Inside The Show, The Parties, And That ‘Hacks’ Trick

So for me the big story of the night was the completely unexpected win by Hacks for Best Comedy Series over The Bear which was coming off a record 10 Emmy win in January for its first season, led with another record 23 nominations in season 2, railroaded through the Creative Arts last weekend with 7 wins and had another 4 Sunday night leading up to the final award of the evening, a no-brainer it was assumed at this point for the FX series about a chef returning to Chicago to run a restaurant. But then the SHOCKER.

Max’s Hacks, now in its third season somehow pulled it off and won Best Comedy Series having only scored Comedy Writing and a 3rd win for star Jean Smart as Outstanding Leading Actress in comedy series. And although this was the show’s most widely praised season yet, a win in the top category was not forecast by anyone. It was The Bear’s to lose – and it did.

So I really wanted to catch up with the Hacks team at the Governors Ball, but they were clearly busy backstage after that surprise win. At about 9:15 I gave up and headed into the West Garage to find my car when I suddenly run smack into Hacks creators Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky right there rushing through the garage with all those Emmys between them for their two big wins at the 76th Emmys. I got them to pose, and Downs told me he was completely shell shocked with no idea how this upset for the ages could have happened. “I was totally stunned,” he said as I offered that as a member of the Television Academy and the writers branch I had voted for Hacks for Best Comedy Series and Writing In A Comedy Series. “Your vote might have made the difference, ” he laughed (sort of) thinking it must have been close with The Bear.

I am not so sure. First of all, even as acknowledged by hosts Dan and Eugene Levy slyly intimating in their monologue that The Bear really isn’t a comedy, many I talk to in the Academy have thought the same thing but it hasn’t stopped them from voting for it in the comedy categories. Well it looks like the chickens came home to roost and likely enough members joined me in thinking a comedy winner should actually be a comedy. That is what we got Sunday night when it came to opening the envelope for Outstanding Comedy Series. Academy honchos have told me after dealing with category placement issues they basically settled on letting the creatives decide which sandbox they want to play in.

I had gone into the Emmys thinking it was all a fait compli. Three shows were likely to dominate. After last weekend’s Creative Arts ceremonies where Shogun went 14 for 14 setting a single series season win even before the big show last night, it certainly could not miss, and it didn’t, picking up four more wins for an astounding 18 Emmys overall. Then The Bear picked up 7 at Creative Arts, adding another record setting 4. It’s obvious, right? And then you couldn’t beat the sensationalism and headlines of Netflix’s Baby Reindeer to dominate the Limited Series categories. It ended up winning 6 including Outstanding Limited Series or Anthology.

At last January’s 75th Emmys it had appeared that voters only saw three shows: Succession, Beef, and The Bear. They each simply decimated their competition in the three marquee categories. It looked like that would happen again, but much to my relief this Emmy show had some surprises. Baby Reindeer didn’t dominate, as another Netflix Limited Series, the sensational Ripley took four Emmys including Best Director for Steven Zaillian and sharng the glory nearly matching Reindeer. And then of course there was the big Hacks shockeroo. Plus a win for Slow Horses in Drama Writing to slightly slow Shogun’s rout, and a surprise victory for Lemorne Morris in Fargo was also fun, as was the triumph of Reality Series The Traitors upsetting the usual pattern of repeat repeat repeat when it comes to winners in that category. And Liza Colon-Zayas beating the likes of Meryl Streep, Carol Burnett, and Hannah Einbinder for Supporting Actress Comedy for The Bear was another stunner. Maybe the Emmys aren’t so predictable after all.

All of this gave me hope, just when I thought the voters were kinda lazy, that the Television Academy, of which I have been a member for decades, was still willing to shake things up, still capable of pulling off a surprise here and there. That is what makes them still worth watching even when we know John Oliver is gonna win again, and so is The Daily Show in a Presidential Election year when Jon Stewart returned as one of the rotating hosts.

