‘The Studio’ makes history, Colbert gets an ovation and winners take money from children: Some memorable Emmys moments
By Sandra Gonzalez, CNN
(CNN) — History-making wins, exciting ovations, freshman winners and more.
The 2025 Emmys, like television itself, had a little something for everyone.
Read below for some of the highlights from TV’s biggest night.
‘The Studio’s’ record-breaking night
Sorry, “The Bear.” There’s a new comedy hit in town.
Apple TV+’s “The Studio” entered the history books on Sunday, picking up more awards in a single Emmys cycle than any other comedy series. (It also broke the award for most-awarded freshman comedy series.)
The previous record holder was FX’s “The Bear,” which picked up 10 awards in 2023. “The Studio” walked away with 13 awards total, including nine at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys and four on Sunday. It was nominated for 23 total.
Stephen Colbert’s grand ovation
Chants of “Stephen, Stephen, Stephen” rained down when “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won the Emmy for outstanding talk series for the first time.
Colbert is beloved, but the context is key here: Earlier this summer, Colbert announced that his show will end next year after being cancelled by CBS, which coincidentally aired Sunday’s ceremony. The network cited financial pressures and said the show will wrap up in May 2026.
In his speech, Colbert thanked CBS for letting them be “a part of the ‘Late Night’ tradition,” which Colbert said he hopes will continue long after his show comes to an end.
“At a certain point, and you can guess what that point was, I realized that in some ways we were doing a late night comedy show about loss,” he said on stage. “That’s related to love because sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.”
He added: “My friends, I have never loved my country more desperately.” Colbert’s big win was actually his second in the night; the first was when he came on stage earlier in the show to present. To close his speech, Colbert said: “God bless America. Stay strong. Be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.”
Nate Bargatze’s off-beat opening
How do you do a monologue when you’re a family-friendly comedian who wants good vibes and no controversy? You don’t.
In a period sketch that began the show, Bargatze played Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television, who spoke about the future he imagined for the medium with help from his staff, played by “SNL” actors Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, and James Austin Johnson.
His vision included a channel for every culture, like Telemundo for Spanish-speakers and BET for Black Entertainment Television. Asked if there’d be a “network for White people,” Bargatze as Farnsworth joked: “Why CBS, of course.” (Note: The “C” does not, in fact, stand for caucasian – as he quipped on stage.)
The Boys & Girls Club donation counter
Bargatze spoke ahead of the show about his effort to keep speeches on time by subtracting from a $100,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club every time someone went over. But knowing about this gag ahead of time did not make it any less amusing to watch celebrities scramble to stay under time for the children.
John Oliver’s sped-up address and “The Studio’s” writing team’s well-choreographed acceptance speech were the best on-stage attempts to have their moments without sacrificing funds. Hannah Einbinder’s pledge to make up the difference for her long-windedness was a clever move that probably should have been employed more.
All of these options beat the tired “cue the music” approach. In the end, the depressing counter, which ended in the red, was pumped up by a pair of donations from Bargatze and CBS, bringing the end total to $350,000.
Tramell Tillman made all moms proud
Every tired mom dreams of her child publicly thanking her someday. “Severance” star Tramell Tillman delivered that moment for his mom – and all the moms – on Sunday.
Tillman won the Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama and made history as the first Black actor to win the category. A first-time Emmy nominee, Tillman dedicated his win to his mother, who was seated in the audience at the Peacock Theater.
“You remember what you want to remember,” Tillman said. “My first acting coach was tough, y’all. But all great mothers are,” he said. “Mama, you were there for me when no one else was, and no one else would show up. Your love and kindness stay with me, and this is for you.”
His mother teared up – and wasn’t the only one.
Owen Cooper makes history with “Adolescence”
With Owen Cooper’s win for “Adolescence,” the 15-year old became the youngest winner in the best supporting actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie category. He is also now the youngest male winner of any acting Emmy ever, according to the TV Academy.
“I think tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life,” he said while accepting his award. “I was nothing about three years ago. I’m here now.”
“Adolescence” picked up six awards total on Sunday, including outstanding limited series.
Noah Wyle gets his due
Yes, “The Pitt” was incredible and deserved its show-closing win for best drama series. But the show wouldn’t be what it is without Noah Wyle, who has been working in fictional hospitals longer than some of this year’s Emmy nominees have been alive.
This year was Wyle’s first being nominated as a lead actor, having been nominated five times during his run on “ER” in the supporting category. So it felt like something of a culmination to see him accepting his Emmy on Sunday.
Calling it a “culmination,” of course, would imply that “The Pitt” and Wyle have reached their peaks, and let’s just say, we think their shift is just beginning.
Memorable quotes of the night
“Go Birds, F*** ICE and Free Palestine” – “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder
“I feel like I’m going to cry because for the past 25 years I’ve been like, ‘World, I want to be an actor!’ And the world has been like, ‘Maybe computers.’” – Jeff Hiller, on stage winning for “Somebody Somewhere.”
“That was a show called ‘Adolescence’ that did that to adolescents.” – Nate Bargatze, noting the dreary donation total after some on-stage vamping by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, who won for “Adolescence.”
“I wrote this speech on the back of notes I took in therapy the other day, so don’t look at the back.” – Cristin Milioti, on stage winning for “The Penguin.”
“Culture doesn’t come from the top-down; it comes from the bottom-up.” – TV Academy president Cris Abrego
“Hacks,” “The Pitt,” “Somebody Somewhere,” “The Penguin” and other Emmy nominees were produced by Warner Bros. Television, which like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
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