LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jean Smart made it a sweep with her fifth best actress award in a comedy for the fifth and final season of “Hacks,” Noah Wyle made it two for two as best actor for “The Pitt,” and “Widow’s Bay” was making waves at the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday night.
No actor had won an Emmy every year for a series that lasted more than three seasons until Smart did it Monday.
“What a ride this has been,” an emotional Smart said from the stage of
the Peacock Theater after getting a standing ovation.
The 75-year-old Smart has won eight Emmys overall in a career that was already more than respectable when she landed her defining role of Deborah Vance, a brash stand-up comic pushing back against age, obscurity and sexism in the HBO Max series.
Wyle won the Emmy for the second season of “The Pitt,” HBO Max's real-time emergency room drama, for playing Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a role that brought him a major career revival after starring in “ER” in the 1990s.
“I grew up in LA, I’m a Hollywood kid. I was raised on a television, and movie theaters were my place of worship," Wyle said in his acceptance. "This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and this is the only club I’ve ever wanted to join.”
Rhea Seehorn won best actress in a drama for playing the lone central character on Apple TV's “Pluribus.”
The 54-year-old had been nominated twice without winning for her breakthrough role on “Better Call Saul,” a show from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, who put Seehorn at the center of “Pluribus.”
“Hacks” was the top nominee among all comedies, but it got a major challenge from rookie upstart “Widow’s Bay,” which won a pair of acting awards.
The show’s breakout star Kate O’Flynn took best supporting actress in a comedy, and Stephen Root, a ubiquitous character actor for decades, won supporting actor. It was the first Emmy for both.
O’Flynn, a 40-year-old British actor whose previous acclaim came mostly for her work in theater, plays Patricia Moyer, a city worker and social outcast dealing with a demonic darkness on the Apple TV horror comedy.
“This is the role of a lifetime,” O’Flynn said from the stage. “This is for all the Patricias out there.”
Root beat out Harrison Ford, who many thought would get his first major competitive Hollywood award for his role on “Shrinking.”
“Thank you, sir, for all your many years of great, great, great acting,” Root said to Ford during his acceptance. “Widow’s Bay” won eight Emmys in previous ceremonies during the run-up to Monday’s main show and is expected by many to claim the top comedy prizes.
“Widow’s Bay” star Matthew Rhys won best actor in a limited series early in the show Monday night for another show, “The Beast in Me,” and is nominated for best actor in a comedy later.
“The Pitt” was the top overall nominee, but it lost in both supporting acting categories despite having four nominees in one of them and three in the other.
Allison Janney won best supporting actress in a drama over Katherine LaNasa from “The Pitt,” who won last year, and three of her castmates. Janney joined Smart as an eight-time Emmy winner.
Tom Pelphrey won supporting actor in a drama for “Task.”
Mariska Hargitay opened the NBC telecast with a musical tribute to television viewing, “I Love TV Screens,” sung to the tune of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll.” A recorded start featured NBA champion Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks and actor Jennifer Coolidge. It continued inside the theater with a group of dancers with TVs for heads.
“NBC is celebrating its 100th year, and I have been on ‘Law & Order: SVU’ for all of them,” said Hargitay, a three-time Emmy winner who has starred in the show for 27 seasons.
The Emmys telecast rotates between the broadcast networks, and this year it’s airing live on NBC and streaming live on Peacock.
“Live from E!: Countdown to the Emmys” is showing stars arriving on YouTube and Peacock. The Associated Press is streaming a delayed feed of celebrity arrivals on YouTube.