Coming off last January’s record low ratings another show of the same old-same old would have been disastrous, but the voters impressed me. And the ABC broadcast itself, if not rewriting the book on how to do an awards show, was pleasant and classy enough with good presenters, lots of nostalgia again (love you Candice Bergen), and a nice pace. Greg Berlanti’s speech upon accepting the Governors Award was moving. Plus I got a kick out Dan and Eugene Levy as the amusing father/son hosting team, especially that bit they did in the audience.

Spirits were good at the Governors Ball where I caught up with some of the winners and losers. You might have thought Fellow Travelers star Matt Bomer actually won (Richard Gadd of Baby Reindeer took one of the three statuettes he won overall in Bomer’s category). “It was such a long journey to get this show made and we were just so proud to be here,” he told me without an ounce of disappointment. The recognition with the nominations was everything. The Morning Show’s now two-time Supporting Actor Drama winner Billy Crudup was also grateful just to be in a show with great writing and a great character to play. As he sat with wife Naomi Watts (also a nominee for Feud: Capote vs The Swans) at the Ball I asked him how this win compared to his first two years ago. “It’s sweatier,” he laughed.

Later he showed up at the engraving stand same time as Gadd and his fellow Reindeer winner Jessica Gunning, and they all posed for pictures. The Crown’s Supporting Actress Drama winner Elizabeth Debicki also made a beeline for the engraving station upon her entrance to the Govs Ball.

Also spotted catching up at the Ball were two of the night’s big repeat winners. I have completely lost count of how many Emmys both Jon Stewart and John Oliver have, but it seems every time they are nominated they win. Oliver got his start on Stewart’s original incarnation of The Daily Show , and he picked up his latest Emmy in a category competing only against Saturday Night Live. Stewart was the happy winner fronting The Daily Show again this season, but not having to work daily, only Mondays.

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special winner Alex Edelman was celebrating at the Ball with his proud mother and friend and newly minted EGOT winner Benj Pasek who with partner Justin Paul finally won an Emmy at Creative Arts last week (for their song from Only Murders In The Building) to go with their La La Land Oscar and Grammys, and Dear Evan Hansen Tonys.

The ball was crowded and some of the stars stuck around for an hour or so before heading off to other parties like Netflix’s in Hollywood or HBO’s San Vincente Bungalows scaled-down version of the humungous post Emmy bash they used to host, or Disney’s. Regarding the latter the studio took over the entire Music Center plaza, elaborately tented it, and threw a party that easily rivaled, if not exceeded what HBO used to do at Pacific Design Center. Easily spotted holding court right in the middle of everything was a beaming Bob Iger talking with Dana Walden. They had much to cheer including those 11 The Bear wins and the record busting 18 for Shogun. Both are from FX and there was much praise for FX chief John Landgraf who had a very good year indeed. Looking at the big turnout and immense party space. When I suggested this was the new HBO, Disney’s Alan Bergman laughed and said “it’s good that we won!” Another Disney exec told me this celebration had the look of confidence. They knew they were holding a winning hand. It is also good for the Emmys. If a studio is going to do a party this big, winning an Emmy clearly still means something.

Among those on hand were Jimmy Kimmel and wife Molly McNearney who I complimented on winning an Emmy at last weekend’s Creative Arts for producing the Oscars. It is a rare Emmy indeed as the Oscar show hasn’t won in decades. “Maybe it was those interviews we did with Deadline,” she laughed and also told me The Oscars have only won Emmys about four times in the past . That is still better than the track record for the Emmys which has never won an Emmy itself. It’s ineligible which is a shame since there is much to celebrate about the production. But I think we are ready for a break after having been in non-stop Emmy mode for much longer than usual thanks to the strikes and the delayed 75th show moving to January making this the first year with not one, but two Emmy shows. Producer Jesse Collins and team pulled them both off in style.

See you in a year.