The entertainment business has changed a lot over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not least of all the television industry. Thanks to myriad COVID-related production delays, a number of 2020 Emmy nominees and winners didn’t air episodes in time for this year’s awards cycle, which means we’re guaranteed first-time winners in many categories. So who won, who upset (because there are almost always upsets), and who made history when trophies were bestowed on Sunday night, September 19? Scroll down for our 2021 Emmys live blog with analysis of the winners as they’re announced, and check out the complete list of winners here.
The first thing to understand is that most of the 2021 Emmys have been handed out already. At the Creative Arts Awards on September 11 and 12, more than 90 prizes were presented in a wide-variety of categories honoring, behind-the-scenes crafts, variety, reality, documentary, animation, and more. “The Queen’s Gambit” was the biggest show crowned there, claiming nine awards. With six more categories contested on September 19, it had the potential to tie or break the record for the most awarded limited series of all time and the most awarded program in any genre in a single year: “John Adams” set those records with 13 victories in 2008.
Netflix also had a chance to enter the history books. With “The Queen’s Gambit” leading our odds for Best Limited Series and “The Crown” out front for Best Drama, the pioneering streaming service had the chance to finally win its first series awards after getting beaten to the punch in recent years by online rivals Hulu (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and Amazon (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Fleabag“). Apple TV+ came in with the leading comedy series contender, “Ted Lasso” which had the potential to be the most successful freshman comedy in Emmy history. And that’s just a few of the milestones we were watching for. Follow along below to find out what happened and what it all meant. (Times listed are Eastern.)
8:08pm — BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS — Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”) — or “Waddington” as presented Seth Rogen called her — takes the first award of the night, which we had widely expected following her Critics Choice Award win earlier this year and the overwhelming support for “Ted Lasso” this year. Could this be the start of the “Ted Lasso” sweep many Emmy-watchers have been anticipating? It’s too soon to tell, but the night is off to a good start for the Apple TV+ sitcom.
8:11pm — BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR — Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”) wins the second Emmy of the night, and this one really could be an indication of a “Ted Lasso” sweep. He only took the top spot in our official odds this weekend, and he was in a tight race with “SNL” standouts Bowen Yang and Kenan Thompson. What’s more, Goldstein was up against three of his co-stars, which risked dividing the “Ted Lasso” support. That’s how much the television academy loves this show.
8:23pm — BEST MOVIE/LIMITED SUPPORTING ACTRESS — In an upset victory, Julianne Nicholson (“Mare of Easttown”) overtakes presumed front-runner Kathryn Hahn (“WandaVision”) despite being up against her co-star Jean Smart. We saw that “WandaVision” was vulnerable when it underperformed at the Creative Arts Awards last weekend, so we knew this outcome was possible. But could this be a good sign for “Mare of Easttown” after it too underperformed at Creative Arts?
8:27pm — BEST MOVIE/LIMITED SUPPORTING ACTOR — And just like “Ted Lasso,” “Mare of Easttown” doubles up with a win here for Evan Peters. Perhaps surprisingly, this was his first nomination despite years of performances on “American Horror Story.” This was a close race, especially after top contenders like John Boyega (“Small Axe”) and Bill Camp (“Queen’s Gambit”) were snubbed entirely. But his good be a bad sign for “Hamilton,” which had three nominations in this category but has faced some backlash for its nominations after already winning almost a dozen Tonys. Daveed Diggs seemed especially strong here after his nomination at the SAG Awards.
8:36pm — BEST DRAMA WRITING — “The Crown” gets on the board with Peter Morgan‘s win for the season four finale episode “War.” This is the show’s first writing win and Morgan’s first win for the show, but it’s not all that surprising since the show is heavily favored to win Best Drama Series this year. Again, it’s too early to tell if a sweep is underway, but it’s a good start in an important category.
8:39pm — BEST DRAMA DIRECTING — “The Crown” wins again, claiming this award for Jessica Hobbs, who helmed “War,” the same episode that won the writing award. It had two nominations in this category — “War” was up against the also highly touted episode “Fairytale” — so overcoming the vote split against shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Mandalorian” could be a telling side for its dominance tonight. This win is also significant because Hobbs is only the fourth woman to win Best Drama Directing.
