After many months of waiting, the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards finally took place in Hollywood last night with three programmes taking top honours.

Unsurprisingly, the final series of HBO’s family saga Succession walked away with six major prizes including the prestigious Outstanding Drama Series accolade ahead of the likes of The Crown, The Last of Us, The White Lotus and the concluding series of Better Call Saul.

Additionally, three cast members claimed key victories in the acting categories with Kieran Culkin seeing off strong competition from Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) and co-stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong to win Lead Actor for his role as Roman Roy.

Meanwhile, Sarah Snook overcame the likes of Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters) and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us) to take home Lead Actress for playing Shiv Roy while British co-star Matthew Macfadyen clinched his second successive Supporting Actor gong for his swansong turn as Tom Wambsgans.

Once again, Shropshire-born showrunner Jesse Armstrong landed the Writing prize for the fourth time while former UK sitcom director Mark Mylod prevailed in his category for helming the critically-acclaimed episode ‘Connor’s Wedding’.

In his speech, Armstrong referred back to the show’s main plotline, joking:

“For some reason, the name of a certain Australia-born media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, springs to mind.

I come from the UK and the show is about things that are close to the centre of American life and politics, and we’ve always been met with generosity and good faith and that’s part of America’s tradition of being very welcoming to outsiders.”

Succession’s dominance meant a big underperformance for other drama contenders with fellow HBO series The White Lotus forced to settle for just one win out of its hefty twelve major nominations.

The second series of the mystery satire managed a Supporting Actress victory for cast member Jennifer Coolidge who overcame four co-stars (including Aubrey Plaza) to win for her reprised role as socialite Tanya McQuoid-Hunt.

However, other high-profile drama programmes weren’t so lucky as the likes of Andor, The Crown and The Last of Us missed out on Emmy recognition while AMC’s Better Call Saul finished up with an unwarranted record of 53 nominations without a single win from across its six series run. Talk about rough!

Elsewhere, FX’s dark comedy The Bear continued its dominance throughout awards season by sweeping its way to six major honours.

Created by Christopher Storer, the kitchen-based programme saw off Abbott Elementary, Jury Duty and the final series of Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Ted Lasso to clinch the Outstanding Comedy Series accolade while Storer himself took home two awards for his writing and directing.

Meanwhile, main man Jeremy Allen White scored his first Emmy win for his leading role as overburdened chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto ahead of the likes of previous category winners Bill Hader (Barry) and Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) while co-stars Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach triumphed in the supporting fields.

After landing a writing gong at the 2022 ceremony, Quinta Brunson made history by becoming the first black woman to win the Lead Actress category since 1981 for her returning role as enthusiastic schoolteacher Janine Teagues in ABC’s Abbott Elementary.

However, it was a disappointing evening for a number of big comedies as newcomers Jury Duty and Wednesday missed out on major honours while the swansong series of Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Ted Lasso failed to sign off their previous Emmy successes with honours.

Finally, there was another strong showing for Netflix’s Beef as it eased its way to five significant wins including the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series prize.

As predicted, central stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong were triumphant in the lead acting categories for their respective roles as Danny Cho and Amy Lau while series creator Lee Sung Jin bagged double honours for his writing and directing. This latest success caps off a fantastic awards campaign for the comedy-drama after previous recognition at the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards.

Elsewhere, Paul Walter Hauser followed up his Golden Globe victory from last year by winning Supporting Actor for his portrayal of real-life serial-killer Larry Hall in Apple TV’s Black Bird while Niecy Nash-Betts took home Supporting Actress for her role in the controversial Netflix miniseries Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

As expected, a number of programmes missed out on major recognition in the limited series field including Daisy Jones & the Six, Fleishman Is in Trouble, George and Tammy, and Welcome to Chippendales.

Away from the main categories, legendary British singer-songwriter Sir Elton John finally achieved EGOT status after winning an Emmy for his live variety special Elton John: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. However, the renowned musician was unable to attend the ceremony after a recent knee operation.

Presented by actor and comedian Anthony Anderson, this year’s Emmy Awards were delayed by four months due to the Hollywood strikes.

Nominations were announced in July and the ceremony was originally scheduled for September, but the writers’ and actors’ strikes meant very few nominees would have been able to attend.

The full list of major drama nominations are below (winner predictions in blue):

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
SUCCESSION

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sarah Snook, SUCCESSION

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kieran Culkin, SUCCESSION

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Coolidge, THE WHITE LOTUS

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Matthew Macfadyen, SUCCESSION

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Mark Mylod, SUCCESSION

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
SUCCESSION (Jesse Armstrong)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Quinta Brunson, ABBOTT ELEMENTARY

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jeremy Allen White, THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ayo Edebiri, THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Christopher Storer, THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
THE BEAR (Christopher Storer)

OUTSTANDING LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES
BEEF

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Ali Wong, BEEF

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Steven Yeun, BEEF

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Niecy Nash-Betts, DAHMER – MONSTER: THE JEFFREY DAHMER STORY

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Paul Walter Hauser, BLACK BIRD

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
Lee Sung Jin, BEEF

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE
BEEF (Lee Sung Jin)

OUTSTANDING TALK SERIES
THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

In the meantime, the full list of Emmy winners can be found in the following link: https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2023