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The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards were a respectfully subdued affair, as the audience had already attended the ceremony once this year. The 75th Emmys, scheduled for 2023, were actually held in February due to last year’s actors’ and writers’ strikes. There was no clapping — though Slow horses writer Will Smith (not That Will Smith) assured everyone that, despite his namesake, he came “in peace” when he accepted the award for Best Screenplay for a Drama Series.

Father-son hosts Dan and Eugene Levy avoided any political frivolity as the U.S. presidential election approached, making good on their pre-show promise to keep things “light and bright.” Instead, they poked fun at the nominees, parodying Martha’s creepy text messages from Richard Gadd’s stalker drama. Baby reindeer for a sketch about how older people struggle with technology.

The same couldn’t be said for the celebrity hosts, many of whom used their time on stage to mock Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s comment about “childless cat ladies.” “Let me just say what an honor it is to work with two men who are so far removed from childless cat ladies,” Selena Gomez said during a presentation alongside her senior Only murders in the building colleagues Martin Short and Steve Martin.

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FX’s Heartbreaking Kitchen Drama The Bear got off to a flying start after dominating the Emmys earlier this year. Chef/Calvin Klein model Jeremy Allen White won a trophy, as did his co-star Ebon Moss-Bachrach — repeating their success from February. Liza Colón-Zayas’ third acting win, however, was much more of a surprise. She beat out Hollywood royalty Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in one of the night’s biggest upsets.

One of the big questions of the night was whether the Television Academy would honor Gadd despite the controversy surrounding his Netflix hit after its creator’s real-life stalker went public and sued the streaming giant. The answer was a resounding yes. In fact, Jessica Gunning, who played Martha on the series, was the first to receive the award. She thanked her “reindeer,” Gadd, in her acceptance speech: “I will never forget (Martha) or you, or this.”

Gadd was also a hit behind the scenes, as the crowd flocked to the Scottish comedian, whose presence marked his first major Hollywood outing since Baby reindeer exploded into Netflix’s Top 10 most-watched shows of all time ranking. One video shared on X/Twitter showed the actor posing for selfies during a break before rushing back inside. Gadd won three awards, one for acting and two for writing. In an impassioned acceptance speechhe told the audience, “I never thought I would get my life back. I never thought I would be able to recover from what had happened to me and get myself back on my feet. And now here I am, over a decade later, winning one of the biggest writing awards on television.”

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During the three-hour ceremony, the Television Academy paid tribute to some of the medium’s greatest archetypes, including villains, cops and lawyers. Viola Davis (who played Keating in How to get away with murder), Christine Baranski (who played Lockhart in The good woman And The good fight), and Gina Torres (who starred in Pearsonthe spin-off of the character she played To take) joined forces to present the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. “Ultimately, TV lawyers remind us of two things: First, the trifecta of weakness, stupidity and evil will never go away,” Baranski said. “Second, the cases, trials and clients that reflect that trifecta make for truly entertaining television.”

The legal trio awarded first-time nominee Anna Sawai an Emmy for her role in Shogunwhich immediately reduced her to tears. The epic FX historical drama about power struggles in 17th-century Japan broke records before the televised ceremony even began. It won 14 Creative Arts Emmys over the weekend, making it the most-awarded season of television in Emmy history. It extended its record with four more awards on Sunday, bringing its total to 18 Emmys. Executive producer Justin Marks said of the networks that brought the show to life, “You’ve greenlit a very expensive, subtitled, Japanese costume drama that centers around a poetry competition. I have no idea why you did that, but thank you for believing in this incredible team.”

On the other end of the spectrum, The Crown went down quietly. After 21 Emmys and 87 nominations, Peter Morgan’s sixth and final series earned just one more win for Elizabeth Debicki’s role as Princess Diana. With goliaths like The Crown And Succession now out of sight, the 2025 Emmys promise to be wide open. Luckily, this time we have a whole year to wait.