As a longtime movie enthusiast who has seen his fair share of Emmy ceremonies, I must say that this year’s Creative Arts Emmys have left me utterly astounded and impressed. The sheer dominance of FX’s Shōgun is nothing short of remarkable; it’s like watching the rising sun over Mt. Fuji! With its impressive sweep of awards, it seems the show has managed to out-Samurai every other production this year.


Over the weekend, the Creative Arts Emmys didn’t have a bigger tale to tell than the epic historical fiction series, Shōgun. Produced by FX, this captivating drama set in feudal Japan during a dynastic struggle racked up an astonishing 14 awards out of the 17 it was nominated for. These victories spanned across various categories such as Guest Actor, Cinematography, Costumes, Main Title Design, Stunt Performers, among others. This impressive haul not only broke the previous record for most Emmys won by a TV program in one year but shattered it significantly. Since 2008, HBO’s historical miniseries John Adams held this title after winning 13 awards (including five at the Primetime Emmys). As we approach next Sunday’s main telecast, every award Shōgun wins will only add to its already impressive record-breaking streak.

The Shogun series, The Bear comedy, and Baby Reindeer limited series each received awards for exceptional casting in their categories. Since these shows are strong contenders to win their respective Best Series awards, it’s clear that the success of a show often begins with its casting team.

Discussing the initial scenes, each episode of “The Traitors” kicks off with a revelation about a crime (or, more accurately, a “murder”), as shared by host Alan Cumming, and it’s these dramatic moments that contributed to his Emmy win for Outstanding Host for a Reality Competition Program. This is Cumming’s first Emmy victory after four attempts, and given the recent buzz about EGOT (which we’ll delve into later), he’s now halfway there. We need him on a cast album, pronto! Cumming’s triumph in “The Traitors” also signifies that RuPaul has lost in this category for the first time in the last nine years. This was part of a disappointing 0-for-7 streak for “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, suggesting that “The Traitors” might dethrone it as the winner of the Outstanding Reality Competition Program on Sunday.

As a film enthusiast, I wasn’t surprised to see Cumming and the other guest stars shine brightly at the event. Just as expected, both Comedy Guest awards were scooped up by “The Bear.” Jon Bernthal made amends for last year’s loss by securing the Guest Actor award for his exceptional performance in season two’s “Fishes,” an episode that also brought Jamie Lee Curtis her well-deserved Guest Actress win. Since season two debuted last summer, she had been a strong contender for this accolade.

As an avid fan, I was thrilled to see Shōgun triumph once more, with the impressive newcomer Nestor Carbonell taking the spotlight this time. Known for his captivating yet unrecognized performances, like on Lost, he clinched the award for his role as sailor Vasco Rodrigues. On the acting side, Michaela Coel managed to outshine an intense pool of competition from her own show, emerging victorious for Mr. and Mrs. Smith. This marked her second Emmy win, following her success in Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series for I May Destroy You in 2021.

If Coel is poised to become a future Emmy powerhouse, Maya Rudolph could serve as her current role model. This weekend, Rudolph garnered her sixth Emmy win in the category of Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance, marking her fourth triumph in five years for voicing Connie the Hormone Monstress in Big Mouth. She now shares the record for most wins in this category with Hank Azaria, Dan Castellaneta (both from The Simpsons), and Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy). On Sunday, Rudolph will contend for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Loot as well.

In a stunning turn of events, Angela Bassett and Sandra Oh secured their inaugural Emmy Awards, leaving many speechless. What made these victories remarkable wasn’t just that they won, but rather it was their first-ever wins. Bassett outshone heavyweights like Morgan Freeman and David Attenborough to clinch the Outstanding Narrator for Nat Geo’s Queens. On the other hand, Oh, who had previously been snubbed 13 times in Emmy nominations for her work on shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve, finally triumphed as a producer of the Outstanding Television Movie Quiz Lady.

Among the television movies shown last year, “Quiz Lady” outperformed “Mr. Monk’s Last Case” on Peacock, a result that might seem unexpected if you didn’t know how much the Emmy voters adored Tony Shalhoub in that role. In fact, he won three Lead Actor in a Comedy awards for his portrayal of the quirky detective! However, this year, there were no acting nominations for Shalhoub and “Monk” ended without recognition. Combined with the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys failing to honor the Frasier reboot, these events marked a clear end to the spirit of the ’00s.

A final congratulations to departing Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak for winning a for-the-road Emmy as Outstanding Game Show Host (a category that moved up from the Daytime Emmy Awards last year). This was Sajak’s fourth win off 21 nominations. Your move, Ryan Seacrest.

Each year during Emmys season, there’s a meme that resurfaces, suggesting a simplistic view that the critically acclaimed series, The Wire, which many intelligent individuals consider one of the best TV shows ever made, never received a single Emmy award. This meme often pops up when an average show takes home an Emmy, serving as a reminder that the world can be both cold and unpredictable. In this year’s Emmys, The Idol was awarded the prize for Outstanding Choreography in Scripted Programming.

After receiving the Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?”, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have achieved the prestigious milestone known as an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), joining a select group that includes Rita Moreno, Mel Brooks, and Tracy Jordan. This dynamic duo, renowned in musical theater circles as Pasek and Paul, have been impressively successful for quite some time now, starting with their college years at the University of Michigan and making their Broadway debut in their early twenties. Their EGOT achievements were all earned within a year’s time, with an Oscar for “City of Stars” from La La Land, as well as Tonys and a Grammy for the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. With this latest win, they have joined the ranks of esteemed composers such as Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner, Stephen Sondheim, and even The Wire, who never achieved an EGOT.

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2024-09-09 21:54