An array of awards for members of the Television Academy Hall of Fame left a memorable mark on the first night of the 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Just weeks away from the premiere of its 50th season on NBC, the iconic sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live led the night — fittingly, a Saturday — with wins in six categories. Another industry icon, the late Jim Henson, was celebrated in the form of four Emmys captured by the Disney+ documentary Jim Henson Idea Man. And, in a poignant — and, not surprisingly, very funny — moment, Dick Van Dyke delighted the audience at the Peacock Theater as he accepted the penultimate award of the night for the CBS special Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic.
The Saturday Creative Arts show focused primarily on crafts in reality, unscripted and documentary programming. A second show, on Sunday, will be dedicated to scripted programming and will include several performance categories.
Watch award presentations and acceptance speeches.
SNL entered the weekend as the winningest series in Emmy history with 89. By the end of the first night, the influential franchise — which the Television Academy honored by inducting the original cast into its Hall of Fame in 2017 — had extended its all-time total to 95. Its wins came for outstanding production design for a variety or reality series; hairstyling for a variety, nonfiction or reality program; makeup for a variety, nonfiction or reality program; lighting design/lighting direction for a variety series; technical direction and camerawork for a series; and directing for a variety series (Liz Patrick).
Over the course of an illustrious career that earned him endless accolades, Jim Henson — the writer-director-producer-performer who left an indelible imprint on media and culture through his most enduring creation, the Muppets — won three Emmy Awards from the Television Academy, which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1987. Jim Henson Idea Man — directed by another Hall of Famer, 2013 inductee Ron Howard — exceeded that total by one, with Emmys for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special; sound editing for a nonfiction or reality program (single or multi-camera); picture editing for a nonfiction program; and music composition for a documentary series or special.
Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic, a joyous salute to the titular 1995 Hall of Fame inductee, won the Emmy for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded). The special aired on CBS, home of The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran on the network from 1961 to 1966. Receiving the honor, Van Dyke, still impish a month shy of his 99th birthday, quipped, "I'd like to take this opportunity to invite you to my memorial. I don't have a date yet, but I'm not feeling very well."
The four Emmys for Jim Henson Idea Man tied for second-most awards of the night with the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai and ABC's telecast of the Oscars.
Blue Eye Samurai won for outstanding animated series and three for outstanding individual achievement in animation, which went to lead character designer Brian Kesinger, production designer Toby Wilson and storyboard artist Ryan O'Loughlin.
The Oscars telecast, meanwhile, prevailed in the categories of outstanding production design for a variety special, directing for a variety special (Hamish Hamilton), music direction (Rickey Minor) and, in the final award of the night, outstanding variety special (live).
Other programs with multiple awards included CBS's Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden and the FX reality series Welcome to Wrexham, with three each, followed by two other reality programs — Girls State from Apple TV+ and Love on the Spectrum from Netflix — with two each.
Billy Joel: The 100th — Live at Madison Square Garden, won for sound mixing for a variety series or special; lighting design/lighting direction for a variety special; and technical direction and camerawork for a special. Welcome to Wrexham scored unstructured reality program; picture editing for an unstructured reality program; and sound mixing for a reality program.
Girls State grabbed Emmys for cinematography for a nonfiction program and directing for a documentary/nonfiction program (Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss); Love on the Spectrum took casting for a reality program and directing for a reality program (Cian O'Clery).
Other awards of note included:
• Outstanding structured reality program — Shark Tank, ABC
• Outstanding documentary or nonfiction series — Beckham, Netflix
• Exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking — Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, HBO/Max
• Outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special — My Next Guest with David Letterman and John Mulaney, Netflix
• Outstanding game show — Jeopardy!, ABC/Syndicated
• Outstanding host for a game show — Pat Sajak, Wheel of Fortune, ABC/Syndicated
• Outstanding commercial — "Fuzzy Feelings," Apple iPhone & Mac,
• Outstanding writing for a variety series — Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO/Max
• Outstanding writing for a nonfiction program — Conan O'Brien Must Go, HBO/Max
• Outstanding host for a reality or competition program — Alan Cumming, The Traitors, Peacock
• Outstanding character voice-over performance — Maya Rudolph, Big Mouth, Netflix
• Outstanding narrator — Angela Bassett, Queens, National Geographic
• Outstanding choreography for variety or reality programming — Karla Puno Garcia, The 76th Annual Tony Awards, CBS
Bob Bain was executive producer of the Creative Arts Emmys for the 10th time. The Television Academy's Creative Arts Emmy Awards Committee is led by cochairs Yvette Cobarrubias and Christina Lee.
FXX will broadcast edited highlights from the Saturday and Sunday Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, September 14, at 8:00 PM ET/PT. It will be available for streaming on Hulu the following day.
The 76th Emmys telecast will air live Sunday, September 15, on ABC.
A complete list of winners is available here.
