The Creative Arts Emmy Awards celebrated the television industry's exceptional craft and artistic achievements across two nights in Los Angeles, with a focus on scripted programming on Saturday and unscripted, reality, and documentary programs on Sunday. This year's ceremonies saw Apple TV+ productions, “The Studio” and “Severance,” alongside HBO Max’s “The Penguin” and NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” emerge as top honorees.

On the first night, dedicated to scripted categories, Apple TV+’s comedy series “The Studio” led with an impressive nine total wins, putting it on a path to potentially break the all-time record for most wins for a comedy series. Its accolades included a significant victory for Bryan Cranston in the Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category, alongside numerous craft and technical awards such as casting, cinematography, music supervision, sound editing, and sound mixing. Most of “The Studio” winners made a point of thanking Sal Saperstein, the show’s fictional studio executive. HBO Max’s “The Penguin” followed closely with eight trophies, cleaning up in makeup, hairstyling, production design, and visual effects categories. VFX supervisor Johnny Han highlighted the show's innovative use of flash guns on set, integrating visual effects for gunshots in post-production to ensure safety.

Apple TV+’s critically acclaimed drama, “Severance,” secured six wins, including Merritt Wever for Guest Actress in a Drama Series. A historic moment unfolded with Jessica Lee Gagné, who became the first woman to win in the Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour) category for her work on the episode “Hello, Ms. Cobel.” Gagné had already made history by being the first woman nominated in both cinematography and directing for the same drama series in the same year. Backstage, she spoke passionately about the lack of female representation in cinematography, recalling a discriminatory remark early in her career that fueled her ambition. She detailed the complex technical work on “Severance’s” opening sequence, which involved stitching together ten long takes using various gear, rather than a true “oner.”

Other notable scripted winners included Disney+’s “Andor” with four wins for fantasy costumes, production design, picture editing, and special visual effects. Series creator Tony Gilroy received commendation from multiple craft winners. Netflix’s “Bridgerton” garnered three awards, including one for Julie Andrews’ character voice-over performance. Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” also took home three, including two stunt honors and a surprise win for original music and lyrics. Julianne Nicholson won Guest Actress in a Comedy for HBO Max’s “Hacks,” and Shawn Hatosy prevailed as Guest Actor in a Drama for HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” which also won for casting in a drama series. Many winners from the first night expressed emotion about their wins, reflecting on the competitive nature of the industry and the challenges faced by artisans in a difficult job market post-Peak TV years.

The second night of the Creative Arts Emmys shifted focus to unscripted, reality, and documentary programming. NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” dominated with seven awards, making it the most-awarded program of the night. When considering the entire “Saturday Night Live” universe, the total number of wins rose to eleven. Its victories included directing for a variety special, sound mixing for a nonfiction program, writing for a variety special, makeup and hairstyling for variety/nonfiction/reality, picture editing for variety programming, and technical direction and camerawork. “SNL50: The Anniversary Special: Immersive Experience” also won for emerging media program.

Peacock’s “The Traitors” had a successful night with four Emmys, including Outstanding Host for Alan Cumming, as well as cinematography, picture editing for an unstructured reality program, and directing for a reality program. Conan O’Brien secured two wins: Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special for HBO Max’s “Conan O’Brien Must Go” and Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) for Netflix’s “Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor.” Netflix’s “Love on the Spectrum” won for unstructured reality program and casting, while “Queer Eye” won for structured reality program. HBO Max’s “Pee-wee As Himself” received three awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and directing, with director Matt Wolf detailing Paul Reubens’ extensive archive that informed the production. “100 Foot Wave” landed documentary or nonfiction series and cinematography for a nonfiction program.

“The Daily Show” franchise also saw significant recognition across both nights. Correspondent Desi Lydic won for Individual Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series on Saturday for “The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains,” which then won for Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series on Sunday. The franchise also earned an Emmy for writing for a nonfiction program for “The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation,” tying its record for most Emmys in a year with three wins. Other individual and show winners included “Jeopardy!” for Game Show, President Barack Obama for Outstanding Narrator for “Our Oceans,” and Jimmy Kimmel for Game Show Host for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

During Sunday’s ceremony, comedian Sarah Silverman’s opening remarks highlighted the crucial, often unsung, work of the artisans and technical experts who make television possible. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was honored with the 2025 Governors Award, with president/CEO Patricia de Stacy Harrison accepting it with a rallying cry for public media, even as government funding faces elimination.

Highlights from the two Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies will air on September 13 at 8 p.m. PT on FXX and will be available to stream on Hulu through October 7. The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, are set to broadcast live on Sunday, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, with streaming available on select Paramount+ packages.