The Emmy’s are one of the most prestigious television honors that celebrate excellence amongst genres ranging from news to sports to daytime programming. Think of them as the TV world’s report card–but with fancier outfits, long acceptance speeches, and never really acknowledging the TV shows that didn’t do as well. The 77th Emmy Awards were held this past week, on September 14, 2025. Big wins that were well deserved were delivered as well as some surprising snubs, and of course, a healthy dose of controversy, because what is a big award show without that! Even the host, famous and well-known comedian Nate Bargatze, managed to divide the audience with his particular brand of humor, so with that being said, let’s get into it.
To start, Bargatze was already in a tough spot due to all the chaos happening in the world right now, so making a political joke would not have gone particularly well…instead, he announced that he would personally donate one hundred thousand dollars to the Boys and Girls Club of America—a charity focused on children’s educational needs—a noble cause! Right? Well, yes, very noble except he made a rule stating that all acceptance speeches had to be 45 seconds or under or else he would deduct $1000 for every second over but add $1000 for every second saved. So what was the grand total? $-26,000.
However, CBS and he revealed that they would have donated $350,000 anyway. In spite of that, Bargatze received a lot of backlash. Many stated that what he did was inappropriate and cut the people who worked hard and deserved the reward off. Bill Prady, a producer for The Big Bang Theory, called his bit “awful and uncomfortable” on X. YLHS student, Kylie Briones (12) disagrees with this jab, saying, “It made the Emmys way more tolerable to watch because I didn’t have to sit here and listen to long and boring speeches.” So what do you think? Was the hate well deserved or a bit too much?
And now for the wins: Adolescence, which can be watched on Netflix, dominated the “Limited or Anthology series” winning the top prize and multiple acting awards, including Owen Cooper, a 15-year-old English actor who won supporting actor for “Limited or Anthology series or Movie” and Erin Doherty for “Outstanding Supporting Actress” for the same category.
The medical drama series The Pitt (which can be watched on HBO MAX) won “Outstanding Drama Series.” Noah Wyle won “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series,” and Katherine LaNasa won “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. And finally, The Studio (stream on Apple TV) won “Outstanding Comedy Series” with Seth Rogen taking the win for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.
There wasn’t too much controversy for the wins, except for one show in particular. The Last of Us, a highly liked show, did not win any awards whatsoever, and a lot of fans found this upsetting. One fan in particular, YLHS student Hasti Khodabandehlou (12) agrees with many of the fans, stating, “I find it a little disappointing because I am a big fan of this show.”
So with all this being said, did you find the Emmys enjoyable, or did you think it went on for too long?
