LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Some surprise awards, expected wins and historic firsts - all part of last night's Emmy Awards, which I didn't get a chance to watch because I wake up so early for this show and I had to go to bed. So here to catch me and all of us up is NPR TV critic Eric Deggans. Hey, Eric.
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hi.
FADEL: So who were the big winners?
DEGGANS: Well, the upside of the night came when showbiz satire "Hacks" won as best comedy, beating out the category favorite "The Bear." And they also provided a little more fodder over this debate over whether "The Bear" is actually a comedy.
FADEL: Yeah.
DEGGANS: Now, the drama about stalking, "Baby Reindeer," won as best limited series, and the sprawling series about feudal Japan, "Shogun," won as best drama series after its lead performers, Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada, won as best actress and actor in a drama, respectively. Now, this show's 18 total Emmys broke the record for the most wins in a single season. And Sanada gave an affecting acceptance speech partially in Japanese, translated by the executive producer Justin Marks. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "75TH PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS")
HIROYUKI SANADA: (Speaking Japanese).
JUSTIN MARKS: "The passion and dreams that we have inherited from you have crossed oceans and borders." (Speaking Japanese).
FADEL: So those were the win - the big wins. What about the surprises, the things you didn't expect?
DEGGANS: Well, you know, it was interesting to see "Hacks" and "The Bear" kind of duke it out in the comedy categories. Alan Cumming's show "The Traitors" beat out longtime winner "RuPaul's Drag Race" as best reality TV competition series. "Fargo" co-star Lamorne Morris notched a surprising but really deserved win as supporting actor in a limited series. He beat Robert Downey Jr. from "The Sympathizer." And "The Bear's" Liza Colon-Zayas beat contenders like Carol Burnett and Meryl Streep to win best supporting actress in a comedy. Now, Colon-Zayas also made history as the first Latina to win in that category. And she also had a really touching message in her acceptance speech.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "75TH PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS")
LIZA COLON-ZAYAS: And to all the Latinas who are looking at me...
(APPLAUSE)
COLON-ZAYAS: Keep believing and vote.
FADEL: Yeah. And it's an election year, so I'd imagine that wasn't the only moment the telecast delved into politics.
DEGGANS: Yeah. Well, we didn't see direct jokes about former President Donald Trump. I mean, it was just hours after what the FBI is calling an apparent assassination attempt against him.
FADEL: Right.
DEGGANS: But there was a veiled joke about his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, who's talked about childless cat ladies. And it came from "Murphy Brown" star Candice Bergen while presenting an award. Now, she joked about progress since Republican Vice President Dan Quayle criticized her character for being a single mother way back in 1992.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "75TH PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS")
CANDICE BERGEN: Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids. So as they say, my work here is done. Meow.
DEGGANS: Indeed.
FADEL: (Laughter) So one part of the telecast that always gets scrutiny is the host. The Emmys also made history here with this first father-son duo, actors Eugene and Dan Levy. How did they do?
DEGGANS: I guess I'd say well enough.
FADEL: OK.
DEGGANS: I mean, they're comic actors, not stand-up comics, so their monologue wasn't as smooth as something an experienced host like Jimmy Kimmel might deliver. Now, they were at their best, I think, when they were performing little comedy bits where they could act off each other. I'd say the show overall had some problems with pacing. Too many sequences with stiff dialogue and odd moments. Like, there was a scene with two presenters that seemed like product placement for a liquor company. But it was generally entertaining, no real head-scratching wins and a great showcase for some of the best series on TV, which, for any award ceremony, is a pretty good result.
FADEL: That's NPR TV critic Eric Deggans on the 76th Emmys held last night in Los Angeles. Thanks, Eric.
DEGGANS: My pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF KIEFER'S "GOOD LOOKING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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