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The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards were unlike any other. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly all of the would-be presenters, guests, and nominees were forced to rely on remote camera setups to capture reaction shots and award speeches on the fly. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosted live from a largely empty Staples Center in Los Angeles. It sounded like a mess waiting to happen, but the show (apparently) had to go on — and on it went, without much of a hitch.
Nominees like Schitt’s Creek, Succession, and Watchmen were all vying for a hefty pile of trophies, and with recent winners like Game of Thrones and Fleabag no longer on the air, the biggest races were a bit more unpredictable than usual.
Schitt’s Creek swept the comedy categories, taking home all seven awards it was nominated for — including Outstanding Comedy Series and all four of the comedy acting honors. Combined with its two wins at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this week, Schitt’s Creek’s nine Emmys set a new record for the most wins for a comedy series in a single year. It was an excellent bow for the popular Canadian series, whose sixth and final season aired earlier this year. But it also meant that other comedy shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which has long been an Emmys favorite and was nominated for 18 awards this year, walked away with zero wins. (Same for The Good Place, another well-liked comedy that wrapped up in 2020.)
Watchmen was the biggest winner in the limited series categories, walking away with three of the seven categories it was nominated in. HBO’s acclaimed comic book adaptation took home Outstanding Limited Series, and stars Regina King and Yahya Abdul-Matteen II won top acting awards. Other nominated limited series I Know This Much is True, Unorthodox, and Mrs. America also took home trophies in big categories (Lead Actor, Directing, and Supporting Actress, respectively).
HBO also won big in the drama categories with Succession, whose run to its first Outstanding Drama Series win was preceded by wins for Writing, Directing, and Lead Actor (Jeremy Strong). Meanwhile, Ozark actress Julia Garner won for her supporting role on the Netflix series, while Billy Crudup of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show won for his. Particularly noteworthy was Zendaya’s win for her starring turn in Euphoria, an unexpected but well-deserved honor.
Below is the complete list of winners at the 2020 Emmys.
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
David West Read, Schitt’s Creek
Michael Schur, The Good Place
Tony McNamara, The Great
Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil, What We Do in the Shadows
Paul Simms, What We Do in the Shadows
Stefani Robinson, What We Do in the Shadows
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Amy Sherman-Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Matt Shakman, The Great
James Burrows, Will and Grace
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Andrew Cividino and Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
Gail Mancuso, Modern Family
Daniel Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
D’arcy Carden, The Good Place
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek — WINNER
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — WINNER
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Lead Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen — WINNER
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
Lead Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True — WINNER
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Movie
Tanya Barfield, Mrs. America
Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson, Watchmen — WINNER
Sally Rooney and Alice Birch, Normal People
Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman, Unbelievable
Anna Winger, Unorthodox
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie
Lynn Shelton, Little Fires Everywhere
Lenny Abrahamson, Normal People
Maria Schrader, Unorthodox — WINNER
Nicole Kassell, Watchmen
Steph Green, Watchmen
Stephen Williams, Watchmen
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Yahya Abdul-Matteen II, Watchmen — WINNER
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Louis Gossett Jr., Watchmen
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America — WINNER
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Jean Smart, Watchmen
Outstanding TV Movie
American Son
Bad Education — WINNER
Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
Outstanding Limited Series
Watchmen — WINNER
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
The Masked Singer
RuPaul’s Drag Race — WINNER
Top Chef
The Voice
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Jeremy Strong, Succession — WINNER
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria — WINNER
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Thomas Schnauz, Better Call Saul
Gordon Smith, Better Call Saul
Chris Mundy, Ozark
John Shiban, Ozark
Miki Johnson, Ozark
Jesse Armstrong, Succession — WINNER
Peter Morgan, The Crown
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland
Ben Semanoff, Ozark
Alik Sakharov, Ozark
Andrij Parekh, Succession — WINNER
Mark Mylod, Succession
Benjamin Caron, The Crown
Jessica Hobbs, The Crown
Mimi Leder, The Morning Show
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show — WINNER
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Nicholas Braun, Succession
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Julia Garner, Ozark — WINNER
Sarah Snook, Succession
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
The Crown
Killing Eve
Ozark
Succession — WINNER