The “succession” triumphed for the last time.
HBO's chronicle of a feuding media dynasty took best drama for its final season at the Emmys on Monday night, the third time the show has taken home television's most prestigious award. “Succession” swept nearly all the Emmy Awards for Leading Drama Performance, with Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen winning for their performances last season. Jesse Armstrong, the show's creator, won his fourth Emmy for best dramatic writing, one for each season of “Succession.”
The show now joins the legendary line of dramas that were rewarded with top honors for their farewell seasons, a lineup that includes “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones.”
“It was a great sadness to end this show, but a great pleasure to do it,” Armstrong said in accepting his Emmy Award for best writing.
But Emmy voters weren't as kind to other returning winners.
“The Bear,” the FX and Hulu series that tells the story of a strange Chicago-based restaurant staff, took home the award for best comedy in its first season. “The Bear” beat out “Ted Lasso,” the beloved Apple TV+ series that previously won best comedy twice in a row and is believed to have concluded its final season.
There were also many other new winners.
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Jeremy Allen White, who plays the nervous head chef in “The Bear,” won his first Emmy for best actor in a comedy.
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Quinta Brunson, creator of the ABC comedy “Abbott Elementary,” won best actress in a comedy, making her the first black woman to win the award since Isabel Sanford won in 1981 for “The Jeffersons.”
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In other major awards, Netflix's “Beef” had a big night: it won best limited series; Lee Sung Jin won for writing and directing; and Steven Yeun and Ali Wong won for acting.
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The night's top three shows earned multiple awards: “Succession” and “The Bear” each won six Emmy Awards Monday night and “Beef” won five.
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“The Daily Show” won best talk show, even though honored host Trevor Noah left the Comedy Central late-night show more than a year ago.
These were a deeply unusual Emmy Awards. Due to months-long writer's and actor's strikes, the Emmys were moved from their usual September time slot to mid-January, the first significant postponement of the awards show since after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Various series nominees have been off the air since 2022, leading to several baffling moments during the broadcast. The January ceremony date also put the Emmys squarely in the middle of Hollywood's busiest awards show stretch. “Succession,” “The Bear” and “Beef” were already honored at the Golden Globes last week and at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night.
The Emmy telecast, which was hosted by Anthony Anderson, even took a backseat Monday night. The ceremony went head-to-head with an NFL playoff game, as well as live results from the Iowa caucuses. The 2022 Emmy ceremony drew just 5.9 million viewers, a new low, and executives are bracing for the possibility of even smaller audiences this year.
