Emmys 2021: The Crown and Ted Lasso Win Top Awards

The Crown and Ted Lasso were the big winners at this year’s Emmy Awards.

The prizes won by the Netflix’s royal drama included best drama series and four acting wins – for Gillian Anderson, Olivia Colman, Josh O’Connor and Tobias Menzies.

The Crown‘s victory in the best drama series category is not the first time a streaming service has won the top prize at the Emmys, but it does mark the first victory for Netflix.

Gillian Anderson won for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, Tobias Menzies for the Duke of Edinburgh, and Josh O’Connor for Prince Charles.

Many of this year’s nominated actors from The Crown left the show after its most recent series, including Emerald Fennell, who played the Duchess of Cornwall, and Olivia Colman, who will be replaced as the Queen in the forthcoming fifth season by Imelda Staunton.

The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards took place in Los Angeles on September 19 and saw most nominees attending in person.

Michaela Coel won outstanding writing for a limited series for her consent drama I May Destroy You.

The British writer and actress was one of the few non-white stars to score a win at the awards, which was criticised online for its lack of diversity.

While many black actors were nominated, when it came to the ceremony itself, white performers took home all 12 acting awards across the comedy, drama and limited series categories.

In contrast, three black stars were among the four winning guest actors at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, a prelude to the main event – namely Saturday Night Live hosts Dave Chappelle and Maya Rudolph, and Lovecraft Country‘s Courtney B Vance.

The host of RuPaul’s Drag Race, RuPaul Charles, however, did manage to become the most-awarded black artist in Emmy history, bagging his 11th award for the outstanding competition program.

If MJ Rodriguez from drag ball drama Pose had beaten Olivia Colman to the lead actress award, she would have become the first transgender performer to win in a lead acting category.

Kate Winslet and Ewan McGregor were named best limited series actress and actor for Mare of Easttown and Halston respectively.

Jason Sudeikis was named best lead comedy actor for his performance in Ted Lasso, while his British co-stars Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein won best supporting actress and actor.

Jean Smart was named best lead actress in a comedy series for her performance in Hacks.

As well as taking the top drama prize of the night, The Crown‘s Peter Morgan and Jessica Hobbs also won for writing and directing respectively.

British comic John Oliver, host of late night show Last Week Tonight, continued his Emmy streak when his show picked up its sixth straight win in the outstanding variety talk series category.

The final award of the night, outstanding limited or anthology series, went to Netflix’s chess drama The Queen’s Gambit.

In a highly competitive category, The Queen’s Gambit won ahead of I May Destroy You, Mare Of Easttown, The Underground Railroad and WandaVision.

Netflix’s combined total of 44 wins this year meant it towered above its nearest competitor – HBO and its HBO Max streaming service with 19.

That makes this year the first time Netflix had won more Emmys than HBO, which has dominated the ceremony for years. Disney+ was third on 14, while Apple TV won 10.

This year’s In Memoriam section included tributes to stars including Larry King, Michael Apted, Alex Trebek, Helen McCrory, Jessica Walter, Cicely Tyson and Michael K Williams.

The ceremony, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, was held after a year of increased TV viewing prompted by lockdown restrictions around the world.