8:48pm — BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS — Gillian Anderson wins the third Emmy of the night for “The Crown” (the seventh Emmy of the year counting the show’s four wins at Creative Arts), but only the second of her career. This is her first victory since she prevailed in 1998 for “The X-Files.” This was close to a foregone conclusion after Anderson won Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG Awards for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, a role that also won Meryl Streep her third Oscar in “The Iron Lady” 10 years ago.
8:52pm — BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR — Tobias Menzies (“The Crown”) upset the front-runner, Michael K. Williams (“Lovecraft Country”), who tragically died just a couple of weeks before tonight’s ceremony. This was a pretty wide-open category with Giancarlo Esposito (“The Mandalorian”), John Lithgow (“Perry Mason”), and Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) also looking like strong contenders, so this could be further evidence of a “Crown” sweep that could bring Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor along with it later tonight. If “The Crown” wins everything, it would be the first series to win five acting awards in a single year.
9:01pm — BEST VARIETY TALK SERIES and BEST VARIETY SERIES WRITING — “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” wins both of these categories for the sixth year in a row, not particularly surprising as these categories have been prone to long winning streaks. “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” dominated for a decade in the 2000s, and the John Oliver dynasty continues uninterrupted.
9:08pm — BEST VARIETY SKETCH SERIES — Speaking of winning streaks, “Saturday Night Live” wins this award for the fifth year in a row. There was only one other nominee, “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” so it seemed possible that voters might rally behind it for a change of pace, especially given how well “Black Lady” did in the nominations this year, but “SNL” had 21 bids and already won seven times during the Creative Arts Awards, so it was always the heavy favorite here. It has now won 92 Emmys, extending its record as the most awarded program in history.
9:16pm — BEST COMEDY WRITING — In a bit of an upset, “Hacks” wins for “There is No Line” against two episodes of “Ted Lasso,” which very likely split votes. We knew “Hacks” was well positioned to upset here since voters clearly loved the show (16 total nominations), and it’s literally a show about comedy writers … just saying.
9:23pm — BEST COMEDY DIRECTING — “Hacks” wins again: Lucia Aniello wins for “There is No Line,” beating three “Ted Lasso” episodes. Aniello was one of the winning writers for the show, which makes her only the second woman to win writing and directing Emmys in the same year, after Amy Sherman-Palladino (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”). But does this mean “Hacks” is a serious threat to win Best Comedy Series, or did “Ted Lasso” just have too many writing and directing nominations for its own good? “Veep” also won Best Comedy Series without winning for writing and directing due to multiple nominations.
9:34pm — BEST COMEDY ACTRESS — Jean Smart wins for “Hacks.” She was the overwhelming favorite in our odds, but it’s even less surprising after the show’s writing and directing wins, though those were decided by different branches of the academy. Smart has now won Emmys at all three levels in comedy: lead (“Hacks”), supporting (“Samantha Who?”), and guest (“Frasier” twice). That’s a rare achievement. And she has actually never lost when nominated for comedy.
9:42pm — BEST COMEDY ACTOR — Jason Sudeikis wins for “Ted Lasso,” which was more or less a foregone conclusion given the overwhelming Emmy support for the series and his victories at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and SAG Awards. This category has been good to “SNL” alums lately: Bill Hader recently won twice in a row for “Barry.”
9:52pm — BEST COMPETITION PROGRAM — Another category known for its winning streaks and another winning streak extended: “RuPaul’s Drag Race” wins for the fourth year in a row. It’s the fifth Emmy for the show this year, and RuPaul Charles‘s 11th career victory thus far, so he sets a new record as the most awarded Black individual in the history of these awards. More on that here.
10:07pm — BEST MOVIE/LIMITED DIRECTING — “The Queen’s Gambit” finally gets on the board with this win for director Scott Frank, who also wrote and produced the show. He previously earned the same three nominations for his previous limited series “Godless,” and he has two Oscar nominations for writing “Out of Sight” and “Logan.” This victory wasn’t a surprise following the show’s nine Creative Arts Emmy victories in craft fields like costumes, editing, sound, and production design.
