• HBO’s Succession and FX’s The Bear were the big winners at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• The shows scooped the honours for best drama and best comedy series, respectively, among a haul of six each.
• The Daily Show with Trevor Noah won best variety talk series.
• The Emmys typically take place in September but were postponed last year due to the Hollywood strikes, which lasted 148 days.

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The final season of Succession dominated the Emmy Awards on Monday, scooping six prizes, including best drama, at a nostalgic gala honouring television’s past and present that was delayed by four months due to Hollywood strikes.

The HBO show about the back-stabbing dynastic battles of a powerful media family won awards for stars Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen, while The Bear topped the comedy awards and Beef led in the limited series section.

“This is a show about family, but it’s also about when… partisan news coverage gets intertwined with divisive right-wing politics,” said Succession creator Jesse Armstrong.

“After four seasons of satire, as I understand it, that’s a problem we have now fixed,” he joked on the night that Donald Trump won the Iowa Republican caucuses.

Accepting their best actress and actor prizes, both Snook – who was pregnant during the show’s final season – and Culkin paid tribute to their babies, with Culkin joking to his wife, “I want more… you said maybe, if I win!”

Succession, which had already won best drama series twice previously, had entered the night with a whopping 27 nominations, including a record three of the six nominees for best actor.

It also won for best writing and directing.

Jennifer Coolidge, the sole returning star for the Sicily-set second season of satire The White Lotus, won for best supporting actress.

Coolidge thanked “all the evil gays,” in a nod to her character’s memorable storyline in which she befriended a flamboyant, yacht-owning group of men with sinister intentions.

The Emmys, which are the small screen’s equivalent of the Oscars, typically take place in September.

But organisers opted for an unusual January slot this time around, correctly gambling that the entertainment industry strikes would be over, and that actors would be free to attend.

Stars and guests, from Harrison Ford to Joan Collins, walked the red carpet into the Peacock Theatre at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles for the ceremony.

Vintage comedy

Celebrating its 75th year, the Emmys featured multiple skits paying homage to beloved classic shows on elaborate sets.

Stars like Kelsey Grammer and Ted Danson appeared on a set emulating the beloved famous Boston bar from Cheers, while The Sopranos actors Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli presented an award from the mob drama’s psychiatrist office.

Other shows getting nostalgic reunions included Grey’s Anatomy and Ally McBeal.

The organisers’ decision to hark back to television’s golden days came in stark contrast with the gala’s recent struggles, as the Emmys’ audiences have plummeted.

Last year’s telecast was watched by just 5.9 million – lower even than the 2020 “pandEmmys” lockdown edition that was broadcast from an empty theatre – and it was competing Monday with an NFL playoff game and the Iowa vote.

Plus, this time, there was confusion about honouring seasons of shows that aired months before.

The delay meant votes were cast back in the summer for nominated shows that premiered as long as 18 months ago.

Most notably, The Bear – which took viewers behind the scenes of a dysfunctional Chicago restaurant – won six awards on Monday, including the top comedy prize.

Stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach won for best actor, supporting actress and actor, and the show also won writing and directing prizes.

But the ceremony honoured the show’s intense debut season, which premiered way back in June 2022. At the next Emmys ceremony, taking place this September, the show’s even more acclaimed and ambitious second season is eligible.

Quinta Brunson won for best actress in a comedy for Abbott Elementary.

Limited series

Netflix’s Beef dominated the limited series categories for shows that run only a single season, with five prizes, including best limited series, writing and directing.

Its stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun took lead acting prizes, playing road-rage drivers locked in a rapidly escalating feud.

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story co-star Niecy Nash-Betts won best supporting actress, while Paul Walter Hauser won for best supporting actor for Black Bird, another dark true crime series.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won best scripted variety series and variety series writing, while The Daily Show With Trevor Noah won best variety talk series.

Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers paid tribute to the late Norman Lear for “changing American culture”, from a set modelled on one of his many hit shows, All In The Family.

READ MORE | ‘We did it:’ Trevor Noah’s Daily Show wins Emmy for best variety talk series

The annual “In Memoriam” section honoured TV stars who died in the past year, including Angela Lansbury, Richard Roundtree, Harry Belafonte, 25-year-old Euphoria actor Angus Cloud and Friends star Matthew Perry.

Here is a list of the winners in key categories for the 75th Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Drama Series

Succession

Outstanding Comedy Series

The Bear

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

Beef

Lead Actor, Drama

Kieran Culkin, Succession

Lead Actress, Drama

Sarah Snook, Succession

Lead Actor, Comedy

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Lead Actress, Comedy

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Lead Actor, Limited Series or Movie

Steven Yeun, Beef

Lead Actress, Limited Series or Movie

Ali Wong, Beef

Supporting Actor, Drama

Matthew Macfadyen, Succession

Supporting Actress, Drama

Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus

Supporting Actor, Comedy

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

Supporting Actress, Comedy

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie

Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird

Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie

Niecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story