The Emmys

‘The biggest upset in years’ – why Shōgun’s epic Emmys haul leaves me with a nagging feeling

Author: Stuart Heritage Source: The Guardian

September 16, 2024 at 13:16

Let’s begin with the best news of the year: the great Emmy logjam is over. The more eagle-eyed among you will have clocked that last night’s Emmy awards were the second Emmys to have happened in 2024, with all the various strikes shunting 2023’s ceremony into early this year. Given the extra admin they’ve been saddled with, you could have forgiven the Emmy voters for just duplicating January’s ballots and letting history repeat itself.And yet, last night’s Emmys contained the biggest surprise and arguably the biggest snub the ceremony has seen in years.

The surprise? Just how many awards Shōgun won. Obviously if you saw Shōgun, you knew from the outset that it was a masterpiece. Shōgun was bold, ambitious and unwilling to underestimate the intelligence of its viewers in a medium where that is the norm. The performances, direction and writing were all majestic, as if everyone involved knew that they were making something prestigious with a capital P. In terms of television drama, Shōgun stands head and shoulders above everything else that has been made this year.

Clean sweep … Eita Okuno as Saeki Nobutatsu, Anna Sawai as Toda Mariko, Hiromoto Ida as Kiyama Ukon Sadanaga in Shōgun. Photograph: Katie Yu/AP

It was never a surprise that Shōgun would win Emmys. The surprise, however, was how comprehensively it cleaned up. In total (including wins at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, essentially a way to speed up the main televised event), Shōgun walked away with 18 trophies, breaking the all-time record for Emmys won for a single season of television. It won so many awards that it would be exhausting to list them here, but the show, directing, stars, casting, production design, costume design, cinematography and several other departments all won their categories.

And while this may be deserved, the monopoly meant that a number of other worthy contenders were shut out. I’m mainly talking about Slow Horses here. Although Will Smith rightly won an Emmy for writing, the astonishing cast also deserved recognition. But still, let’s remain hopeful. Last night might not have been his night, but it feels an absolute certainty that Gary Oldman’s Emmy for playing the lovably odious Jackson Lamb will happen at some point.

Shōgun’s giant haul also reinforces the tiny, nagging feeling that it was nominated in the wrong categories. Until long after it was even broadcast, the showrunners were adamant that this was going to be it. Shōgun was a one-series remake of a one-series show that was adapted from a book with a finite end. As such, common sense dictates that it was destined to qualify for the limited series categories. And yet, thanks to a last-minute about face, another series will be made. That said, this one took the best part of a decade to come to fruition, so who can say when it will happen. Either way, it does feel like Shōgun made it as a drama on a technicality.

Speaking of miscategorisation, here comes the snub. The Bear did not win best comedy. In January, it won best comedy. In January, it basically won everything, to the extent that it looked like The Bear was going to win everything it was ever nominated for until the end of time. But last night it was beaten by Hacks.

The biggest snub the Emmys has seen in a long time … Hacks beat The Bear to win best comedy. — The worst snub the Emmys has seen in a long time … Hacks beat The Bear to win best comedy. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Now, this isn’t to say that The Bear was shut out completely. Many of the cast members who were nominated won, plus it won a trophy for directing. But it didn’t win the big one, and this might be a tacit acknowledgment by the Emmy voters that, while The Bear is very good, it obviously isn’t a comedy.

This subject was up for much discussion after the nominations were announced. As good as The Bear is, it’s about as funny as a panic attack. And this is by design, which means that it doesn’t belong where it’s been put. You can admire its writing, performances, editing and look, but if it doesn’t make you laugh it shouldn’t really be nominated as a comedy. As such, Matt Berry – a man who gave the most purely comedic performance of the year by a mile in What We Do in the Shadows – was locked out of a win he richly deserved. We can resume this discussion when the nominations are announced next year.

Thoroughly deserved … Lamorne Morris holds his Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for Fargo. Photograph: Chris Chew/REX/Shutterstock

But let’s end on a happier note. Lamorne Morris won an Emmy for his sweet, unshowy performance as a police officer in Fargo, beating Robert Downey Jr (whose multiple performances in The Sympathizer were unbearably showy). His win was completely unexpected but thoroughly deserved. More like this next time, please.