RECAP: Succession, Beef and The Bear sweep 2024 Emmy Awards with Aussie Sarah Snook wins best actress

Succession has topped its winning night with the award for best drama series. It won six awards which also included best actor for Kieran Culkin, best actress for Sarah Snook, best supporting actor for Matthew MacFadyen, writing for Jesse Armstrong and directing for Mark Mylod.

Armstrong thanked its US network HBO, “This wasn’t necessarily an easy show to commission at the beginning.”

He continued, “We want to say hello to [actor] Jeremy Strong who is making a movie and [writer] Lucy Prebble who is making a baby. I want to thank Brian Cox, who the show has revolved around whether he was there or not.

He finished with a trademark witticism, the kind that made the series so acclaimed over its four-season run. “This is a show about family but it’s also about when partisan politics gets entwined with right wing politics,” he said. “After four years of satire, I understand that’s a problem we’ve now fixed so we can now depart the stage.

“Thank you very much, we’re very honoured.”

Just on a slightly down note, this category was the last chance Better Call Saul had in picking up an Emmy. The now-finished series was nominated 53 times throughout its tenure but never converted any.

Outstanding drama series

• Andor
• Better Call Saul
• The Crown
• House of the Dragon
• The Last of Us
• Succession
• The White Lotus
• Yellowjackets

The Bear has reigned the comedy categories with six wins including the big one – best comedy series. It adds to a tally that also includes best actor for Jeremy Allen White, best supporting actress for Ayo Edebiri, best supporting actor for Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and writing and director for creator Christopher Storer.

A very excited Matty Matheson, a first-time actor, spoke on behalf of everyone. “I just want to thank restaurants as a whole, hospitality as a whole, I just love restaurants so much, the good and the bad.

“It’s really beautiful and all of us here get to make a show here and make people feel good or feel anxiety or triggered.

“It’s hard work, it’s early hours, we don’t see the sun for three months.”

In the excitement, Moss-Bachrach even planted a kiss on Matheson on stage.

Outstanding comedy series

• Abbott Elementary
• Barry
• The Bear
• Jury Duty
• The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
• Only Murders In The Building
• Ted Lasso
• Wednesday

Australia’s Sarah Snook just won in best actress drama for playing the manipulative and emotionally damaged Shiv Roy in Succession. It was the first time Snook competed in the lead actress category, she was previously in supporting.

She said, “Thanks to everyone who voted and for loving the show as much as we did making it. We put our all into it. We gave it our best, led by Jesse and Mark. My cast, that I love so much who I will miss so much.

“Thank you to my mum and dad for having a dress-up box when I was a kid because this is what it gets you.”

She finished with a nod to her baby girl, with whom she was pregnant during the final season’s production.

“My biggest thank you goes to somebody who won’t understand anything I’m saying right now. Someone I carried through the last season but really it was she who carried me. It’s easy to act when you’re pregnant because you have hormones raging. It was more that the proximity of her life growing inside me gave me the strength to do this and this performance, and I love you so much.

“And it’s all for you from here on out. Thank you.”

Lead actress in a drama series

• Sharon Horgan - Bad Sisters
• Melanie Lynskey - Yellowjackets
• Elisabeth Moss - The Handmaid’s Tale
• Bella Ramsey - The Last of Us
• Keri Russell - The Diplomat
• Sarah Snook - Succession

Daddy and big brother are going to be mad about this. Just joshing, Brian Cox looked genuinely pleased that onscreen song Kieran Culkin just beat him for best actor in a drama. And Jeremy Strong wasn’t there.

The former child actor said, “I have to thank my mum for giving me life and my childhood, which was great. I have to thank my manager who I have been with for 29 years.”

And then he ventured into some personal stuff which included a plea to his wife for more kids!

“To my beautiful wife, Jazz. Thank you for sharing your life with me, and for giving me two beautiful kids, and Jazz, I want more. You said, maybe if I win, I love you!”

Lead actor in a drama series

• Jeff Bridges - The Old Man
• Brian Cox - Succession
• Kieran Culkin - Succession
• Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul
• Pedro Pascal - The Last of Us
• Jeremy Strong - Succession

The American LGBTQ+ advocacy group has won the Governor’s Award for its contribution to the TV industry, where it consults on most productions.

The GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said in accepting the award, “The world urgently needs culture-changing stories about transgender people. More people have said they’ve seen a ghost than know a transgender person. Visibility creates understanding, it opens doors, it’s life-changing.

“Sharing stories is the anecdote and now is the time to take action. This story is still being told and we all can be the heroes.”

Beef has swept the limited series categories, winning for best limited series in addition to its victories in best actor, best actress, writing and directing.

If you’ve never seen it, put it at the top of your watchlist, it’s that good. The show is about two strangers in LA who are caught up in an escalating feud after a road rage incident. The series delves into issues of modern malaise, emotional disconnection and anger.

Creator Lee Sung Jin said, “A lot of the suicide ideation in this show that I and some of the folks up here have struggled with over the years. I’m really humbled by everyone who watched the show and reached out. Thank you.

We live in a world that’s designed to keep us separate. You begin to think that no one can understand you or like you or know you can be loved. The greatest joy of working on Beef has been these people who I love unconditionally.”

He closed off on a funny note. “Everything I do is for my three dogs”, and asked the federal authorities to fast-track the canine anti-ageing pill. We’re not sure if that’s a real thing.

Outstanding limited or anthology series

• Beef
• Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
• Daisy Jones & The Six
• Fleishman Is In Trouble
• Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ali Wong continues the Beef streak with a win in best actress for a limited series.

She said, “I wouldn’t be standing here without my parents, my amazing parents, my mother and my father who I so wish was alive to share in this moment. He taught me the value of failure. To my beautiful daughters, you inspire me, and this is for you.”

Lead actress in a limited series or movie

• Lizzy Caplan - Fleishman Is In Trouble
• Jessica Chastain - George & Tammy
• Dominique Fishback - Swarm
• Kathryn Hahn - Tiny Beautiful Things
• Riley Keough - Daisy Jones & The Six
• Ali Wong - Beef

The way Beef has been dominating the awards season, Steven Yeun winning for lead actor in limited series was an inevitability.

Among the people he thanked, he singled out, “I want to thank Andrew Cooper for talking to me on night. Our incredible onset photographer, a legend. It was difficult to live in Danny’s skin, sometimes I wanetd to judge him. He pulled me aside once and said, ‘Never bail on Danny’.

“I want to thank [character] Danny for teaching me that judgement and shame is a lonely place but that compassion and grace is where we can all meet.”

Lead actor in a limited series or movie

• Taron Egerton - Black Bird
• Kumail Nanjiani - Welcome To Chippendales
• Evan Peters - Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
• Daniel Radcliffe - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
• Michael Shannon - George & Tammy
• Steven Yeun - Beef