Erin Doherty won the corresponding supporting actress award, and Graham returned to the stage to collect writing honours, shared with Jack Thorne. Philip Barantini won the format’s directing award for the format. He was the only male nominee in a six-strong directing category this year.

Severance S2

Adam Scott and Britt Lower in Severance S2

The second season of Severance from Apple TV+ began the night as the most-nominated show on 27 and took two major acting prizes. Brit Lower was named best lead dramatic actress, while Tramell Tillman scooped the supporting dramatic actor category.

Jean Smart was named best comedy actress for the fourth time for HBO Max’s Hacks, marking her seventh Emmy win in total. Cristin Milioti from HBO Max show The Penguin won best lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie.

HBO Max’s third season of The White Lotus had garnered 23 nominations – as many as The Studio – however it did not win any awards on Sunday.

Adam Randall won drama directing for Apple TV+ spy show Slow Horses, and Dan Gilroy won his first Emmy for best drama writing for the Disney+ show Andor.

Politics

The Emmys show was largely unpolitical and there was no reference to the assassination last week of US conservative personality Charlie Kirk that has left the United States on tenterhooks. However Hacks’ best supporting comedy actress winner Hannah Einbinder was bleeped when she took to the stage and said, ‘Fuck ICE [Immigration And Customs Enforcement], before signing off with, “Free Palestine.”

TV Academy president Cris Abrego paid tribute to Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is closing at the end of the year after the Republican-dominated US Congress voted to defund it. The crowd booed. “That’s a reminder of just how much our work here matters, especially right now,” said Abrego. “In a time when division dominates the headlines, storytelling still has the power to unite us.”

Arguably the biggest statement of the night came when the TV Academy voted The Late Show With Stephen Colbert best talk series. Awkwardly for ceremony broadcaster CBS, the network said earlier this year it will pull the plug on the show in summer 2026, ostensibly for budgetary reasons. TV Academy voters had their say, and Colbert brought the house down when he accepted the Emmy and restricted himself to a short and elegant speech. 

Honorary award, tributes

Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for their dedication to advocacy. Show segments included tributes to the 40th anniversary of The Golden Girls, 35 years of Law & Order, and 25 years of The Gilmore Girls and Survivor.

Ceremony host and comedian Nate Bargatze pledged to donate $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Club and said $1,000 would be deducted for every second that acceptance speeches ran over a 45-second limit, and $1,000 would be added for every second under the limit. By the end of the ceremony the counter was at zero, however the host and others resurrected the pledge amount to $350,000 by the end of the broadcast.

Last year, FX period drama Shōgun won best drama, HBO Max’s Hacks won best comedy, and Netflix’s Baby Reindeer was named best limited or anthology series.

  • A version of this story first appeared on our sister publication ScreenDaily

Select 77th Primetime Emmy Awards winners:

Winners in bold

Outstanding drama series

Andor (Disney+)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

The Last Of Us (HBO Max)

Paradise (Hulu)

The Pitt (HBO Max)

Severance (Apple TV+)

Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

The White Lotus (HBO Max)

 

Outstanding comedy series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)

The Bear (FX)

Hacks (HBO Max)

Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Only Murders In The Building (Hulu)

Shrinking (Apple TV+)

The Studio (Apple TV+)

What We Do In The Shadows (FX)

 

Outstanding limited or anthology series

Adolescence (Netflix)

Black Mirror (Netflix)

Dying For Sex (FX)

Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

The Penguin (HBO Max)

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

Kathy Bates, Matlock (CBS)

Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)

Britt Lower, Severance (Apple TV+)

Bella Ramsey, The Last Of Us (HBO Max)

Keri Russell, The Diplomat (Netflix)

 

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

Sterling K Brown, Paradise (Hulu)

Gary Oldman, Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Pedro Pascal, The Last Of Us (HBO Max)

Adam Scott, Severance (Apple TV+)

Noah Wyle, The Pitt (HBO Max)

 

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

Uzo Aduba, The Residence (Netflix)

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear (FX)

Jean Smart, Hacks (HBO Max)

 

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Seth Rogen, The Studio (Apple TV+)

Jason Segal, Shrinking (Apple TV+)

Martin Short Only Murders In The Building (Hulu)

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear (FX)

 

Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

Cate Blanchett Disclaimer (Apple TV+)

Meghann Fahy, Sirens (Netflix)

Rashida Jones, Black Mirror (Netflix)

Cristin Milioti, The Penguin (HBO Max)

Michelle Williams, Dying For Sex (FX)

 

Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

Colin Farrell The Penguin (HBO Max)

Stephen Graham, Adolescence (Netflix)

Jake Gyllenhaal, Presumed Innocent (Apple TV+)

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief (Apple TV+)

Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

 

Supporting actress in a drama series

Patricia Arquette, Severance (Apple TV+)

Carrie Coon, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt (HBO Max)

