‘The Bear,’ ‘Succession’ And More Dramedies Win Big At Emmys 2024

After delays due to the writers and actors’ strikes, the 2023 Emmys took to the stage in 2024. The ceremony took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on January 15 and was hosted by Anthony Anderson. It was a big night for prestige dramedies as many big winners unsurprisingly included front runners like Succession, The Bear, Beef and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.

Despite the debate between whether certain shows are properly categorized, this years Emmys wins could see the trend of dramadies growing.

Notably, most of the major awards went to shows that walk the line between comedy and drama. The Bear, a high-stress drama-comedy about a chef taking over his family’s struggling restaurant, swept the Outstanding Comedy Series Awards. The show won for Outstanding Comedy Series. The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White also took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series while costar Ebon Moss-Bachrach won Outstanding Supporting Actor. Ayo Edebiri also took home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on The Bear.

The Bear’s sweep wasn’t confined to acting. Creator Christopher Storer also won Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series with the episode “Review” and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series with another episode of the show, “System.”

Just as The Bear mixes comedy and drama, the same thing could be said about Succession. Succession dominated the best drama categories. The satirical comedy-drama about a family’s fight over a business inheritance took home Outstanding Drama Series. Matthew Macfadyen also won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Tom Wambsgans on the show. Similarly, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin took home Outstanding Leads. The Succession episode “Connor’s Wedding” also earned a directing Emmy for Mark Mylod and Oustanding writing in a drama series for Jesse Armstrong.

The Netflix
NFLX
pitch-black comedy Beef, also swept the limited or anthology series categories. Beef won for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The show also earned Steven Yeun Outstanding Lead Actor in a limited or anthology series or movie. Co-star Ali Wong also took home Outstanding Actress. The limited series and Lee Sung Jin also won the directing Emmy for “Figures of Light” and Outstanding Writing for episode “The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech in Pain.”

While The Daily Show with Trevor Noah won for Outstanding Talk Series, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver came out ahead as a late-night winner. The HBO satirical news program took home Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series and Outstanding scripted variety series.

The White Lotus was mainly shut out of the awards by Succession. However, the comedy-drama series about the guests at the titular hotel earned Jennifer Coolidge an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. As Coolidge thanked the “evil gays” in her acceptance speech, it became clear that the veil between comedy and drama was extremely thin at this year’s Emmys.

Coolidge wasn’t the only iconic comedy actress to take home an Emmy for a dramatic role. However, Niecy Nash-Betts’s win for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was among the only non-dramedy acting performances to win.

On the other side of the comedy/drama divide, Quinta Brunson won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary. Notably, Brunson became the first Black actress in 42 years to take home the award since 1981 when The Jeffersons’ Isabel Sanford won. Both Nash-Betts and Brunson delivered impassioned speeches. Nash-Betts ended her acceptance speech with the powerful message, “I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard yet over-policed. Like Glenda Cleveland, like Sandra Bland, like Breonna Taylor.”

This year’s Emmys showcased iconically funny women of color, with wins for Wong, Edebiri, Nash-Betts, and Brunson. This year will also be remembered for wins for comedy, especially dry, dark, and satirical comedies. Going forward, many will be watching the blending between drama and comedy categories at the Emmys. While some might argue The White Lotus isn’t a drama or The Bear isn’t a comedy, Emmy voters seem to respect the overlap and dramedy genre enough to let it win big.