The 2021 Emmys By The Numbers: Which Shows Led The Pack?
The 73rd Emmy Awards sure were something. It was full of big swings, major misses and lots of gags that didn't quite land. But awkward attempts at comedy aren't the only thing award shows have to offer — they also have trophies! So if you lost track of all the disappointing losses or if your Paramount+ app didn't quite work the way you expected, have no fear! We've compiled a list of all the big winners and their many accolades.
Checking In With The Streaming Wars
First things first, the biggest winner of the night by far was Netflix, which walked away with the most awards of any streaming service or network. The tides of change are a-coming, cemented by their historic number of wins: Netflix is now tied for most wins in a single year. The previous record-setter dates all the way back to 1974 when CBS also took home 44 Emmy awards. Other streaming services did their fair share of work to make headlines: the three biggest trophies of the night all went to streaming services, including Drama, Comedy, and Limited/Anthology series.
Streamers dominated — but which shows helped them do it? Without further ado, here are the Emmy winners, ranked by how many trophies they won.
The Crown (Almost) Reigns Supreme
Prestige drama doesn't get more stuffy than Buckingham Palace but "The Crown" makes that air of pretension surprisingly entertaining. It's for this reason that the show took home a sweeping 11 trophies.
An already great drama series, "The Crown" upped its game in season 4 with the addition of Gillian Anderson and the further exploration of Princess Diana through Emma Corrin's heartbreaking performance. The fourth season explored the shiny beginnings of romance between Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor) and Diana Spencer, doomed from the start yet impossible to look away from. /Film's Chris Evangelista argued that "this impending darkness is ultimately what makes "The Crown" season 4 so captivating."
While 11 awards should be more than enough to dominate, "The Crown" isn't reigning on its own. Another major contender — also a Netflix original — managed to snag its own set of 11 trophies. First, here's every award that "The Crown" took home:
- Drama Series
- Lead Actress, Drama
- Lead Actor, Drama
- Supporting Actress, Drama
- Supporting Actor, Drama
- Outstanding Writing For a Drama Series
- Outstanding Directing For a Drama Series
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
- Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour)
The Queens Gambit Ties For First
Stealing half the thunder from "The Crown" is that show about the orphan who plays chess. "The Queen's Gambit" walked away with 11 Emmy awards, but shockingly, this did not include Best Actress for series star Anya Taylor-Joy. Still, it was a great night for the chess drama, a breakout limited series that became one of the world's most beloved quarantine binges. Joy's performance as Beth Harmon was a major bright spot and without a doubt played a major role in the show's overwhelming popularity. Sadly, there was one factor threatening to dull the shine of "The Queen's Gambit": series creator Scott Frank went long on his acceptance speech, waving off the orchestra, and speaking volumes about entitlement.
- Limited Series
- Outstanding Directing For A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie
- Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie, or Special
- Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie, or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
- Outstanding Period Costumes
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period Or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)
- Outstanding Period Makeup and/or Character Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)
Saturday Night Live Will Never Die
People still watch "Saturday Night Live," right? Right. Well someone must, because the long-running NBC comedy series just scored its 86th win in Emmy history after taking home eight awards at this year's ceremony. This also marks SNL's fifth straight win for Variety Sketch series, a category that saw it beating out only "A Black Lady Sketch Show."
- Variety Sketch Series
- Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Series
- Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality, or Competition Series
- Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program
- Outstanding Contemporary Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction, Or Reality Program (Non-Prosthetic)
- Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)
Ted Lasso Dominated the Comedy Categories
During the opening number of the award show broadcast, Ted Lasso got a callout: "Hey Ted Lasso, 20 nominations is a lot." The jokes continued throughout the night, with winners thanking the "Lasso" team for not being in their categories or poking fun at the show's enormous popularity. All in good fun of course, but the end results turned out a little surprising — "Ted Lasso" didn't quite sweep as expected.
