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76th Emmy Awards 2024: 6 Most Memorable Moments

Grownups won kudos (and made history) at the 76th annual TV awards show


spinner image different moments from the emmy awards
AARP (L to R: Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images; Kevin Winter/Getty Images (3); Leon Bennett/WireImage/Getty Images; Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

It was a good year for actors over 50 in the 76th annual Emmy Awards: They earned 14 major acting nominations, and won four. The father-and-son duo of Eugene Levy, 77, and Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek fame were utterly charming hosts, warm and kindly in their ribbing of nominees, though they had a point when they joked that the Emmys honor “movie stars on streaming services,” not so much the big studios anymore.

Here are the most memorable moments of the evening:

spinner image Jean Smart
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Jean Smart won, as usual — she’s becoming the Meryl Streep of TV comedy

“I appreciate this, because I just don’t get enough attention,” said Hacks star Smart, 73, getting as big a laugh as Deborah Vance, the character she plays on the show. She was kidding — this is her third best comedy lead Emmy for playing the stand-up comic who always kills and never says die. On the other hand, she’s serious, and her triumph in basking in the Emmy limelight lit up smiles in AARP members everywhere. She kept Hacks fresh by reaching deeper into her character, and the intergenerational love-hate relationship she has with her comedy-writer protégée (played by Hannah Einbinder).​

Don’t miss this: Jean Smart Talks Family, Grief and Aging: ‘Every Day Is Precious Now,’ in AARP Members Edition

spinner image Cast and crew of "Hacks"
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Hacks writer Paul W. Downs said the most AARP-friendly thing you’ve ever heard at the Emmys 

The best comment of the evening was by Hacks cowriter Downs, accepting the best comedy series award. “You know, when we pitched the show about two women, one of whom was over 60, we did not know if we would sell it,” he said,  thanking the folks who dared to buy the outrageous concept of grownups as legitimate subjects for a hit show. “About 20 percent of our population is 60-plus, and there are only 3 percent of those characters on television, and I would like to see more of them, because while I’m a great young supporting actor, I really want to be a good old lead.”

spinner image Liza Colón-Zayas
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Bear didn’t go hungry for attention — but one of its winners was literally speechless

​Despite its upset to Hacks for best comedy series, don’t feel too bad for The Bear. The comedy about obsessive restaurant perfectionists set a new record for the most wins for a comedy in one season — 11, beating its own record set last year with 10. It won repeat Emmys for best lead comedy actor, Jeremy Allen White and best comedy supporting actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach; and a first-time Emmy for Liza Colón-Zayas, 52, for supporting comedy actress, who was more surprised than anybody. Colón-Zayas, who plays a feisty prep cook on The Bear, thanked her husband for telling her to write a speech — “and I didn’t! How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett and Janelle and Sheryl Lee Ralph?” The first Latina to win in the category, she added, “To all the Latinas who are looking at me, keep believing and vote.”​

Don’t miss this: 10 Quick Questions for Liza Colón-Zayas on AARP Members Edition

spinner image Jodie Foster
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Jodie Foster added a new statuette to her groaning awards shelf

She may have two Oscars, but this is the first Emmy for Foster, 61, whose role as a brilliant, peevish police chief in remote Ennis, Alaska, in True Detective: Night Country was kind of like a grownup version of her famous agent Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs. She got a massive standing ovation, and no wonder: Her performance revived the sagging True Detective franchise, and accelerated her comeback to acting after years of concentrating on directing. She also got a nomination as a producer of the show. The lesson in her success was simple, said Foster: “Love and work equals art!”

Don’t miss this: The 75 Most Unforgettable Moments in Television History

spinner image Hiroyuki Sanada
Leon Bennett/WireImage/Getty Images

Hiroyuki Sanada became Hollywood’s biggest new star of the year    

Sanada, 63, is long known as the Tom Cruise of Japan and even costarred with Cruise in 2003’s The Last Samurai. But with his best drama lead actor win in Shogun, plus his win for best drama — he’s a producer and a driving creative force on the show — he’s the talk of the TV season.  No grownup star has broken out more dramatically to the A-list this year, and in a weak season for limited series, Shogun, stands head and shoulders above the rest. Sanada said it was more than just a win for he and costar Anna Sawai, who nabbed her first win for lead drama actress for her indelible portrait of proud Lady Mariko:  “It was an East meets West dream project with respect, and Shogun taught me that when people work together, we can make miracles. We can create a better future together.” 

​Don’t miss this: 8 Reasons You Have to Watch Shogun

spinner image John Leguizamo
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

John Leguizamo gave a shout-out to Emmy diversity

Leguizamo, 64, noted that this is the most diverse list of nominees in Emmy history. “Selena Gomez is nominated for Only Murders in the Building, and she’s been carrying Steve Martin [and] Martin Short for three whole seasons,” he joked. He gave shout-outs to Griselda nominee Sofia Vergara, 52, and others: “That’s five Latinx nominees being honored tonight, six if you count Mark Cuban from Shark Tank. Well, his last name is Cuban. That counts. Come on!”

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