Easter eggs, snubs and ‘free Palestine’: What you missed at the Emmys

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id you watch the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday morning? Or did your boss rudely insist you do your job instead? Thankfully, deputy TV editor Meg Watson, senior culture writer Karl Quinn and culture reporter Thomas Mitchell were busy live-blogging for you. Here’s what you missed:

THE HIGHS

The Pitt keeps it real

Noah Wyle accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for The Pitt.

The best drama category was widely thought to be a fight between Severance and The Pitt, and the two kinds of TV they represent. Would we reward the big-budget, high-concept mystery box show that epitomises the past decade or so of prestige streaming? Or could it be this prolific old-school 15-episode medical drama that feels raw, true to life and has another season dropping in January? The latter won the day.

If you missed the hype on this one, The Pitt is a relentless new series from some of the creators behind ER which follows the healthcare workers at a fictional Pittsburgh emergency department in real time.

Noah Wyle (who also played Dr John Carter in ER) won best actor for his depiction of Dr Robby, a hard-working yet completely traumatised attending physician at the heart of the show, and Katherine LaNasa beat most of the cast of The White Lotus in supporting actress for her portrayal of beleaguered charge nurse Dana.

With the series so rooted in real-world issues – from hospital funding cuts to post-Covid PTSD – and boasting a high degree of medical accuracy thanks to advisers behind the scenes, both actors made a point of thanking the real healthcare workers who inspired their stories.

“To anybody who’s going on shift tonight or coming off shift tonight, thank you for being in that job,” Wyle said accepting his award wearing a custom tuxedo made by a company that makes hospital scrubs. “This is for you.” MW

Stephen Colbert wins the crowd

Stephen Colbert accepts the outstanding talk series award for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

It’s a rare awards ceremony at which no one makes a statement, and this year’s Emmys did not disappoint. But the biggest statement of the night was arguably the support shown for Stephen Colbert, the axed host of The Late Show.

CBS – also the broadcaster of the Emmys telecast – announced in July it was cancelling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert after 11 years, and retiring the format (which it launched in 1993 as Late Show With David Letterman). The network cited declining ratings and rising costs, which are both true, but there are plenty of observers who discern darker motivations, including a desire to appease Donald Trump as a corporate merger with its parent company was being negotiated.

Whatever the case, Colbert was an obvious favourite at the Emmys, receiving three standing ovations. The first came as he took the stage to present the night’s opening award. The second – and biggest – came when his show won best talk show. The final came as he finished his acceptance speech.

The show, he said, was created with the ambition of making a late-night chat program about love. Over time, he came to realise the real subject was loss. “And that’s related to love because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it,” he said.

“Ten years later, in September of 2025, my friends, I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America. Stay strong. Be brave. And if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.” Seriously, the man is pure class. KQ

An Easter egg for Severance fans

Britt Lower’s Severance innie managed to sneak a concerning message out to the real world.

Apple TV+ drama Severance missed out on best drama tonight, but Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower won best supporting actor and best actress respectively. And, even better, fans of the show – who are frequently rewarded for decoding cryptic messages – were given a 10/10 Easter egg when Lower took to the stage.

Lower’s speech included a handwritten message reading “LET ME OUT” – the same note her character’s “innie” Helly R tries to send outside the fictional corporate dystopia of Lumon Industries. Massive respect for going full nerd on stage. And also for Tillman, who is actually the first black man to win in the supporting actor category. He later gave thanks to those who came before him, such as Michael K. Williams (The Wire) and Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad). MW

Raising $US350,000 via long speeches

Hosting an awards show can be a poisoned chalice, which is why it pays to have a running gag you can lean on when times get tough. While the jury is still out on comedian Nate Bargatze’s performance, his fundraising efforts made for a fun addition to an otherwise blah evening.

At the top of the show, the host announced he would be donating $US100,000 (about $150,000) to the Boys & Girls Club, an American not-for-profit that provides voluntary after-school programs for young people. But the cash came with a caveat: for every winner whose speech went over their 45-second allotment, he would subtract $US1000 from that donation per second. On the flip side, any winner whose speech went under 45 seconds will cause him to add another US$1000 per second.

By the end of the night, the count was at negative $US50,000. Yikes. But this is Hollywood after all, so a happy ending was assured. Despite being in the red, Bargatze revealed CBS was going to add $US100,000 to the donation, while he would personally give $US250,000. TM

THE LOWS

The same shows winning everything

Seth Rogen won big at the 77th Emmy Awards for his Apple TV+ comedy The Studio.

Morrissey once sang that “we hate it when our friends become successful”. But maybe that’s just because we get sick and tired of watching them go on stage to receive their awards.

I won’t hear a bad word about Adolescence, which is one of the most impressive and serious-minded bits of television I have ever seen. And I absolutely adore The Studio, a show about Hollywood that absolutely bursts with inside jokes but still offers plenty of enjoyment for novices in the ways of studio glad-handing.

But honestly, enough is enough. The repeat visits to the podium from Seth Rogen and co as The Studio marched towards its 13 wins (a record for a comedy in its first season) and from Stephen Graham and co for Adolescence (eight wins) really did become a little tiresome to watch. As Rogen noted towards the end, “This is getting embarrassing”. KQ

THE WHOAS

Aimee Lou Wood as Chelsea in The White Lotus.

The White Lotus goes home empty-handed

The White Lotus loves to begin with a shocking murder, but the series suffered a slow death at the 77th annual Emmy Awards. Before the ceremony kicked off, the HBO Max series was up for 23 Emmy nominations, tied with Apple’s The Studio. Fast-forward to the end and The Studio was crowned in glory while The White Lotus went home empty-handed.

Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell and Aimee Lou Wood all earned nods for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series. They all lost to Katherine LaNasa for The Pitt. For outstanding supporting actor, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs and Sam Rockwell were nominated. They lost to Tramell Tillman for Severance.

The series also lost outstanding drama to The Pitt, while White’s nominations for outstanding directing and writing went to Adam Randall for Slow Horses and Dan Gilroy for Andor. TM

Stars speak out on Palestine

Hannah Einbinder accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for Hacks.

When it comes to political statements at awards ceremonies, it doesn’t get more direct or concise than the five words uttered at the end of Hannah Einbinder’s speech: “F--- ICE and free Palestine”.

The Hacks star, who won her first Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy, is a Jewish comedian who’s been outspoken about Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza. In the media room she told reporters it was her “obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel”. “Our religion and our culture is such an important and long-standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethnonationalist state,” she said.

Einbinder is one of many stars – including Aimee Lou Wood and Natasha Rothwell from The White Lotus – who also wore a red Aritsts4Ceasefire pin. This is a collective that seeks “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost”.

Her Hacks co-star Megan Stalter also carried a bag adorned with the word “ceasefire” and Javier Bardem, nominated for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, wore a keffiyeh while speaking about the issue at length on the red carpet.

Bardem is one of many notable figures in the industry – including Guy Pearce, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Coleman – who last week signed a pledge not to work with Israeli film institutions. Bardem says the pledge, which was inspired by Martin Scorsese’s 1987 Filmmakers United Against Apartheid movement, is “asking for a commercial and diplomatic blockage, and sanctions on Israel to stop this genocide”. MW

What did you think of the Emmys? We would love to hear your thoughts – about the winners, the nominees, the comedy, the ceremony – in the comments below.

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