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‘Hacks’ Beats ‘The Bear,’ Hollywood Jokes on ‘Childless Cat Lady’ and More Important Lessons from TV’s Biggest Night
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‘Hacks’ Beats ‘The Bear,’ Hollywood Jokes on ‘Childless Cat Lady’ and More Important Lessons from TV’s Biggest Night

The 76th Annual Emmy Awards have come to a close, and while the night was largely without surprises — okay, there was one surprise — the primetime broadcast ran smoothly with new hosts Dan and Eugene Levy at the helm. Here are the night’s key takeaways.

The father-son duo wanted the evening to be “light and bright,” and their opening monologue set that tone. Schitt’s Creek stars, who hosted the show for the first time, made fun of each other and left the star crowd alone largely alone. Their hardest one-liner actually had to do with The Bear.

“In the true spirit of The Bear, “We’re not going to make jokes,” Eugene said, referring to the online debate over whether the show is actually a comedy or a drama. (The FX show was nominated in the comedy category Sunday night and dominated.)

Dan also joked about critics finally giving an Emmy-nominated show Reservation Dogs the respect it deserves: “The Television Academy found a program that had been creatively successful for years and said, ‘Hey, look what we discovered.'”

For an awards show, this wasn’t excessive, but a few stars had something to say.

Host Candice Bergen made fun of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s infamous “childless cat lady” comment, sarcastically commenting on “how far we’ve come” since former Vice President Dan Quayle publicly criticized her more than 30 years ago. Murphy Brown the character’s decision to have a child as a single mother.

Selena Gomez also smuggled in a cat lady line. While presenting with her Only murders in the building co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short, she joked, “And let me just say what an honor it is to work with two men who are so far removed from childless cat ladies.”

When The West Wing cast, including Martin Sheen, Richard Schiff, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill and Janel Maloney, reunited to present an award, Janney joked that the show’s writers “really had to use their imaginations to come up with interesting storylines 25 years ago.”

“Unlike today, where storylines can be plucked from the news, storylines that writers 25 years ago would have considered far-fetched or even downright ridiculous,” Schiff added. Moloney said that while “the political landscape” has changed, the “importance of everyone registering and voting” has not.

The Bear actress Liza Colón-Zayas urged people to ‘vote’ when she won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

“To all the Latinas watching me, keep the faith — and vote,” she said onstage. “Vote for your rights. Thank you.”

Alan Cumming, who accepted the award for The traitors winning Outstanding Reality Competition series, Holland thanked them, explaining that there must be “something in the water” where many reality formats begin. “Let’s find it, let’s drink it, and all of America’s problems will be solved.”

The Bear scored three acting awards Sunday night, including two Emmys for Jeremy Allen White as Outstanding Lead Actor. The show won a fourth award for directing. However, it lost the award for Outstanding Comedy Series when the Jean Smart-led comedy Tricks took home that prize. Still, The Bear a new record for most wins in a single season for a comedy, with 11 wins total, including the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month.

Shogun won a total of 18 Emmys this year, the most of any show, including Outstanding Drama Series. Actors Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai won Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series, respectively, during the primetime broadcast.

Baby reindeer won Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series with creator Richard Gadd, who scored Emmys for both writing and acting. Jessica Gunning won Outstanding Supporting Actress.