The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards are over, and two shows predictably dominated the evening. Shogun and The Bear, both created by FX, won the most number of Emmys in the drama and comedy categories. (Also read: Emmy Awards 2024 full list of winners: Hacks pulls off surprising victory; The Bear, Shogun dominate)
Hacks beats The Bear
Yet, a shocker arrived at the very end when The Bear failed to win the top award in its category, for Best Comedy Series. This shock came even after hosts of the ceremony Dan Levy and Eugene Levy couldn’t help but joke about the inclusion of The Bear in the comedy category.
Eugene said, “I love the show, and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy.” In response, Dan added, “But in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes.” The camera cut to The Bear star Ayo Edebiri, who nodded with an okay sign, smiling.
Still, with a few jokes here and there, the second season of The Bear won 5 Emmys, with a near-sweep in the acting categories- including Best Actor for Jeremy Allen White, Best Supporting Actor for Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Best Supporting Actress for Liza Colón-Zayas.
Is The Bear a comedy?
The shocker of the night arrived when Hacks won Best Comedy over The Bear. Suffice to say even the cast and crew of Hacks could not believe it themselves, and went on stage to deliver an impromptu speech, ending it with the message which was loud and clear: support comedy.
But what were the chances if The Bear switched gears into the drama categories this year? It would have gone clashing with the network’s other awards season heavyweight Shogun. The Bear tells the story of Carmen ‘Carmy’ Anthony Berzatto, who inherits his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop after the suicide of his older brother Michael. Ardent fans of the show will tell you the show deals with everything- trauma, self-destruction, grief, and the consequences of not dealing with grief, but comedy. It is intense, anxiety-inducing and often gritty in its exploration of the pressures handling a restaurant kitchen. There’s nothing light-hearted about it.
If The Bear moved to the drama category, other shows like Only Murders in the Building and Hacks stand a better chance at winning. This was echoed by SNL castmember Laraine Newman, who took to X on Sunday night to slam the show in a now-deleted tweet. “F***. THE. BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She then wrote, “Every time I think about The Bear being in the comedy category for the Emmys I can feel an ulcer developing.” She went on to clarify, “I think the Bear is a great show but IMHO it’s not a comedy- not even a dark comedy.”
Only the Television academy can take charge on this issue and do the shift, if need demands. The Bear won’t be the first show to make that shift. Previously, Orange Is the New Black was made to shift from comedy to drama, while Shameless was shifted in the comedy category from drama a few years ago.
