Everything you might have missed during the 2022 Emmys
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It's television's biggest night ... for making everyone furious about their favorite show winning zero Emmys!
The 2022 Emmy Awards got underway at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC, with the show also available to stream on Peacock. Saturday Night Live's Kenan Thompson is hosting the program, which is back at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the first time since before the pandemic.
It should be another big night for HBO's Succession, which scored a leading 25 nominations and is considered the frontrunner to win Best Drama again. But keep an eye on Netflix's Squid Game, which could surprise and make history as the first foreign-language show to win.
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Ted Lasso is the frontrunner to score Best Comedy for the second consecutive year. Abbott Elementary, though, is well positioned for an upset. Some historic wins to look out for include Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae possibly becoming the first person to win the Lead Drama - Actor Emmy for a show that's not in English and Zendaya potentially becoming the first Black woman to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series more than once.
But many of tonight's races are neck and neck, so there's plenty of room for major shockers along the way. Let's just hope those come in the form of upset wins, not slaps.
This article is being updated with the latest from the 2022 Emmys. Check back in throughout the show for more.
11:00 - The Roy family dynasty can't be stopped at the Emmys. Succession wins Outstanding Drama Series, beating out a stacked field that included Netflix's Squid Game and Apple's Severance. This is the show's second win after it previously won for season two. Succession went into the ceremony as a strong frontrunner with a leading 25 nominations. Still, there were some who thought an upset by Squid Game, which was a massive phenomenon on Netflix last year, was possible.
"Big week for Successions," creator Jesse Armstrong said. "New king in the U.K. This for us. Evidently, a little bit more voting involved in our winning than Prince Charles" — a remark that sparked audible groans from the crowd. Well, that's certainly a note to end the night on!
10:56 - Gooooaal! Ted Lasso wins Outstanding Comedy Series for the second consecutive year. It wasn't a huge surprise considering Apple's series came into the Emmys with the most nominations of any comedy. But the show did have tough competition from ABC's Abbott Elementary, which some pundits predicted would score a surprise upset. Ultimately, though, Ted Lasso's second goal couldn't be blocked.
The win means within the past year, Apple TV+ has won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys not once, but twice — not too shabby for a streaming service that's less than three years old.
"We'll see you for season three, at some point," star Jason Sudeikis teased. That upcoming third season may be Ted Lasso's last, opening up the possibility that the show will remain undefeated to the very end.
10:50 - The White Lotus wins Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, unsurprisingly, leading creator Mike White to get on the stage for the third time. "I forgot to thank HBO in my other speeches," he noted. Third time's the charm!
10:43 - Green light! Lee Jung-jae wins Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Squid Game, becoming the first Asian actor ever to do so. He's also the first person to win this award for a series that's not in English.
10:42 - Jesse Armstrong wins Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Succession, his third victory in this category for the HBO show. We're starting to think Emmy voters might be Succession fans!
10:34 - MJ Delaney wins Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Ted Lasso for the episode "No Weddings and a Funeral," keeping her speech remarkably short because it's "boring when non-famous people do this." Hey, we didn't say it!
10:31 - Deborah Vance continues to kill at the Emmys. Jean Smart wins Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks for the second consecutive year. It's yet another repeat win after Sudeikis and Goldstein's victories. This is also the fifth Emmy for Smart, who also won twice for Frasier. She ends her speech by joking that because she lost a bet, she has to say, "Thank you for the botox!" With a comment like that, who can say where Deborah Vance ends and Jean Smart begins?
10:23 - Euphoria fans have never, ever been happier! Zendaya wins Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Euphoria, her second trophy after winning for the first season. This makes Zendaya the first Black woman to ever win the Emmy for lead drama actress more than once. "My greatest wish for Euphoria was that it could help heal people, and I just want to say thank you for everyone who has shared their story with me," she said.
