Nikki Kalina (’27)
The Emmy statuette surrounded by the names of some of this year's nominees.
The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards recently aired, showcasing the immense depth of television and cinematic excellence produced in the past year.
Entering the awards show, the frontrunners expected to sweep the major categories were The Studio, Apple TV’s freshman comedy earning the most nominations for any inaugural comedy series in history; Severance, a drama series in its second season which topped the charts with 27 nominations; and Adolescence, Netflix’s underdog mini-series starring and co-written by Stephen Graham.
In the Comedy Series category, other top candidates included Hacks, an HBO Max series garnering 14 nominations and The Bear, riding a record-breaking 11 Emmys in 2024. Competing with Severance, the Drama Series category was filled with contenders looking to land their first wins, most notably HBO’s medical drama The Pitt. Finally, in Limited Or Anthology Series The Penguin was Adolescence’s biggest competition, surpassing it by 11 nominations. However, many analysts predicted the category to be a sure win for Adolescence.
Ultimately, with such stacked productions in every category, the 2025 Emmys were sure to deliver a number of record-breaking feats at both an individual and streaming service level, and they did not disappoint. The Studio capitalized on its inaugural season, taking home four statuettes for lead actor and co-creator Seth Rogen. Similarly, Adolescence swept through the Limited or Anthology Series category winning eight of its 13 nominations. Of the awards, Graham was recognized in three. Owen Cooper, who plays teenage murderer Jamie Miller in the series, took home Outstanding Supporting Actor. This makes Cooper the youngest actor to ever win in this category at the age of 15.
Resulting in an upset, The Pitt beat out Severance to win Outstanding Drama Series, taking home an additional four statuettes to the latter’s eight. The upset, as one Emmy prognosticator suggested, may be attributed to The Pitt’s late release allowing its momentum to snowball leading up to the awards. Other category triumphs include The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, winning Outstanding Talk Series following nearly ten years of successive nominations in the category. The surge of support for the series came after CBS announced the cancellation of the show in 2026, ostensibly due to financial concerns. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won the Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and Saturday Night Live won the Outstanding Variety Special for its 50th Anniversary edition. Finally, The Traitors, a Peacock murder mystery show, took home the Outstanding Reality Competition Program for the second year in a row.
For leading streaming platforms, competition was similarly heated. Ultimately, HBO’s record-breaking 142 nominations triumphed over Disney’s 128—amassed across both of its streaming services: Hulu and Disney+, followed by Netflix with 120, and Apple with 81.
Finally, this year’s awards hosted by Grammy-nominated comedian Nate Bargatze debuted a new way to keep speeches short and the show running on time. Barzgatze promised to start the night with a $100,000 donation to The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, adding and deducting time for every second a speech went under or over its allotted time throughout the night. The creative charity initiative ultimately backfired when, by the end of the night, the live donation counter reached negative $60,000, a result of acceptance speeches going far over time. To save the pitiful numbers, CBS pitched in $100,000 and Bargatze increased the starting donation to $250,000 for a positive donation to the clubs. All in all, this year’s Emmy Awards kept viewers on their toes while commemorating the creative and masterful productions of the year.