The 2023 Emmys, delayed by Hollywood strikes, were finally held on Monday – here’s your recap

Following recent trends, shows like “Succession” and “The Bear” dominated.

The 2023 Emmys, delayed by Hollywood strikes, were finally held on Monday – here’s your recap
Pedro Pascal speaks on stage at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S. January 15, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

It’s finally upon us – awards season. This is the time of year for events like the Golden Globes, Oscars, Grammys and … the Emmys? The Emmy Awards is an event recognizing the best of the best in the TV industry, and it’s usually slated for September each year. But the 2023 Emmys were postponed because of the months-long Hollywood strikes of writers and actors. Now that the strikes are over, the Emmys were finally held on Monday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. So here’s a recap of the evening’s highlights.

Following recent trends, shows like “Succession” and “The Bear” dominated. “Succession” took home an Emmy for the best drama series as well as statues for writing and directing, with stars Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin winning for best leading drama actress and actor, respectively. In a nod to just how successful this show’s run was, fellow “Succession” stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong were also vying for the best drama actor award. Matthew Macfadyen won for the best supporting actor in a drama, thanking both his real-life wife, actress Keeley Hawes, and his “on-screen wives” Sarah Snook (Siobhan "Shiv" Roy) and Nicholas Braun, who played Cousin Greg on the show.

The comedy-drama show “The Bear” took home three statues recognizing the show’s star, Jeremy Allen White, and supporting actors Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. It also snagged awards for best comedy, best directing and best writing. Netflix's original “Beef” ruled in the limited series category, with both stars, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, winning for best acting. Quinta Brunson won for best leading comedy actress for the school-based series “Abbott Elementary.” Jennifer Coolidge, making at least a handful of viewers want a hot dog real bad, was named best supporting drama actress for “The White Lotus.” During her speech, she jokingly said she wanted to "thank all the evil gays" – referencing one of the show’s storylines for her character.

Sadly, even though the “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul” has been nominated for 53 Emmys over its six seasons, the show was left out in the cold once again. We’re still scratching our heads over that one. To be fair, the competition was fairly stiff. But this has got to be one of the worst – and longest-running – snubs at the Emmys, like, ever.

“Better Call Saul” star Rhea Seehorn, who was nominated twice for best supporting actress in a drama, told Hollywood Reporter ahead of Monday night’s Emmys that she was proud of the show regardless. “I think at this point, we all truly feel proud of the work we created and [co-creator, finale writer-director] Peter Gould, even if I wasn’t on this show, nailed the final season and the finale, and that’s a really hard thing to do. I guess I’d be lying if I didn’t say, who doesn’t want to run up on stage and go, ‘Thanks for recognizing our last time out here.’ But I have a feeling we’ll feel that way about our show no matter what,” she said.

A lot of other stuff happened at the Emmys this year like Sir Elton John gaining EGOT status (meaning he’s one of the few elites to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award). Oscar noms are coming later this month, among a handful of other awards nominations. And next month, we can look forward to big awards season events like the Grammys, the BAFTA Film Awards and the People’s Choice Awards.