Julianne Nicholson, Paradise (Hulu)

Parker Posey, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

 

Supporting actor in a drama series

Zach Cherry, Severance (Apple TV+)

Walton Goggins, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

James Marsden, Paradise (Hulu)

Sam Rockwell, The White Lotus (HBO Max)

Tramell Tillman, Severance (Apple TV+)

John Turturro, Severance (Apple TV+)

 

Supporting actress in a comedy series

Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear F(X)

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks (HBO Max)

Kathryn Hahn, The Studio (Apple TV+)

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary A(BC)

Catherine O’Hara, The Studio (Apple TV+)

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Jessica Williams Shrinking (Apple TV+)

 

Supporting actor in a comedy series

Ike Barinholtz, The Studio (Apple TV+)

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons (Netflix)

Harrison Ford, Shrinking (Apple TV+)

Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear (FX)

Michael Urie Shrinking (Apple TV+)

Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

 

Supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

Erin Doherty, Adolescence (Netflix)

Ruth Negga, Presumed Innocent (Apple TV+)

Deirdre O’Connell, The Penguin (HBO Max)

Chloë Sevigny, Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

Jenny Slate, Dying For Sex (FX)

Christine Tremarco, Adolescence (Netflix)

 

Supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

Javier Bardem, Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

Bill Camp, Presumed Innocent Apple TV+)

Owen Cooper, Adolescence (Netflix)

Rob Delaney, Dying For Sex (FX)

Peter Sarsgaard, Presumed Innocent (Apple TV+)

Ashley Walters, Adolescence (Netflix)

 

Outstanding directing for a drama series

Janus Metz, Andor “Who Are You?” (Disney+)

Amanda Marsalis, The Pitt, “6:00 PM”, (HBO Max)

John Wells, The Pitt, “7:00 AM”, (HBO Max)

Jessica Lee Gagné, Severance, ”Chikhai Bardo” (Apple TV+)

Ben Stiller, Severance, ”Cold Harbor” (Apple TV+)

Adam Randall, Slow Horses, “Hello Goodbye” (Apple TV+)

Mike White, The White Lotus, “Amor Fati” (HBO Max)

 

Outstanding directing for a comedy series

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear, “Napkins” (FX)

Lucia Aniello, Hacks, “A Slippery Slope” (HBO Max)

James Burrows, Mid-Century Modern, ”Here’s To You, Mrs. Schneiderman” (Hulu)

Nathan Fielder, The Rehearsal, ”Pilot’s Code” (HBO Max)

Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, The Studio, “The Oner” (Apple TV+)

 

Outstanding directing for a limited or anthology series or movie

Philip Barantini, Adolescence (Netflix)

Shannon Murphy, Dying For Sex, “It’s Not That Serious” (FX)

Helen Shaver, The Penguin, ”Cent’anni” (HBO Max)

Jennifer Getzinger, The Penguin, ”A Great Or Little Thing” (HBO Max)

Nicole Kassell, Sirens, “Exile” (Netflix)

Lesli Linka Glatter, Zero Day (Netflix)

 

Outstanding writing for a drama series

Dan Gilroy, Andor, “Welcome To The Rebellion”, (Disney+)

Joe Sachs, The Pitt, “2:00 PM”, (HBO Max)

R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt, “7:00 AM”, (HBO Max)

Dan Erickson, Severance, “Cold Harbor” (Apple TV+)

Will Smith, Slow Horses, “Hello Goodbye” (Apple TV+)

Mike White, The White Lotus, “Full-Moon Party” (HBO Max)

 

Outstanding writing for a comedy series

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary, “Back To School” (ABC)

Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky, Hacks, “A Slippery Slope” (HBO Max)

Carrie Kemper, Adam Locke-Norton & Eric Notarnicola, The Rehearsal, ”Pilot’s Code” (HBO Max)

Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen & Bridget Everett, Somebody Somewhere, “AGG” (HBO Max)

Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory & Frida Perez, The Studio, “The Promotion” (Apple TV+)

Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis & Paul Simms, What We Do In The Shadows, “The Finale” (FX)

 

Outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series or movie

Jack Thorne & Stephen Graham, Adolescence (Netflix)

Charlie Brooker & Bisha K. Ali, Black Mirror, “Common People” (Netflix)

Kim Rosenstock & Elizabeth Meriwether, Dying For Sex, “Good Value Diet Soda” (FX)

Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin, ”A Great Or Little Thing” (HBO Max)

Joshua Zetumer, Say Nothing, “The People In The Dirt” (FX)

 

Outstanding television movie

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (Peacock) 

The Gorge (Apple TV+)

Mountainhead (HBO Max)

Nonnas (Netflix)

Rebel Ridge (Netflix)

 

Outstanding reality competition programme

The Traitors

RuPaul’s Drag Race

The Amazing Race

Survivor

Top Chef

 

Outstanding talk series

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Daily Show

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

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