10:15pm — BEST MOVIE/LIMITED WRITING — Michaela Coel wins the first Emmy of her career for penning “I May Destroy You.” She was the odds-on favorite to win this award despite the strength of “The Queen’s Gambit” across the board this year. And it’s partly because of how personal this achievement was. She wrote the limited series inspired by her own experience of sexual assault. She also produced, starred in, and co-directed the project, receiving Emmy nominations in all of those fields.
10:23pm — BEST MOVIE/LIMITED ACTRESS — “Mare of Easttown” wins its third acting prize for Kate Winslet, which makes this a clean sweep of the acting awards for the HBO mystery series. This was an insanely crowded field with Anya Taylor-Joy gaining steam after the steamroller “Queen’s Gambit” was on (Taylor-Joy recently took the lead in our odds from Winslet, in fact). Winslet previously won this category a decade ago for “Mildred Pierce.”
10:27pm — BEST MOVIE/LIMITED ACTOR — Ewan McGregor wins for “Halston” in … an upset? This category was difficult to forecast since there was limited Emmy support for “Halston” and “The Undoing,” the backlash against “Hamilton’s” sweep of acting nominations and Paul Bettany‘s atypical “WandaVision” role. McGregor played a traditional biographical role in a relatively recent Netflix production, which means voters probably saw it and remembered it. Voters might also have been eager to award him on his fourth career nomination, especially after losing this race a few years ago for his dual roles in “Fargo.”
10:36pm — BEST DRAMA ACTRESS — “The Crown” wins, as expected, but it’s Olivia Colman instead of front-runner Emma Corrin. It’s funny, Colman only ever seems to win Best Actress when we’re not expecting her to. Being an underdog suits the star of “The Crown” and “The Favourite.” This is Colman’s first Emmy after previous nominations for “The Crown” and “The Night Manager.” This is the second win for an actor playing Queen Elizabeth II this year since Claire Foy won for her guest appearance last weekend.
10:40pm — BEST DRAMA ACTOR — Josh O’Connor wins for “The Crown,” continuing that show’s clean sweep tonight. It’s now six-for-six, and I’ll eat my hat if it doesn’t win Best Drama Series at this point. O’Connor was the odds-on favorite to win this, but it’s historic because “The Crown” is now the first series to win five acting awards in a single year. It won every acting award except Best Drama Guest Actor, where Charles Dance was upset by Courtney B. Vance (“Lovecraft Country”).
10:46pm — BEST VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE) — “Stephen Colbert’s Election Night 2020” wins in an upset over the “Celebrating America” inauguration special. In hindsight, this result makes sense. “Celebrating America” was the front-runner, but in a category with no clear, obvious front-runner, voters gravitated to someone they’ve always liked. Stephen Colbert has now won 11 Emmys in his career.
10:52pm — BEST VARIETY SPECIAL (PRE-RECORDED) — “Hamilton” wins in what seemed like a tight race against “Bo Burnham: Inside.” The latter seemed pretty strong after three Creative Arts wins and “Hamilton’s” acting shutout tonight, but the sheer exposure of “Hamilton” last summer probably helped put it over the top because it seems like everyone in America watched it last summer.
11:02pm — BEST COMEDY SERIES — “Ted Lasso” wins, as has been predicted for months, even before the nominations were announced. It came into these awards with 20 total nominations, more than any other freshman comedy in history. It ends this awards run with seven total prizes: four tonight and three during last week’s Creative Arts ceremonies. And it’s the first win in a top series race for Apple TV+.
11:05pm — BEST DRAMA SERIES — “The Crown” wins Best Drama Series, marking the first series win for Netflix, the seventh win of the night for “The Crown,” and the 11th win this year for “The Crown,” counting its four victories last weekend at the Creative Arts Awards. This is also the first time any drama series won all seven telecast categories on the same night, a year after “Schitt’s Creek” achieved that feat in comedy. I’ve gotta say, the Emmys need reform because only three continuing series won Emmys this year across the ever-widening landscape of TV shows.
11:11pm — BEST LIMITED SERIES — “Mare of Easttown” was surging for a while there, but “The Queen’s Gambit” takes top honors as our odds predicted. Those nine Creative Arts Awards last weekend were indeed telling as the Netflix phenom concludes with 11 prizes, tying “The Crown” for the most victories this year and tying “Angels in America” as the second most awarded limited series of all time (“John Adams” still holds the record with 13).
