Emmy Awards 2024: "Shōgun" makes television history

What the Oscars are to cinema, the Emmy Awards are to television. And although Netflix has shaped the series landscape like no other over the past decade, it has mostly been series from the prestige channels HBO, AMC and FX that have won in the most important categories.

This was also the case last night, when the historical drama "Shōgun" from FX scooped a total of 18 awards - and broke a record in the process. Never before has a series won so many awards in a single year. Including the most important one: best drama series of the year.

"Shōgun" sweeps the board: 18 Emmys and two new seasons confirmed

"Shōgun" also dominated in other major categories with wins for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Hiroyuki Sanada), Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Anna Sawai) and Best Director in a Drama Series (Frederick E.O. Toye).

The winning streak did not come as a surprise. A week ago, "Shōgun" broke all records at the Creative Arts Emmys, the "technical Oscars" of the television industry. In addition, the series was incredibly well received by both critics and audiences.

In fact, the critical and ratings success last May led FX parent Disney to extend "Shōgun" not just by one, but by two seasons extended. This in turn was a big surprise. Especially because James Clavell, the author of the novel on which the series is based, only wrote one book and has been dead since 1994. The makers will therefore have to come up with their own story for further seasons.

At least that much is confirmed: Showrunners Justin Brands and Rachel Kondo will return, as will executive producer Michaela Clavell and - of course - lead actor Hiroyuki Sanada.

More successes for FX and Netflix

FX also scored big with the series "The Bear: King of the Kitchen". The restaurant series scooped a total of eleven awards, including in the categories of best lead actor in a comedy series (Jeremy Allen White) and best supporting actor in a comedy series (Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Liza Colón-Zayas).

Netflix was finally able to enjoy a few awards after all: the seven-part stalker hit "Baby Reindeer" won a total of six awards, including in the important category of best mini-series. In my opinion, rightly so, even though "Baby Reindeer", which is based on true events, caused some controversy when it premiered at the beginning of the year. Initially, the series caused new police investigations when fans themselves began stalking the people involved. Later, the real stalker behind "Baby Reindeer" sued Netflix for 170 million dollars. The trial is still ongoing.