10:20 - Squid Game has entered the competition! Hwang Dong-hyuk wins Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for Squid Game, the Netflix phenomenon's first win of the night. The show beat out several episodes of Succession. "We all made history together," he says, expressing hope that "Squid Game won't be the last non-English series to be here at the Emmys … and I also hope this won't be my last Emmy either."
10:11 - The back-and-forth between Ted Lasso and Abbott Elementary wins continues, as Quinta Brunson wins Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for ABC's Abbott Elementary. Brunson created and stars in the show, so she's also nominated for lead actress. The Outstanding Comedy Series win looks set to be a nail-biter.
10:07 - Believe! Jason Sudeikis wins Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Ted Lasso for the second consecutive year, another big victory for the show after Brett Goldstein's repeat win. Sudeikis swears he "really didn't" think he had a chance of taking the trophy this time. "I'm truly, truly surprised and flattered," Sudeikis says, getting off the stage before anyone can try to serve him with child custody papers.
9:59 - John Legend performs for the "In Memoriam" segment, which includes tributes to Betty White, Nichelle Nichols, Bob Saget, James Caan, Gilbert Gottfried, Anne Heche, Ray Liotta, and Sidney Poitier.
9:54 - Jerrod Carmichael wins Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel, the HBO comedy special in which he comes out as gay. "I made something that was of great personal consequence to me, and this definitely contributes to the meaning of it," he says.
9:51 - Who loves orange soda? Kel Mitchell makes a cameo for a surprise Kenan & Kel reunion that's over almost as quickly as it began, with Mitchell asking Thompson, "Can I get a Good Burger?" So don't touch that dial or leave the room.
9:45 - They like Mike! Mike White wins Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The White Lotus — after just winning for directing less than five minutes ago. White didn't even have time to make it back to his seat, so he comes back out from just off-stage. Well, it's safe to say there's no suspense about what's winning best limited series. While on stage the second time, White takes a moment to remind everyone that yes, he was on Survivor.
9:41 - Mike White wins Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The White Lotus, which is continuing to clean up tonight after two supporting actor wins. He chokes up while paying tribute to his father, who's "struggling right now," saying, "Thank you so much for letting me honor him tonight."
9:33 - She's in a league of her own. After a montage, Geena Davis accepts the Governors Award for her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. "Television can often directly impact how people see themselves in terms of their value in the world," Davis says, noting that "still there's more work to do."
9:26 - It's about damn time we had another big surprise. Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls wins Outstanding Competition Program, a major upset over RuPaul's Drag Race, which has won every year since 2018.
"When I was a little girl, all I ever wanted to see was me in the media — someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me," Lizzo says. "If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I'd be like, 'You're going to see that person, but b---h, it's gonna have to be you." She's feeling good as hell.
9:16 - In an inspiring step forward, Amanda Seyfried wins Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Dropout, the Hulu limited series that saw her play Elizabeth Holmes. She describes working on the show as the "best time of my life." It was another expected win, so thus far, James is the night's only big surprise — well, aside from Coolidge's bath situation.
9:14 - Jennifer Coolidge wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The White Lotus. It was her first Emmy nomination, and the second win of the night for the HBO limited series, which had five actresses nominated in this category alone.
Upon taking the stage, Coolidge declares she took a lavender bath before the show that "made me swell up inside my dress," so she's "having a hard time speaking." As she gets to the meat of her speech, producers begin aggressively playing her off … only for Coolidge to start dancing to the wrap-up music. "Wait, this is a once in a lifetime thing," she says, "and I'm full! I'm full!"
9:01 - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver wins Outstanding Variety Talk Series for its seventh consecutive year, another unsurprising win. Oliver jokingly acknowledges toward the end of his speech that it says "STOP NOW" on his teleprompter. "I don't know if that's this speech or in general," he quips, "but either way, it's a fair point."
8:55 - Live from New York, it's the least surprising win possible. Saturday Night Live once again wins Outstanding Variety Sketch Series in a category where only one other show, A Black Lady Sketch Show, was even nominated. SNL has won every year since 2017, and creator Lorne Michaels in a quick speech thanks the cast for still "showing up" to make the show amid the pandemic.
