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What the First Two Emmy Nights Tell Us Before the Main Ceremony
ReWhat the First Two Emmy Nights Tell Us Before the Main Ceremony
The early Emmy results reward television’s crafts and guest performances while revealing strong momentum for Widow’s Bay, Bad Bunny and Apple TV.
The first two nights of the 78th Emmy Awards are easy to mistake for a warm-up. They are not. They are a large part of the competition itself, and their results already tell us which programs have broad support before the September 14 primetime telecast.
The Television Academy held the September 5 and 6 ceremonies at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. These are the awards commonly associated with the Creative Arts Emmys: the categories that recognize editing, cinematography, sound, production design, costumes, reality and nonfiction television, variety specials and several acting performances.
Three signals stand out from the weekend.
First, “Widow’s Bay” has become the numerical leader. The Apple TV comedy-horror series won eight Emmys on Sunday. Its victories ranged across casting, cinematography, music, production design and sound, and Betty Gilpin added an acting award for guest actress in a comedy. A show winning across that many departments is not simply collecting technical prizes; it is demonstrating that several branches of the television academy respond to its work.
Second, live spectacle had an unusually dominant night. “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” won seven awards on Saturday, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live). It also took directing, choreography, music direction, sound mixing, lighting and technical direction/camerawork. The production won all seven categories in which it was nominated that evening.
“The Traitors” was close behind with six wins, including another host award for Alan Cumming. “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won five in its final season, and “The Muppet Show” collected four.
Third, the acting categories created stories that will carry into the main telecast. Mariska Hargitay won two Emmys for “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay” before serving as host of the September 14 ceremony. On the scripted-programming night, Rob Reiner won posthumously for his guest role in “The Bear.” Ernest Harden Jr. won guest actor in a drama for “The Pitt,” Shailene Woodley won guest actress in a drama for “Paradise,” and David Harbour and Linda Cardellini won the two supporting limited-series acting categories for “DTF St. Louis.”
The second-night program totals add more context. “DTF St. Louis” finished with six awards, “Spider-Noir” with five, and “The Pitt” and “Pluribus” with four apiece. “Remarkably Bright Creatures” won Outstanding Movie and “South Park” won Outstanding Animated Program.
There is also a platform story. Variety’s count after the weekend placed Apple TV first with 20 Emmys, followed by HBO Max with 16, Netflix with 13 and Amazon Prime Video, including MGM+, with 10. The gap is meaningful, but it is not the final score because the biggest series and acting categories remain for September 14.
The naming can be confusing this year. The Television Academy is presenting September 5, 6 and 14 as three nights of the 78th Emmy Awards. The edited television presentation of the first two nights, however, is still billed as “The 78th Emmy Awards (Creative Arts)” and airs September 12 on FXX, with Hulu availability the following day.
The main ceremony will air live September 14 on NBC and Peacock at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. It will decide the awards that dominate next morning’s headlines. But the weekend has already answered another question: which shows were admired not just for one star or one episode, but by the people who judge how television is made. On that measure, “Widow’s Bay,” the Bad Bunny halftime show and several of their closest rivals have already had a very good Emmy season.
Source: Television Academy — first two nights of the 78th Emmys