The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards took place on Sunday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. For the first time ever, they were hosted by stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze, broadcast on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
As we all now know, the big winners were: The Pitt (Outstanding Drama Series, with Noah Wyle earning Best Lead Actor and Katherine LaNasa Best Supporting Actress, The Studio (with 13 wins including Best Comedy Series and Best Lead Actor for Seth Rogen, Adolescence (with 6 wins, including Best Limited Series as well as acting honors for Stephen Graham and 15-year-old Owen Cooper). Severance also had a strong showing, winning Best Lead Actress (Britt Lower) and Best Supporting Actor (Tramell Tillman), the latter making history as the first Black man to win in that category. Additionally, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert won Outstanding Talk Series, just months after CBS announced its cancellation, marking a poignant end to the show's legacy.
Drama series, comedy series, limited/anthology series, television movies, reality competition programs, game shows, lead and supporting actors, writing and directing, guest actors and more were honored in an endless celebration of both performances and creative achievements. Who were you rooting for?
Origins of the Emmy Awards
When people think of television’s most prestigious honor, the Emmy Awards immediately come to mind. Often dubbed the "Oscars of TV," the Emmys have recognized excellence in television for more than seven decades. But how did this iconic award show begin and how has it evolved?
The Emmy Awards were first established in 1949 by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), founded in 1946 by television engineer and pioneer Sidney Woodruff along with a group of TV professionals in Los Angeles. The name “Emmy” came from “Immy,” a nickname for the image orthicon camera tube used in early television cameras. The spelling was later changed to “Emmy” for a more elegant feel.
The inaugural ceremony was held on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club. Tickets cost just $5, and about 600 people attended. That night, just six awards were handed out - among them, the first Emmy statuette went to ventriloquist Shirley Dinsdale for “Most Outstanding Television Personality.”
Growth and Expansion
What began as a local Los Angeles industry gathering quickly expanded:
- 1950s: The Emmys spread nationwide, coinciding with television’s boom in American households. Categories grew to honor programs, performances and technical achievements
- 1955: As TV expanded into daytime, news, sports and regional programming, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) was established in 1955 to manage those mostly east coast-produced categories, allowing ATAS to remain focused on primetime shows produced mostly in the west coast
- 1970s-1980s: The awards diversified with separate ceremonies, including the Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys and News & Documentary Emmys
- 1990s-2000s: As cable television rose, shows from HBO, Showtime and later Netflix and Hulu began winning top honors, signaling a shift from network dominance to a broader TV landscape
- Today: The Emmys are split into multiple ceremonies: Primetime, Daytime, Sports, News & Documentary, Children’s & Family, Technology & Engineering, International and Creative Arts, reflecting the industry’s vast scope
The Emmy Statuette
The Emmy statuette is one of the most recognizable awards in entertainment. Chosen from 49 proposals, it was designed by Louis McManus, who used his wife, Dorothy, as the model. It depicts a winged woman holding an atom, symbolizing television’s blending of art and science. Standing 15.5 inches tall and weighing over 6 pounds, each Emmy is hand-crafted by a specialized foundry.
The Emmys Today
The Emmy Awards are no longer just a Hollywood event; they are a cross-country celebration of excellence in storytelling. With streaming platforms dominating nominations and international shows gaining recognition, the Emmys reflect the ever-changing viewing landscape. They are both a time capsule of TV history and a spotlight on its future.
The word television - originally coined in the early 20th century from the Greek tele (“far”) and Latin visio (“sight”) - once evoked the image of families gathering around a glowing box in the living room, tuning in to a handful of scheduled broadcasts.
Over time, however, the meaning has steadily eroded and reshaped. With the rise of cable, streaming platforms, mobile devices and on-demand content, “television” no longer refers solely to a physical device or linear programming but to a vast ecosystem of moving-image storytelling. Today, many younger audiences rarely use the word at all, preferring “content,” “shows,” or even the name of the platform - Netflix or YouTube - as shorthand. In this sense, the traditional idea of “television” is being replaced by a more fluid, borderless concept of screen-based entertainment. Luckily, the Emmy Awards was never called the Emmy TV Awards, saving millions of dollars in rebranding, LOL.
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