Lizzo, Zendaya and Amanda Seyfried were among the winners at the 74th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, held on Monday (Sept. 12) at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls was an upset winner for outstanding competition program. It beat RuPaul’s Drag Race, which won the previous four years, as well as The Amazing Race, The Voice and Top Chef, all of which have also won in the category, and Nailed It!, a four-time nominee in the category. This is Lizzo’s first Emmy. She has won three Grammys and is a likely Grammy nominee this year for her No. 1 smash “About Damn Time.” This marks the first time a first-season show has won in this category since it was introduced in 2003.
Zendaya won outstanding lead actress in a drama series for the second time in three years for Euphoria. Zendaya’s win two years ago made her the youngest winner ever in the category at 24. Her win this year makes her the youngest two-time winner in the category.
Seyfried won outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for The Dropout. It’s her first Emmy win.
Zendaya and Seyfried have both had success in film musicals that yielded soundtracks that topped the Billboard 200. Zendaya was featured on The Greatest Showman, No. 1 for two weeks in 2018; Seyfried was featured on Mamma Mia, No. 1 for one week in 2008.
Sheryl Lee Ralph outstanding best supporting actress in a comedy series for her role in Abbott Elementary, 40 years after she received a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical for her breakout role in Dreamgirls.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver won outstanding variety talk series for the seventh year in a row. It is second only to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for the most wins in this category (or its predecessor category, outstanding variety series). It pulls ahead of Late Show with David Letterman, which won six times.
Saturday Night Live won outstanding variety sketch series for the sixth year in a row. In addition, it won outstanding variety series twice, in 1976 and 1993.
Ted Lasso won outstanding comedy series for the second year in a row. It’s the first sitcom to win that award two years running since Veep won three years in a row (2015-17).
Succession won outstanding drama series for the second time in three years. It wasn’t in the running last year when The Crown won.
Jason Sudakis and Jean Smart were both repeat winners for outstanding lead actor and actress in a comedy series. Sudakis won for the second year in a row for his role on Ted Lasso. Smart won for the second year in a row for her role on Hacks.
The White Lotus was the top winner at the 2022 Emmy Awards. It won 10 awards, counting both awards won at Monday night’s show and the two Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies that were held last weekend.
Other shows that won four or more awards across the three nights were Euphoria and Squid Game (six each); Adele One Night Only, The Beatles: Get Back and Stranger Things (five each); and Arcane, Succession and Ted Lasso (four each).
Shows that won three awards were Abbott Elementary, Barry, Hacks, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, Love on the Spectrum U.S., Only Murders in the Building and The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr.Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent.
Shows that won two awards were A Black Lady Sketch Show, Dopesick, How I Met Your Father, Love, Death + Robots, Lucy and Desi, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Severance and We’re Here.
Mike White was the year’s top individual winner, with three awards for The White Lotus as a director, executive producer and writer.
Ten individuals each won two 2022 Emmys – Jesse Armstrong (as executive producer and writer of Succession); Peter Jackson (as director and producer of The Beatles: Get Back); Alberto Mielgo (as character designer and writer/director of Love, Death + Robots); Jason Sudeikis (as lead actor and executive producer of Ted Lasso); Cristobal Tapia de Veer (as composer for The White Lotus); Tim Carvell and John Oliver (as executive producers and writers of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver); Will Files and Craig Henighan (as re-recording mixers and co-supervising sound editors of Stranger Things); and Ben Winston (as executive producer of Adele One Night Only and Carpool Karaoke The Series).
Winston is the only individual who won Emmys for two different shows in 2022.
