Even though Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys are just the start of three nights of awards for the best of primetime television, the wins have already been incredibly illuminative in determining where Television Academy voters’ heads are at — at least in certain categories.
For instance, “The Studio” has already broken the record for most Creative Arts Emmys given to a Comedy, and again, this was only Night One. Among its nine Emmys were wins for contemporary costumes, production design, casting, music supervision, picture editing, sound, and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for recurring cast member Bryan Cranston. The Apple TV+ series, which entered the competition as the most nominated freshman comedy of all time, only needs three more Emmy wins to break the record for most Comedy wins in a single year, which was set by “The Bear” last season.
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With this much below the line support, “The Studio” will likely reach that goal, as the series is a frontrunner for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Should the show also win Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Comedy Series overall, it would mean co-creator and star Seth Rogen would tie the record for most Primetime Emmy wins for an individual in a single year (four). However, a couple of those are categories that his show’s main competition “Hacks” has won several times.
Rogen’s co-stars Ike Barinholtz, Catherine O’Hara, and Kathryn Hahn all have the opportunity to add to the show’s tally as well. Barinholtz in particular seems even more pegged to win, with the show’s “Thank you Sal Saperstein” bit coming full circle, with the people who worked on “The Studio” all exclaiming it when they won at the Creative Arts Emmys. (Note: Barinholtz’s main competition is “Shrinking” star Harrison Ford, who had never been nominated for an Emmy before.)
While the Comedy categories all point to “The Studio” winning Outstanding Comedy Series, the Drama series wins were spread across several contenders. Nominations leader “Severance” still earned the lion’s share, with six wins, including Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series to Meritt Wever (who is now one of the rare actors to have won Emmys in Comedy, Drama, and Limited Series categories,) and Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour) to IndieWire Honors recipient Jessica Lee Gagné (who happens to also be nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.)
The main competition for “Severance” has been HBO Max phenomenon “The Pitt,” which won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Shawn Hatosy, and Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series — the latter being more predictive of what wins Outstanding Drama Series. But receiving even more Creative Arts Emmys, therefore giving credence that it could still be the dark horse for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy, is the final season of “Andor” on Disney+. The Star Wars series, which serves as a prequel to “Rogue One,” won four Emmys for its costume design, production design, picture editing, and visual effects. It’s worth noting however, that a couple of those categories specify fantasy/sci-fi, which separates the show from craft categories that most of its fellow Outstanding Drama Series nominees are in. One could still make the case for any of the three aforementioned dramas to win the main Emmy category come September 14.
Finally, in terms of the categories related to Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, the big takeaway is that HBO series “The Penguin” is a lot more competitive than people have been giving it credit for. It was second to “The Studio” in most wins of the night, having picked up eight Emmys in categories highlighting its makeup and hairstyling, costumes, sound, and visual effects. The makeup, costumes, and hairstyling in particular are so deeply tied to the performances of lead Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti that it gives hope that the former could actually still win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie over “Adolescence” co-creator and star Stephen Graham (who almost certainly will still receive an Emmy for writing the hit Netflix show), and that the latter is the definite frontrunner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, even over former winner Michelle Williams.
All that said, the groundwork is still laid for “Adolescence” to dominate the main Limited Series categories at the main Primetime Emmys. Its Creative Arts Emmy win for cinematography points to an incoming win for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and its casting win supports the notion that Owen Cooper, the series’ major discovery, is the one to beat in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Erin Doherty has also long been seen as a lock for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, despite being in only one episode, but “The Penguin” star Deirdre O’Connell could be the spoiler there, as she played a larger role in the HBO series.
All in all, Netflix actually had a great night despite “Adolescence” being their only series mentioned above. Looking at other popular categories, the streaming service won Outstanding Television Movie for “Rebel Ridge,” Outstanding Animated Program for “Arcane: League of Legends” (the first streaming series to win the category multiple times), and even several wins for “Bridgerton” Season 3, including Julie Andrews finally winning Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for her portrayal of Lady Whistledown after three previous nominations.
