John Oliver thanks dog and Candice Bergen gets political: Eight Emmys highlights

Even before Baby Reindeer became a big winner at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, the Netflix series loomed large at the ceremony.

At the start, actor Dan Levy joked he had been bombarded with messages from his father Eugene before the pair agreed to host this year’s event.

“Letz host emmyys. colin ferell will b ther. u still have crush? sent from my iphone,” flashed up one of the fake messages, in the style of the emails received by Donny Dunn in the show.

However, there was no mention of the defamation lawsuit filed against Netflix by the real-life woman who allegedly inspired the stalker character, and who was said to have fired off 41,000 emails to the show’s creator.

Baby Reindeer was one of the talking points at the ceremony. There were plenty of others, serious and light-hearted – here are some of the highlights:

While most of Sunday’s winners were expected, there was one genuine surprise at the end of the night when Hacks won best comedy series.

The prize had been widely tipped to once again be won by The Bear – which itself was controversial because many felt the restaurant drama should not have been submitted as a comedy.

But an acting prize for Jean Smart earlier in the night was an indication that Hacks has strong support among Television Academy voters.

“When we pitched this show about two women, one of whom is over 60, we didn’t know if we would sell it,” said co-creator Paul W Downs.

“About 20% of our population is over 60, and they are only 3% of those characters on television.”

The show stars Smart as a legendary comic and Hannah Einbinder as a young comedy writer. In her own acceptance speech, Smart joked: “It’s very humbling, and I appreciate this, because I just don’t get enough attention.”

The father-son duo, best known for Schitt’s Creek, struck just the right tone as this year’s Emmys hosts.

The pair opened the ceremony with a monologue that was both warm and funny, and kept things pacey throughout the night.

Welcoming the audience, Dan jokingly described the Emmys as “broadcast TV’s biggest night – for honouring movie stars on streaming services”.

Encouraging winners to keep their speeches short, Dan said it was a “cruel joke that two Canadians have been put in charge of playing you off tonight”, adding: “Confrontation in general is anxiety-inducing.”

The duo even found time to make light of the controversy surrounding The Bear being submitted in the comedy categories as opposed to drama, because it’s not very overtly funny.

“Now, I love The Bear,” began Eugene, “and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy.

“But in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes.”

Dressed in truly fabulous tartan, Scottish comic and presenter Alan Cumming accepted the prize for best reality competition series for the US version of The Traitors.

This isn’t an easy category for a new series to win – five of the last six years have seen RuPaul’s Drag Race take the prize, something Cumming alluded to in his speech.

“Thank you to the Academy. We are so grateful because we are a new show, and you guys, when you like something, you tend to stick to it,” he said. “Which is a good quality, but we appreciate it all the more.”

Cumming also paid tribute to Scotland, where The Traitors is filmed. “I owe it everything, it’s such a beautiful co-star,” he said, despite the crew getting “so wet from the Scottish weather”.

“I also want to thank Holland,” he continued. “So many of these shows, like The Traitors, were first made up in Holland. They obviously have something in the water, so let’s find it, let’s drink it, and all America’s problems will be solved.”

One of the most acclaimed TV series of all time, The West Wing, celebrates its 25th birthday this year – which was marked at the Emmys ahead of a celebration at the White House later this week.

Five members of the cast reunited on Sunday to present the award for best drama – a prize The West Wing won itself four times in the early 2000s.

“It’s hard to believe that just 25 years ago, the writers actually had to use their imaginations to create interesting plot lines for the West Wing,” joked Allison Janney.

“Unlike today,” continued Richard Schiff, “where storylines can be plucked off the news – storylines that writers would have deemed a bit far-fetched, if not utterly ridiculous, 25 years ago.”

However, fellow West Wing actor Bradley Whitford could not join his former co-stars at the Emmys, which he said “broke his heart”.

Whitford explained on X: “I’m in Budapest on another White House set pretending to work for another administration. (I know. I need to work on my range.)”

The award for best writing for a drama series was won by Will Smith. But not that Will Smith.

This Will Smith is British and won for writing the Slow Horses episode Negotiating With Tigers.

And the comedian and writer was well aware of the risks of taking to the stage at an awards ceremony, following his namesake’s infamous slap at the Oscars in 2022.

“First of all, relax,” he began his speech. “Despite my name, I come in peace.”

Jodie Foster’s win for best actress in a limited series capped an extraordinary comeback year for the star, during which she was also nominated for an Oscar.

The actress said her Emmy win for True Detective: Night Country was “an incredibly emotional moment for me because [making the show] was just a magical experience”.

As she received a standing ovation, Foster paid tribute to the show’s Icelandic crew, telling them: “Takk fyrir.” (Thank you.)

“And mostly, thank you to the indiginous people, Inupiat and Inuit people of northern Alaska, they told us their stories, and allowed us to listen, and that was just a blessing.”

With the US presidential election less than two months away, there were plenty of political references.

The Bear star Liza Colón-Zayas, who won best comedy supporting actress, said in her speech: “To all the Latinas who are looking at me, keep believing, and vote – vote for your rights.”

Earlier in the night, Only Murders In The Building actress Selena Gomez referred to her co-stars Martin Short and Steve Martin as “two guys who are this far away from being childless cat ladies”.

That was a reference to Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance, who in 2021 referred to some leading Democrats as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too”.

That line was also referenced by Candice Bergen, star of sitcom Murphy Brown, who sarcastically suggested it represented progress.

Recalling a storyline from 1992, Bergen said: “My character was attacked by Vice President Dan Quayle, when Murphy became pregnant and decided to raise the baby as a single mother.

“How far we’ve come. Today, a Republican candidate for vice president would never attack a woman for having kids.

“So, as they say, my work here is done. Meow.”

Depite the political threads, the celebrities steered clear of the subject of the latest apparent assassination attempt on Trump, which happened hours before the ceremony.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was named best scripted variety series for the second consecutive year.

Its host paid tribute to the production team and his family, before adding: “I also want to thank, and this is going to be very silly, our dog.

“We had the most fantastic dog. She was at our wedding, she got us through a pandemic, and was with us for two pregnancies.”

As the gentle orchestral music began, a sign for Oliver to wrap up, he said: “Perfect choice of music! Because we had to say goodbye to her.

“She was an amazing dog. This isn’t just for her, this is for all dogs. You’re all very good girls, very good boys, you all deserve a treat. Play me off now!”