8:47 - After a loss to Abbott, Ted Lasso is on the board. Brett Goldstein wins Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Ted Lasso, his second consecutive victory in the category. "The hardest part of being in Ted Lasso is being in a scene with anyone in this cast and not ruining the take by just staring at them and saying, 'God, you're good,'" Goldstein says — and for the second year in a row, he gets bleeped on the live broadcast before he wraps up. One of these years, U.S. viewers will finally be able to hear what he's saying.
8:45 - Is Abbott momentum just getting started? Sheryl Lee Ralph wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary, a big upset over her co-star Janelle James and last year's winner, Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham. Believe it or not, she's now only the second Black woman to ever win this award, and the first to do so in the 21st century. The first was Jackée Harry, who won in 1987 for 227. Ralph gets on stage and powerfully belts out "Endangered Species" to a huge standing ovation from the crowd, an early contender for moment of the night.
"To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn't, wouldn't, couldn't come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like," Ralph continues. Could Abbott be set to dethrone Ted Lasso for Outstanding Comedy Series?
8:32 - Julia Garner wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Ozark. It's her whopping third time winning this award for the Netflix series, which ended this past season; she also won in 2019 and 2020. Just a few sentences into her speech, Garner also notices she's being wrapped up and gets off the stage, so it looks like producers are really committed to ending right at 11 tonight. Sorry, Rhea Seehorn fans … there's always next year.
8:25 - Matthew Macfadyen wins Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Succession, a slight upset over his co-star, Kieran Culkin. This is Macfadyen's first Emmy win for Succession, which is already looking set to clean up tonight. Macfadyen expresses his gratitude for the role of Tom Wambsgans before the wrap-up music almost immediately starts playing. Tom gets no respect!
8:22 - Kenan Thompson returns to the stage for a belated opening monologue, joking about the cancellation of his own sitcom Kenan and getting in some brutal digs at NBC and Peacock, which is streaming the ceremony.
"If you're over 50 years old, Peacock is NBC's streaming service," Thompson jokes. "And if you're under 20 years old, NBC is a network that used to show The Office."
Thompson is no less brutal against Netflix, joking the streamer is currently so riddled with debt, it'll soon be competing on Squid Game. Later, he jokes he'll be donating his salary from tonight's show to those in need ... Netflix. "That's two, Netflix!" Thompson says. "They're never going to give me a comedy special, but that's okay."
8:16 - Murray Bartlett wins��Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The White Lotus, another expected win. He thanks creator Mike White for giving him "one of the best experiences of my life," going on to thank the cast and crew and his mom "for giving me the most wonderful foundation of unconditional love and inspiring me to believe that we can all do that for each other." Thankfully, they didn't show that clip.
8:13 - Michael Keaton wins Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Dopesick. His speech gets off to an interesting start as the actor announces, "My face hurts so much from all the fake smiling I've been doing." On a more serious note, Keaton calls Dopesick one of the most "special projects" he's worked on and pays tribute to his family for "never making me feel foolish," adding, "I'm glad I've made a fool of myself over and over again."
He then tells everyone who has ever doubted him in his life that "we're cool," while declaring to his true believers ... something that gets bleeped on the broadcast. But he reportedly said, "I f--king love you, man."
8:09 - Aw, here it goes! Host Kenan Thompson opens the show in the middle of the audience, dressed in a top hat and dubbing himself the "mayor of television." He makes his way to the stage to perform ... dance remixes of the Friends, Brady Bunch, and Law & Order theme songs? What year's Emmys was this, again? The bit continues with even more dance numbers set to the Stranger Things and Game of Thrones themes, complete with dancing Unsullied and Thompson in a wig.
"And now, I present the queen of all thrones," Thompson declares, and none other than Oprah Winfrey enters to a massive standing ovation while holding an Emmy. We're guessing she wasn't up for participating in the Stranger Things dance sequence?
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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