LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Bear” was making a meal out of the early awards at Monday night's Emmys, while Quinta Brunson scored an emotional and historic win for “Abbott Elementary.”
“The Bear,” the FX dramedy about a squabbling family and a struggling restaurant at the center of the life of a talented chef, won best actor in a comedy for Jeremy Allen White, best supporting actress in a comedy for Ayo Edebiri and best supporting actor in a comedy for Ebon-Moss Bachrach. All three were first-time nominees.
“This is a show about family and found family and real family,” Edebiri said from the stage as she accepted the first trophy of the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Brunson won best actress in a comedy at the Emmy Awards for the show she created, “Abbott Elementary," becoming the first Black woman to win the award in more than 40 years and the first from a network show to win it in more than a decade.
“I love making ‘Abbott Elementary’ so much and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy,” Brunson said during her acceptance on the Fox telecast, fighting back tears. The writer-actor was among the stars with standout looks on the Emmys' silver carpet.
Other early winners included Matthew Macfadyen for “Succession” and Jennifer Coolidge for “The White Lotus."
Brunson had won a writing Emmy for her mockumentary about a predominantly Black and chronically underfunded grade school in Philadelphia, but this is her first for acting. Isabel Sanford of “The Jeffersons” was the only previous Black woman to win the category in 1981.
The first hour of the show held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day saw three Black women win major awards: Brunson, Edebiri and Niecy Nash-Betts, who won best supporting actress in a limited series for “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story."
On the Netflix show, Nash-Betts played a neighbor of the serial killer whose complaints to authorities about his behavior go unheeded.
"I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard and over-policed," she said.
The show was held on the holiday because of a four month delay over Hollywood’s writers and actors strikes.
“Everybody having fun at the chocolate Emmys tonight?” host Anthony Anderson said during the show. “We are killing it tonight! ... This is like MLK Day and Juneteenth all rolled up in one!”
Anderson, who was nominated for lead actor in a comedy seven times without a win for his show “black-ish,” added, "if I was nominated this year, hell, I definitely would have won!”
The tweaked awards calendar made for some oddities. Edebiri and White won their Emmy for the show’s first season eight days after after winning Golden Globes for the second season.
Backstage, a staffer working the Emmys approached White as he was scrolled through congratulatory texts on his phone while waiting to speak in the press room. “I’m a cook myself so this means a lot to me,” he told White before grabbing a selfie with the star.
Macfadyen won the first Emmy of the night for “Succession” and the second of his career for playing Tom Wambsgans, the son-in-law that began the HBO series as a hanger-on and ended it as the closest thing it had to a victor.
“Succession” came into the night the consensus favorite in top drama categories, including best actor, best actress and best series, which were to be presented later. After Macfadyen's win it got Emmys for its writing and directing.
Coolidge, the only cast member among the cursed vacationers of HBO’s “The White Lotus” to return for season two, won her second Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama.
Coolidge and her character Tanya gained an even greater cult following for the second season’s Italian storyline as she did for its Hawaiian first. The role was nearly a lead this time, but all of the “White Lotus” cast members were nominated in supporting categories, including five of them in Coolidge’s category.
Emotions ran high from the start of the ceremony with first presenter, Christina Applegate, who said in 2021 that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, got a standing ovation as she came out using a cane to present the award, and was tearful as she announced the winners.
“The Bear” also won awards for directing and writing, and along with the four it had won at the previous Creative Arts Emmys, had taken nine overall.
Honoring TV history was the theme at the 75th Emmys. Anderson opened the show on a “Mr. Rogers” set and performed TV theme songs including “Good Times,” and several cast reunions were spread throughout the show.
Cast members including Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell from “Martin” and Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman from “Cheers” performed short bits from recreations of their sitcom sets before presenting awards.
Arsenio Hall appeared on a rendition of his 1990s talk show set, while Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reunited to present an award in the form of “Weekend Update,” which they teamed up for on “Saturday Night Live” from 2001 to 2005.
“We’ve reached the stage in life where we’ll only present awards sitting down,” Fey said.
One notable appearance came from Katherine Heigl, who joined Ellen Pompeo and other former “Grey's Anatomy” cast mates on a hospital room set after leaving the show, now about to start its 20th season, on not the best terms in 2010.
“Yes, there have been changes over the years,” Heigl said with a wry smile, “But the one constant is the amazing fanbase.”
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Associated Press Writers Krysta Fauria and Leslie Ambriz contributed to this report.
