LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — The father-son hosting duo of Eugene and Dan Levy opened the Emmys on Sunday night by poking fun of the show’s strange and changing role.
“Welcome to the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards,” Dan Levy said on the ABC telecast from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. “Also known as broadcast TV’s biggest night for honoring movie stars on streaming services.”
The two Canadian stars of “Schitt’s Creek” were among the big winners of the pandemic-era Emmys in 2020.
They went through the night’s nominees, taking a shot at “The Bear” being placed in the category.
“In honor of ‘The Bear’ we will be making no jokes,” Eugene Levy said, to laughs.
Soon after, Ebon Moss-Bachrach won the first Emmy handed out Sunday, taking best supporting actor in a comedy for the second straight year for “The Bear,” which could be in for a multi-course meal before the night is over.
“I’m so grateful for this show and to work with these beautiful people” Moss-Bachrach said.
Moss-Bachrach won for the second season of the FX culinary dramedy for playing Richard “Cousin Richie” Jerimovich, whose arc takes him from foul-mouthed ruffian to mindful maître d’ of the show’s highbrow restaurant.
Billy Crudup won his second Emmy, taking best supporting actor in a drama for “The Morning Show.”
The win for the Apple TV+ show was a sign that “Shogun” might not entirely dominate. Many had expected Tadanobu Asano from the FX show to win the award.
Crudup thanked wife Naomi Watts and pointed out that she’s an immigrant.
“Shogun” is likely to rule the night on the awards front. With its 14 wins at the precursor Creative Arts Emmy Awards last weekend, the FX series about lordly politicking in feudal Japan has already set a record for most Emmys for a single season of a series.
The show seized all the Emmy power in the top categories by shifting from the limited series to the drama category in May when it began developing more seasons.
If it faces any competition at all for the best drama prize, it could come for the sixth and final season of “The Crown,” the only show among the nominees that has won before in a category recently dominated by the retired “Succession.”
Veteran screen star Hiroyuki Sanada, up for best actor, Anna Sawai, up for best actress, and their castmates in the supporting categories are in position to become the first Japanese actors to win Emmys.
FX is also in for a likely victory lap for “The Bear,” which took most of the big comedy Emmys home in January for its first season, and is expected to do the same Sunday for its second, which includes nominations for best comedy series and best actor for Jeremy Allen White.
Ayo Edebiri, reigning best supporting actress, moves to the lead actress category for a character who is essentially a co-lead on the culinary dramedy. That means she’ll be up against Jean Smart, a two-time winner in the category for “Hacks” who is back in the competition after a year off.
Meryl Streep, among several Academy Award winners among the night’s nominees, could win her fourth Emmy to go with her three Oscars. She’s up for best supporting actress in a comedy for “Only Murders in the Building.”
Another multiple Oscar winner, Jodie Foster, could get her first Emmy for best actress in a limited series for “True Detective: Night Country.”
The HBO show that features Foster as a police chief investigating mysterious deaths in the darkness of a north Alaskan winter was the top nominee among limited or anthology series, but it could lose out on several Emmys to Netflix’s darkly quirky “Baby Reindeer,” which surged on the eve of July’s nominations and is now the popular pick for best limited series, best actor for creator and star Richard Gadd and best supporting actress for the woman who plays his tormentor, Jessica Gunning.