LOS ANGELES — The Grammys and the Oscars won Emmys on Sunday night. So did Kendrick Lamar, while the 50th anniversary special of “Saturday Night Live” won a half-dozen.
The CBS Grammys telecast won for its choreography, while ABC’s Oscars telecast won for its production design on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the marathon precursor to next weekend’s main Emmy Awards. The two-night Creative Arts Emmys hands out nearly 100 trophies in a wildly varied set of categories.
“Unfortunately, the Grammys couldn’t be here tonight,” presenter Harvey Guillén said to laughs after announcing the win.
Lamar, who was also absent, became a two-time Emmy winner, taking the trophy along with Tony Russell for the music direction of his Super Bowl halftime show.
“SNL 50: The Anniversary Special” won for its writing, hairstyling and editing among other categories. (“SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.)
The Creative Arts Emmys generally honor behind-the-scenes crew members, a week before television’s stars take the same stage.
“This one is the real Emmys for the people who make television happen, for the artists and the crafts people,” Sarah Silverman, who served as quasi-host as the first presenter on the stage at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Or, as she said less flatteringly, “This is the Emmys for the people that the people who run the Emmys don’t think should be seen on network TV.”
There are huge stars nominated at the Creative Arts show though, but many, like Lamar, did not attend.
Beyoncé is a multiple nominee for her “Beyoncé Bowl,” a Netflix football halftime show. Last month, she won a special Emmy handed out by a committee for the show’s costumes.
Barack Obama beat out Tom Hanks in the documentary narration category.
Lamar can also win the best variety special award for his halftime show later Sunday. He won his first Emmy in 2022 as a performer at the Super Bowl halftime headlined by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.
Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted both the Oscars and the Emmys multiple times, was here to accept his fourth Emmy, for best host of a game show for his work on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”
He thanked the show’s late original host Regis Philbin for making “Millionaire” a cultural phenomenon.
“Regis was the best at this,” Kimmel said backstage. “It is exciting to have this and to know that he has this same Emmy in his family’s collection somewhere.”
“Jeopardy” won best game show.
The Creative Arts show runs quickly and efficiently — 47 awards are handed out on Sunday in about 2½ hours — but the atmosphere is loose. Swearing is allowed because of the lack of TV, as Kimmel showed when he told nominee Will Ferrell to shut up during his speech.
The two nights are edited down into one show that will air on TV on FXX on Saturday. The following day, the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, will air live on CBS.
While Sunday honored variety, documentary and reality TV, scripted series had the stage on Saturday.
“The Studio” pulled in nine early Emmys including best guest actor in a comedy for Bryan Cranston, making it the front-runner to end up with the biggest total after next Sunday’s main show.
“Severance” was tops among dramas with six awards, including best guest actress in a drama for Merritt Wever.
“The Penguin” pulled in eight in the limited series categories, and Julie Andrews won her third Emmy at age 89 for her voice-over work on “Bridgerton.”