Let's be very clear, Sudeikis and crew walked away with seven awards — a big win for both the breakout series and its home, Apple TV+. But every now and again, when a category they were nominated in went elsewhere, it came as a shock. It's hard not to think back to the infamous "winning matters" speech from Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), especially when stars like Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein take to the stage and bring tears to our eyes with heartwarming speeches. But hey, season 2's been knocking it out of the park. Maybe Lasso's team will have to come back next year and "win the whole f**ing thing."
- Comedy Series
- Lead Actor, Comedy
- Supporting Actress, Comedy
- Supporting Actor, Comedy
- Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
- Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation
- Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
The Mandalorian Did Okay
Baby Yoda picked up some Emmy trophies — and by Baby Yoda, I mean the team behind the scenes at "The Mandalorian." As previously reported, the Star Wars series nabbed an impressive number of technical Emmy's last week, awarding the incredible stunt team behind the series and all the work that goes into making Grogu oh so lovable.
- Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)
- Outstanding Stunt Coordination
- Outstanding Stunt Performance
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie
- Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour)
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup
RuPaul's Drag Race Made History
RuPaul made history at the 73rd Emmy Awards, becoming the most awarded Black person in the show's history. This was thanks to "RuPaul's Drag Race" winning Outstanding Reality Competition Program and breaking the famous drag queen's tie with cinematographer Donald A. Morgan. RuPaul now owns a whopping 11 awards. This also marks the fourth consecutive Emmy in the category for "Drag Race" — and for very good reason. No one does entertainment quite like RuPaul! It's part of the reason you can't exist on the internet for more than a few seconds before one of those iconic RuPaul reaction gifs finds its way to your eyes.
- Competition Series
- Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program
- Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program
- Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program
- Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality or Competition Program
Mare of Easttown Made A Big Leap
Hope for a second season of "Mare of Easttown" is pretty dead by now, but maybe major Emmy wins is the encouragement that HBO needs to keep the series going!
Just kidding — one of the best things about "Mare" is it being a limited series, with a tight, tense, and cleverly controlled seven-episode story. The murder mystery drama swooped in and won itself four big awards, including Best Actress for Kate Winslet. It was a surprising steal from Anya Taylor-Joy but probably shouldn't be such a major shock: the voting body tends to play favorites. Winslet was incredible in the series, which is generally true of her performances and makes her a pretty solid, recognizable pick. In other big news, Evan Peters also took home his very first Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series which poses the question: will he finally escape Ryan Murphy's clutches? Fingers crossed, because he was a welcome addition to "Mare of Easttown," however small his role.
- Lead Actress, Limited Series, Movie or Anthology
- Supporting Actress, Limited Series, Movie or Anthology
- Supporting Actor, Limited Series, Movie or Anthology
- Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More)
Hacks Caused A Major Upset
One of the biggest surprises of the night came from the underrated HBO comedy series, "Hacks." The series locked "Ted Lasso" out from a full sweep of the comedy categories by taking home awards for writing and directing. Also, because the show stars Jean Smart, "Hacks" won Best Actress in a Comedy Series. If Jean Smart is nominated for an award, she simply must win it — thems rules. With this win, Smart made history and joined Betty White as the only actress to sweep the comedy acting categories. She now has an Emmy for the full trifecta: lead, supporting and guest. For that reason (along with all its other wins) it's time for the rest of us to get on board and watch "Hacks." Don't believe me? Here's a case for the show from /Film's Ben Pearson.
- Lead Actress, Comedy
- Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
- Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Wandavision Almost Walked Away Empty-Handed
Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) is a very powerful witch, but apparently that wasn't enough to win her many awards last night. Maybe if we were watching the broadcast from Wanda's controlled bubble, things would've shook out in her favor — but "WandaVision" only took home three awards out of its 23 total nominations. The most surprising snub was Kathryn Hahn losing Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, but "Mare" swooped in once again, in the form of Julianne Nicholson. "Julianne All Along" doesn't have the same ring to it, but we'll have to make do.
- Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
- Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour)
- Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
Bo Burnham: Inside Loses Big
Hopefully losing at the Emmy's doesn't send Bo Burnham spiraling again. Although, if it gets us a song as catchy as "Jeff Bezos," maybe it'll be worth it? Bo Burnham's very ambitious and terrifyingly existential "comedy" special earned him six individual Emmy nominations, of which he took home half. This is a pretty solid reap, but many fans were still disappointed to see him lose Outstanding Variety Special. But here's what he did win:
- Outstanding Music Direction
- Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special
- Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Surprises No One
"Last Week Tonight" won big because it always does — that's barely news at this point. The major talking point from John Oliver's wins is the fact that the writing team dedicated their award to Adam Driver, very ominously saying, ""He knows what he did." Regular viewers will recognize this as a continuation of Oliver's long-running gag where he is very thirsty over the "Marriage Story" star. During his news monologues, he'll take pauses to make vaguely-horny and very-surreal references to the actor — and occasionally, Driver himself will make an appearance.
- Variety Talk Series
- Outstanding Writing For a Variety Series
- Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series
I May Destroy You Was Robbed
Michaela Coel deserves every award she's won, and then some. Sadly, her groundbreaking series "I May Destroy You" (for which Coel was creator, writer, director, and star) only took home two trophies. At the very least, it proved to be a big win for us audience members who were gifted with more of Coel's incredible writing. You can revisit the speech here, and see Coel's Emmy's below:
- Outstanding Writing For a Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie
- Outstanding Music Supervision
Pose Won For Fashion
Among the nominations for the FX series "Pose" was the landmark inclusion of MJ Rodriguez, the first trans woman nominated in a lead acting category at the Emmys. Sadly, Rodriguez didn't win and this snub was an especially harsh burn as this was the third and final season of the series. "Pose" didn't go home empty handed though, taking home two awards for costumes and hairstyling.
- Outstanding Contemporary Costumes
- Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling
Lovecraft Country Got Snubbed
"Lovecraft Country" was shut out of the awards. Despite garnering 18 nominations, the HBO historical sci-fi series only took home two trophies from the Creative Arts Emmys. This was especially painful given the recent loss of actor Michael K. Williams, who delivered an emotional performance as the closeted and increasingly hard-headed Montrose Freeman. Williams was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series but lost to Tobias Menzies.
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Love, Death and Robots Snuck In Some Wins
"Love, Death and Robots" is an animated anthology series that does in fact exist and even took home two Emmys, for its sound editing and animation. The series contributed to the history making run from Netflix — which might be enough to get it renewed for a third season.
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation
- Outstanding Short Form Animated Program
Hamilton Won Some Emmys and Other Things That Make No Sense
Defying the laws of nature, "Hamilton" is also amongst the list of winners. The pre-recorded Broadway performance was nominated for 12 Emmy awards, including acting categories which it very much dominated. Given it's a Broadway production and already made its cycle through the awards circuit back in 2016, this doesn't make any sense ... but then again, nothing really does anymore. At the very least, this provided reason for the original Broadway cast of "Hamilton" to assemble and push Renee Elise Goldsberry center stage. In her acceptance speech, she paid tribute to the "synergy" between television and theater, spreading excitement for the return to live theater. I'm vaguely surprised that the TV academy didn't play her off when she started talking about a medium that wasn't their own — I guess her radiance is just that powerful.
- Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
- Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Special
The One-Trophy Wonders
Rounding out the lost are titles that only managed to snag a single Emmy. It's a big mix, including big 2020 favorites like "Bridgerton" and titles like "Country Comfort," which almost makes the list of Netflix shows that may or may not exist. Here are the single award winners:
- Halston — Lead Actor, Limited Series, Movie or Anthology
- Bridgerton — Outstanding Period and/or Character Hairstyling
- RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked — Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
- The Masked Singer — Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program
- A Black Lady Sketch Show — Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming
- Queer Eye — Outstanding Structured Reality Program
- Country Comfort — Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series
- Calls — Outstanding Motion Design (Juried Award)
- Star Trek: Discovery — Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode
- The Flight Attendant — Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
- For All Mankind — Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Programming (Juried Award)
- The Connors — Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
- The Good Lord Bird — Outstanding Main Title Design