By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Jean Smart won her fifth Emmy on Monday for portraying a tenacious stand-up comic on "Hacks," making her the first performer to claim the award for best comedy actress for every season of a show's run.
Smart played Deborah Vance, a septuagenarian comedian fighting to stay relevant, on "Hacks." The show aired its final season on HBO Max this year.
"What a ride this has been!" Smart said on stage after thanking the show's creators.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won best comedy actress for six of the seven seasons of "Veep," is the only woman to come close to Smart's milestone.
Supporting comedy actress went to Kate O'Flynn, who plays a quirky mayoral assistant on the Apple TV horror comedy "Widow's Bay."
Mariska Hargitay, star of NBC's drama "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," hosted the ceremony, breaking with a tradition of having a comedian serve as emcee. It was broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock.
"It's a lot of pressure, but it is so reassuring to see so many familiar faces out there, and I'm not just talking about how many of you I've arrested on SVU," Hargitay told the crowd.
TINSELTOWN ON EDGE
The Emmys offered a rare night of celebration as Hollywood grapples with production cutbacks, anxiety over artificial intelligence and the proposed Paramount Skydance purchase of HBO owner Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has divided the industry and faces legal challenges.
HBO Max's "The Pitt," set in a Pittsburgh trauma center, was favored to win best drama – the night's top award – for a second straight year. Competitors include newcomer "Pluribus," an Apple TV show about a woman at war with an alien hive mind. "The Pitt" star Wyle is a leading contender for a second straight best actor Emmy.
Emmy winners are chosen by the more than 27,000 writers, directors, performers, producers and craftspeople in the Television Academy.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway;Additional reporting by Matt Silverstein; Editing by Alistair Bell and Howard Goller)
