(Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. claimed the top prize at the 2024 Emmy Awards, winning best drama for Shogun, an adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel and the first series in a language other than English to claim that prize.
Filmed primarily in Japanese, Shogun set a record for the most wins by a single show in one year, with 18 across the prime-time Emmys and the prior week’s Creative Arts awards. It won four awards at Sunday night’s ceremony, including for acting and directing. The show debuted on the FX cable network and streamed on Hulu, making it the first program from a Disney network to win best drama since Lost in 2005.
“You greenlit a very expensive, subtitled Japanese period piece,” co-creator Justin Marks said from the stage, addressing top Disney executives in the audience. “I have no idea why you did that, but thank you.”
Disney won nine awards on the night in all, including four for the dark comedy The Bear, outpacing Netflix Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Netflix took home the Emmy for best limited series for Baby Reindeer, while Warner Bros.’ HBO landed best comedy series for Hacks.
Dominating the TV industry’s biggest night will boost Disney as it tries to grow its streaming services. While the company has the largest paid streaming video business after Netflix, it is still working to sustain a profit and increase its share of viewership. The company accounted for more than half of the nominees for best comedy with The Bear, What We Do in the Shadows, Only Murders in the Building, Abbott Elementary and Reservation Dogs.
Companies such as Disney, Netflix and Amazon.com Inc. spend millions of dollars on campaigns to win awards, which boost their networks in the eyes of Hollywood creative talent and viewers. While less popular than the Oscars, the Emmys still draw millions of viewers each year.
Read the full list of winners here
ABC, which aired the Emmys, said on Monday that the show attracted a US TV audience of 6.87 million viewers, the most since 2021. The previous show, held in January after crippling strikes by actors and writers in 2023, drew a record low audience of 4.46 million.
Comic actor Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy hosted the 76th Prime-Time Emmy Awards. The event took place at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Both Shogun and The Bear, about a struggling restaurant in Chicago, originated with FX, the cable network and studio led by John Landgraf. Landgraf has long competed with HBO, Showtime, Netflix and Amazon for cultural supremacy, releasing a steady stream of critically beloved shows despite spending less than most of his competitors.
Disney acquired FX as part of its deal for Rupert Murdoch’s Fox entertainment assets. Shogun, which follows an English sailor in his dealings with a Japanese feudal lord and one of his top deputies, was in development before Disney acquired FX. The show was first adapted for TV in 1980 when NBC made a five-part miniseries that won best limited series.
The latest take on the novel was created by the husband and wife team of Marks and Rachel Kondo. The show was initially supposed to be a limited series. But its popularity with critics and viewers convinced FX and the creators to cook up a second season. Shogun beat out seven other shows for best drama, including Slow Horses, Fallout and The Crown.
Though The Crown only won one award in last night’s show for for its final season, Netflix captured six awards in all, thanks to Baby Reindeer, a British thriller about a stalker that Richard Gadd created based on his one-man show. Gadd also won for his writing and acting in the limited series.
“Ten years ago I was down and out. I never thought I’d be able to get my life together,” Gadd said. “Here I am, just over a decade later, picking up one of the biggest writing awards in TV.”
Gadd implored TV networks to take more risks in storytelling despite challenging circumstances. Most Hollywood studios have responded to the collapse of cable TV and a slowdown in streaming by cutting costs.
“If Baby Reindeer has proven anything, there’s no set formula to this,” Gadd said.
HBO, which typically earns the most nominations and often the most wins, tied with Netflix for second thanks to Hacks, a comedy about the relationship between an aging comedy legend and her understudy turned writing partner. The show shocked pundits by beating The Bear, which won four awards on the night and was considered the favorite in its category.
Hacks star Jean Smart also won best actress in a comedy series. HBO expects to contend for best drama next year with The Penguin and a TV adaptation of Dune.
Amazon was the only major entertainment studio or streaming service to not win any prime-time awards.
(Updates with ratings in eighth paragraph.)
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