What is the purpose of an awards gala today? The question arises every time the peak season of these ceremonies begins. It is very likely that the Emmys, which should have taken place in September 2023 and took place in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday (in Spanish time), will be the least watched in history. Free-to-air television audiences are in the doldrums, as are awards shows audiences. And this is even more true in a television age where there is so much content on offer that it is very difficult to create phenomena that attract the masses and invite them to see if their favorite series is the winner. And yet the Emmys still matter. They are one of the best advertising and marketing campaigns for winning titles and help the public discover content they may have missed.
It is likely that Bronca (Netflix), which received five awards this Tuesday, including best miniseries of the season, went unnoticed by many people in the vast catalog of its platform, which premiered an average of almost two original programs per day in 2023 . Succession (HBO Max) and The Bear (Disney+) had more advertising, and the winners in drama and comedy each received six awards at the gala. Both are productions with a small fan base, although there is a large media response. In the total number of Emmys, which hand out dozens of awards in three ceremonies, “The Bear” finished with 10 awards, “Bronca” and “The Last of Us” with eight and “Succession” with six.
The gala, hosted by Anthony Anderson, stayed on schedule and was as agile as an awards show can be, with emotion outweighing laughter. The evening left a handful of winners and losers:
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Fear and stress dominate television. Ted Lasso's victory over the last two years was emblematic of the trend that strengthened on television with the pandemic, the stories that gave comfort to the viewer. But that is already over, and the signs of the times are fear, stress and extreme competitive pressure. Television with the agility to reflect its surroundings has taken a turn, or at least that's what the Emmys (and the Golden Globes, which paved the way for the Emmys last week with a nearly identical awards spread) have managed to do. The Bear and the Bronca can basically be summarized as stories of characters on the verge of a nervous breakdown (if not in full swing). The story “Succession” isn’t exactly a relaxed story either: the goal now seems to be to captivate the viewer and make them need a linden tree before they fall asleep.
The homage to the history of television. The common thread of the Emmy Gala was the history of television. The tributes followed one another, with numerous reunions of actors from iconic productions such as “Cheers”, “Ally McBeal”, “The Sopranos” or “Grey's Anatomy” and even recreations of the locations in which their actions took place, such as the bar in the first Part or in “Grey’s Anatomy”. Unisex bathroom. and the unforgettable dance to the rhythm of Barry White from the second. The production effort to bring so many personalities together is more than remarkable. The performances by Carol Burnett, Marla Gibbs, Joan Collins and Christina Applegate managed to get the audience on their feet.
The diversity. On Martin Luther King Day, the Emmys were one of the most diverse award shows in history. Quinta Brunson, protagonist of Abbott School, became the second black woman to win the award for best actress in a comedy, after Isabel Sanford for The Jeffersons in 1981. Ali Wang and Steven Yeun collected statuettes for Bronca, becoming the first Asian woman and the first man to conquer them. Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Niecy Nash-Betts (Dahmer), Ru Paul (RuPaul's Drag Race) and Trevor Noah (The Daily Show) also provided variety among the evening's winners. Additionally, Lee Sung-jun, creator, director and screenwriter of “Bronca,” is the first Asian to win all three awards, best series, best director and best screenplay, in the same year.
“I would like to accept this award on behalf of all women of color whose opportunities have been stifled.” Niecy Nash-Betts, winner of the award for best supporting actress in a limited series or television film.
One of the most exciting speeches #Emmys. pic.twitter.com/8jdoTZ4i72
— Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarPlus) January 16, 2024
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Many series, same winners. In recent years a strange paradox has repeated itself: although we live in times of larger television productions, the awards are distributed to a very small number of them. It's as if voters only watched a few series and were satisfied with that. This morning, 17 of the 26 awards went to three series. Only Abbott School (with Quinta Brunson), The White Lotus (with Jennifer Coolidge), Dahmer (with Niecy Nash-Betts) and Locked Up with the Devil (with Paul Walter Hauser) managed to tentatively break through this strange oligopoly. It's obvious that a show should get all the awards when it deserves them, but this trend has been going on for too many years: Emmy voters voting on autopilot.
Better Call Saul, Ted Lasso, Barry, Just Murders in the Building … Prizes are never entirely fair: many deserve it and only one can win. And as I said, sometimes a few monopolize many categories. The case of Better Call Saul is particularly painful. The series, which succeeded “Breaking Bad” and surpassed its parent in many ways, had 53 nominations over its six seasons. He left without receiving a single Emmy. Neither the fantastic work of Bob Odenkirk nor the outstanding Rhea Seehorn have received recognition. Another one of those injustices that goes down in the black history of these awards. In their farewell years, Ted Lasso, Barry and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel couldn't scratch anything tonight either (they achieved one at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards: Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel already had two and Barry one). . Only one award for production design went to the second season of “Only Murders in the Building,” which was also affected by “The Bear” tornado. And be careful, comedies have another year of suffering ahead of them, because these awards are where “The Bear” chose its first season; and the second, which will compete this year, is even better.
Open television. Quinta Brunson's award was the only award for free-to-air television compared to the performance of cable and platforms that almost completely won these awards years ago. Does it make sense for traditional broadcasters to continue hosting a gala that becomes a celebration of the series of those who steal their audience? The thought may already be too late.
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