Hacks Won At The 2024 Emmys, But It Still Isn’t A Win For Comedy

The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards ended with a bang, or at least, a kind of unexpected outcome (and no, we’re not talking about Tyler James Williams’ arms on the red carpet). Hacks, a show about an aging stand-up comedian played by Jean Smart, won Outstanding Comedy Series over fan fave The Bear, and the fact that this win was a surprise to viewers is kind of an issue in itself.

Let’s get this out of the way: The Bearis a great show. The thing is, it’s just not a comedy. The Emmys, which aired Sunday night, let this be known right off the bat. “Now, I love the show, I love the show, and I know some of you will be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy,” co-host Eugene Levy said about the hit FX show during his joke-laden opening monologue, alongside son and former co-star Dan Levy, “but in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes.” The audience, including cast member Ayo Edebiri, laughed — and then the show went on to win 11 total comedy awards and sweep most of the top comedy acting categories, including Jeremy Allen White for Outstanding Lead Actor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach for Lead Actor, and Liza Colón-Zayas for Supporting Actress. And while we’re thrilled for the stars of the series, especially when it comes to historic wins like Colón-Zayas, who became the first Latina to win in her category, it’s tough not to feel like it’s a loss for other “true” comedy shows and their actors, writers, and directors.

The debate about whether or not The Bear is, itself, a “true” or “real” comedyis one that has been raging since the show was first nominated in 2023 for its first season and after it picked up 10 comedy awards just eight months ago, after the 2023 Emmys ceremony was postponed due to the Writers Guild of Americaand SAG-AFTRA strikes. What exactly makes a comedy a comedy is kind of a low bar — as in, if the show’s producers say it’s a comedy (and subsequently submit in the comedy category for awards shows), then it’s in. As Forbes notes, there have been shows nominated under the comedy category that wouldn’t necessarily be considered a barrel of belly laughs, like Gilmore Girls, which leaned toward a more subtle (and fast-paced) comedy. And as the producers of The Bear have reportedly said, the show — while dealing withheavy topics like grief and post-traumatic stress disorder— does lean on humor as a means to cope.

But still, many would say that critic darling and fan fave is more drama than comedy and opens the debate as to whether showrunners choose to put forward the show and its cast as a comedy with the calculation that it, and they, would perform better than when stacked up against other heavy-hitter dramas like Succession(in its final season during the 75th Emmy Awards), and TV’s newest darling, Shōgun, which swept the drama categories, including Lead Actor and Actress, Supporting Actor, and Outstanding Drama Series. And while it may seem like a silly debate, when it comes to awards shows, it does matter, mostly because of the rep comedy has historically received. As in, it isn’t always taken seriously or given the flowers it deserves.

We see this in the treatment — and often, cancellation — of many A+ and fan favorite shows. Despite critical acclaim, NBC’s Superstore,which ran from 2015 to 2021 and provided commentary on issues like deportation and the limits of rights for workers in the United States, received zero Emmy nominations across its six-season run. Similarly, shows like New Girl and Jane the Virgin, the latter of which starred Gina Rodriguez as a virgin who finds herself accidentally pregnant (that’s Emmy-winning material if we ever heard it!), similarly never took home any Emmy awards. Much like romance, awards show voters still seem to largely take comedy as an unserious art, under the assumption that anything that doesn’t overtly dive into tough and often upsetting topics can be worthy of acclaim.

This is something that we can assume the Emmys — not to mention the Golden Globes, which also includes TV categories — knows, having made the decision to separate their comedy and drama honors. And it’s the reason why seeing a series like Abbott Elementary, which leans closer to classic sitcoms in its episode length and network TV platform, as well as writers and actors Quinta Brunson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tyler James Williams, and Ava Coleman excel in these categories, so exciting — because their work is still so rarely appreciated in these spaces.

So to see a show like The Bear, which is so clearly a drama, repeatedly vie for, and win, awards in comedy categories, feels a little muted because it’s like the showrunners know — with their historically deemed “prestige” content — that they can play off of this perspective of comedy and use it to their advantage.

But perhaps there’s hope for comedy to slide in some wins. Despite taking home awards in many of the major comedy categories, The Bearcouldn’t compete against Max’s Hacks in both the Leading Actress and Outstanding Comedy Series categories. Instead, lead Jean Smart and the show’s creators took home those accolades, respectively, besting Ayo Edebiri and The Bear. We’re not sure what next year’s Emmy Awards will bring, but we’re hoping for greater success and recognition for comedy shows and their cast and crews — and a spot for The Bearas a drama.