The joke goes to “The Bear”, “Hacks” surprisingly wins the Emmy for best comedy

Hosts Dan and Eugene Levy immediately addressed the one topic that was on everyone’s minds Sunday night at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.

“I know some of you may be expecting us to make a joke about whether Bear is really a comedy… but in the true spirit of Bear, we’re not going to make any jokes,” Eugene Levy said during the opening monologue.

And who would have thought? So many Emmy voters agreed with the general sentiment, “Yeah, The Bear is great…but it’s not a real comedy,” that they gave the night’s final award, comedy series, to Hacks, a show that has, you know, real jokes and humor and so on. (Again, there’s plenty of drama here, but it’s not as emotionally draining as what you see in The Bear.)

In keeping with the Canadian hosts’ country of origin, it was a pretty nice show that was largely unsurprising (at least until The end), but not without its moments. Let’s go through them.

Emmy for best timing
“The Bear” releases its new seasons in June, giving it an odd spot at the Emmys. All of the Emmys it won tonight came for the second season, which came out 15 months ago. But members of the Television Academy also tuned into the new season when they voted for winners, and saw Liza Colón-Zayas give her heartbreaking performance in “The Bear”’s standout flashback episode, “Napkins,” which shows how Tina got her job at The Beef sandwich shop. Colón-Zayas also had a moment in Season 2 during Tina’s moving karaoke performance of Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.” But it certainly didn’t hurt to keep this bonus episode fresh in voters’ minds.

Emmy for worst timing
The problem for “The Bear,” however, was that “Napkins” was perhaps the only exceptional episode in the show’s third season that voters saw while filling out their ballots. Because it’s the first half of a two-part storyline (the third and upcoming fourth seasons were filmed together), the final episodes sometimes felt like the show was treading water. That led to an inevitable backlash that “The Bear” isn’t that great. Critics said the show was inconsistent and lacking in plot. Coupled with some genuine confusion and irritation about why “The Bear” competed as a comedy, its loss to “Hacks” wasn’t a huge surprise.

Jean Smart remains undefeated
After Colón-Zayas won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy, a win for The Bear seemed inevitable. (It wasn’t.) But that would be underestimating Smart, who has now won six Emmys, including awards for all three seasons of Hacks. Of course, she’s wonderful in her role as the indomitable Deborah Vance, a showbiz legend and survivor. And she’s also a wonderful human being, as was evident in her acceptance speech, which managed to be both sincere and perceptive in just one minute. “It’s really very humbling,” she said as she accepted the trophy. “And I’m grateful for it, because I just don’t get enough attention.” It’s also worth noting here that Hacks delivered a stellar season, her best yet. She deserved every Emmy she won.

Jodie Foster feels the “love, love, love”
Smart received the first standing ovation of the night; Foster, who won her first Emmy along with two Oscars, earned perhaps the longest. (It was a great night for older women.) Accepting the award for her portrayal of the local sheriff in “True Detective: Night Country,” Foster thanked the “Inupiaq and Inuit of northern Alaska who just told us their stories and let us listen. And that was just a blessing. It was love, love, love. And when you feel that, something amazing happens. It’s deep and wonderful and it’s older than this place and this time. And that’s exactly the message, which is love and work equals art.”

The least surprising of the unsurprising Emmy wins
I believed a lot of it was true when we tuned in to the ceremony Sunday night. Eugene and Dan Levy would gently entertain us. Ron Howard and Henry Winkler would stir our ’70s nostalgia for a show set in the 1950s. And “Shōgun” would win the Emmy for best drama series. After all, the show had already won 14 Emmys at the Creative Arts Emmys last weekend, the most ever for a single season of a series. And that didn’t even include the awards voters gave to the documentary about the making of “Shōgun.” If there had been an Emmy for best program that started as a miniseries but became a drama series because nobody wanted it to end after one season, “Shōgun” would have won it. Or maybe it did? There are so many Emmy categories, who knows?

Best hidden moment
“Fuck you! I feel like Sarah McLachlan right now.” After winning yet another Emmy for his show Last Week Tonight, John Oliver took a moment to pay tribute to his late, beloved dog Hoagie, only to be greeted with the awards show’s cheesy, orchestral playoff music. So he responded in the only way he could. (He’s really good at shouting curse words. I think he’s won an Emmy or two for that.)

Speech that best illustrates the tone of the winning show (and why “The Bear” is probably not a comedy)
Jeremy Allen White, who won the Emmy for best comedy actor for his role as stressed-out chef Carmy in “The Bear,” came onstage looking like he was in a state of complete panic attack. “My heart is pounding,” he said. White composed himself and gave a heartfelt speech — then left the stage in the wrong direction.

Best version of the obligatory victory salute to the children
Lamorne Morris received the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for “Fargo” and said: “My beautiful daughter Lily. I love you. I told you I would. You always doubted me.” Lily turned 4 on Saturday.

We trust in Gadd
“Baby Reindeer” became a phenomenon after falling off anyone’s radar at the start of the Emmy campaign in the spring. Kilted creator and star Richard Gadd gave three speeches after winning Emmys for screenplay, acting and miniseries, the final speech drawing cheers from the audience.

“I know the industry is in a crisis right now, and I know that this may force or pressure networks to tighten their purse strings and expand their offerings, but I believe that no crisis has ever been overcome without risk-taking,” Gadd said. “If ‘Baby Reindeer’ proved anything, it’s that there is no magic formula, that you don’t need big stars, proven intellectual properties, long-running series or catchy storylines to land a hit.”

The Saul Goodman Award for the Futility of the Emmy
Better Call Saul was nominated for an Emmy 53 times in its six seasons, but never won a single award. This year, “Cut It, Larry!” made a sad farewell. (Sad for us. I don’t get the feeling Larry David is that devastated by it.) Voters offered no parting gift, so the acclaimed series only picked up two wins (directing and editing) out of 55 nominations. It’s an honor to be nominated, so pretty…pretty…pretty good?

Emmy loser will likely win an Emmy next year
Yes, Pedro Pascal will be back for The Last of Us, and his character will have a lot of explaining to do. And Adam Scott will return for Severance, and someone from the next season of White Lotus might well show up. But Gary Oldman and Slow Horses finally won over Emmy voters this year, and I can’t imagine Oldman not taking home the trophy for his portrayal of the vulgar, flatulent, booze-soaked, sleazy British intelligence officer Jackson Lamb. I’ll bet my last Alka-Seltzer can on it.