The Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held over two nights at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, celebrated outstanding achievements across scripted, unscripted, reality, and documentary programming. The ceremonies highlighted the depth of talent within the television industry, with several productions from Apple TV+ and HBO Max emerging as major winners.

Night one, focusing on scripted programming, saw Apple TV+’s “The Studio” lead with an impressive nine wins. These included Bryan Cranston for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, along with multiple craft and technical accolades such as casting, cinematography, music supervision, sound editing, and sound mixing. Many winners from “The Studio” specifically thanked Sal Saperstein, the show’s fictional studio executive. HBO Max’s “The Penguin” followed closely, securing eight trophies across categories like makeup, hairstyling, production design, and visual effects. VFX supervisor Johnny Han detailed the series’ innovative use of flash guns on set, with vfx gunshots added in post-production to ensure safety.

Apple TV+’s “Severance,” which garnered the most nominations overall with 27 nods, earned six wins on the first night. Merritt Wever was honored as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. A historic moment unfolded when Jessica Lee Gagné won for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour) for “Severance’s” episode “Hello, Ms. Cobel,” making her the first woman to win in this category. Gagné also made history with her nomination, being the first woman to be nominated for both cinematography and directing for the same drama series in the same year. Backstage, Gagné shared that this win was a “dream that I’ve wanted for a long time” and spoke about being motivated by early career discrimination, emphasizing the lack of female representation in cinematography, noting no woman has ever won an Oscar in the field. Her acclaimed work on “Severance” involved meticulously stitching together ten long takes to create a complex sequence that appeared as a single “oner.”

Other notable scripted wins included Disney+’s “Andor” with four awards, recognizing its creative leader Tony Gilroy and triumphs in fantasy costumes, production design, picture editing, and special visual effects. Netflix’s “Bridgerton” garnered three trophies, including one for Julie Andrews' character voice-over performance. Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” also claimed three wins, including two stunt honors and a surprise victory for original music and lyrics by Christopher Lennertz. Julianne Nicholson won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for HBO Max’s “Hacks,” while Shawn Hatosy delivered an emotional acceptance speech for his Guest Actor in a Drama Series win for HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” acknowledging executive producer John Wells and co-star Noah Wyle. Many winners expressed the emotional significance of an Emmy win in a competitive industry, especially given the difficult job market post-“Peak TV” era.

Night two focused on unscripted, reality, and documentary programs, with NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” leading the evening with seven awards, contributing to a total of eleven wins for the entire “Saturday Night Live” universe. These wins included directing for a variety special, sound mixing for a nonfiction program, writing for a variety special, makeup, hairstyling, picture editing for variety programming, and technical direction and camerawork. Additionally, “SNL50: The Annniversary Special: Immersive Experience” won for emerging media program. Peacock’s “The Traitors” had a strong showing with four Emmys, including Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program for Alan Cumming. Conan O’Brien secured two wins for “Conan O’Brien Must Go” (Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special) and “Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor” (Outstanding Variety Special, Pre-Recorded).

HBO Max’s “Pee-wee As Himself” received three awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and directing. Director Matt Wolf spoke about Paul Reubens’ commitment to digitizing his extensive archive, comprising over 1000 hours of footage, to craft the documentary. “The Daily Show” earned three Emmys, notably for “The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains” in the short form comedy, drama or variety series category (following Lydic’s win for individual performer in a short form series on Night One), and for writing for a nonfiction program. Desi Lydic, speaking backstage, conveyed optimism for the future of late-night comedy amidst evolving consumption patterns and affirmed that “The Daily Show” has not faced content restrictions from Paramount’s new leaders. Other notable individual winners included President Barack Obama for Outstanding Narrator (“Our Oceans”) and Jimmy Kimmel for Game Show Host (“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”), with Kimmel humorously sidestepping questions about retirement and reflecting on the show’s role in public discourse.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was honored with the 2025 Governors Award, amidst news of a significant $1.1 billion funding cut from Congress. CPB president/CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison accepted the award with a rallying cry, emphasizing the vital mission of public media and its continued importance, despite funding challenges. Henry Gates Jr. presented the award, affirming the enduring legacy of the institution. Comedian Sarah Silverman, opening Sunday’s ceremony, critiqued the lack of network television exposure for the Creative Arts Awards, stating, “This is the real Emmys, for the people that make all the magic happen,” while also highlighting the vital contributions of artisans and craftspeople.

With its strong performance, Apple TV+’s “The Studio” is now on track to potentially break the all-time record for most wins for a comedy series, currently held at eleven. Highlights from the two Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies are scheduled to air on September 13 at 8 p.m. PT on FXX and will be available to stream on Hulu through October 7. The Primetime 77th Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, will broadcast live on Sunday, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, also streaming live and on-demand via select Paramount+ packages.