Ralph and Brunson of ‘Abbott Elementary,’ Lizzo, Zendaya take home Emmys

ABC’s highly acclaimed comedy series “Abbott Elementary” and Prime Video’s “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” scored big wins at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday night. In fact, “Abbott” actor and veteran performer Sheryl Lee Ralph registered one of the most memorable moments of the evening when she sang part of her acceptance speech and brought the crowd to its feet.

Sheryl Lee Ralph accepts the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award for "Abbott Elementary" on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC
Sheryl Lee Ralph accepts the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award for “Abbott Elementary” on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC

“I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim’s song,” Ralph sang at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, borrowing from Dianne Reeves’ 1993 hit “Endangered Species.”

“I am a woman. I am an artist. And I know where my voice belongs,” sang Ralph, who took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

The moment came during the first fully in-person Emmy ceremony since before the pandemic, and during an evening in which people of color in front of and behind the camera did not dominate, but held their own.

Overall, HBO’s anthology series “The White Lotus”(winner of five Emmys), Apple TV’+’s comedy series “Ted Lasso”(four Emmys), and HBO’s drama series “Succession” (three Emmys) collected the most awards. “Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson hosted the program.

NBC had the live telecast of the show in the United States, while Peacock livestreamed the ceremony. The Primetime Emmy Awards are presented by the Television Academy, which votes for the nominees and the winners. The Emmy wins for “The White Lotus” included Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, while “Ted Lasso’s” Emmys included Outstanding Comedy Series, and the Emmy victories for “Succession” included Outstanding Drama Series.

“Abbott Elementary,” a comedy series about faculty and staff at a majority-Black elementary school in Philadelphia, won two Emmy Awards overall for the show’s first season. Quinta Brunson — the showrunner, star, and head writer for “Abbott Elementary” —won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. She’s only the second woman of color who’s won this Emmy Award. In 2017, Lena Waithe won the award in this category for Netflix’s “Master of None,” sharing the prize with “Master of None” star Aziz Ansari. Brunson already made Emmy history by being the first Black woman to be Emmy-nominated for writing, producing and starring in a comedy series in the same year. That’s a significant accomplishment for a show in its first year.

Quinta Brunson accepts the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series award for "Abbott Elementary" on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC
Quinta Brunson accepts the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series award for “Abbott Elementary” on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC

In her acceptance speech, Brunson said,” I want to say thank you to ABC, to Disney, to FOX, and to Warner Brothers. It takes that many people to make a television show. I need to say thank you to Justin and Patrick, my co-showrunners, for believing in a story from four years ago and thinking that it would make a good TV show.

Brunson added, “And I do want to thank Larry Wilmore for teaching me to write television as well as he did.” She also thanked her family, her husband, and the “Abbott Elementary” cast and crew.

Ralph’s Emmy recognized her portrayal of longtime schoolteacher Barbara Howard. After jumping into song with her acceptance speech, she then said, “To anyone who has ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like. This is what striving looks like. And don’t you ever, ever give up on you. Because if you get a Quinta Brunson in your corner, if you get a husband like mine in your corner, if you get children like mine in your corner, and if you’ve got friends like everybody who voted for me, cheered for me, loved me—thank you.”

Ralph, a veteran of the big and little screens, has been acting on TV since the 1970s, with previous co-starring roles on shows like “Moesha” and “Instant Mom,” as well as being a guest star on shows such as “Ray Donovan” and “Claws.” Her role on “Abbott Elementary” marked her first Emmy nomination and now first Emmy win.

In 2020, at the age of 24, Zendaya of HBO’s “Euphoria” became the youngest person to win a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In 2022, she’s now won her second Emmy for the same category, for her role in the show as high school student Rue Bennett, a recovering drug addict. (“Euphoria” wasn’t eligible for the 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards.)

In her acceptance speech, Zendaya said: “To all of the incredible actresses in this category, I’m so honored to be beside you. Thank you to the incredible, incredible cast and crew of ‘Euphoria.’ Thank you for making such a safe space to make this very difficult show. I love you all so much. Thank you to the Academy.

Zendaya added, “Thank you to my friends and family, some of which are here tonight. Thank you to Sam [Levinson, ‘Euphoria’ showrunner] for sharing Rue with me. Thank you for believing in me and even in moments when I didn’t believe in myself. And then, lastly, I just want to say, you know, my greatest wish for ‘Euphoria’ was that it could help heal people. And I just want to say thank you for everyone who has shared their story with me. I want you to know that anyone who has loved a Rue or feels like they are a Rue, I want you to know that I’m so grateful for your stories, and I carry them with me, and I carry them with her.”

Jerrod Carmichael, who came out as gay this year, now joins Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle as one of the small number Black people who’ve won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. Carmichael won for his HBO stand-up comedy special “Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel.”

Jerrod Carmichael accepts the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special award for "Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel" on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC
Jerrod Carmichael accepts the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special award for “Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel” on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC

In his acceptance speech, Carmichael said, “Look, I made something that was of great personal consequence to me, and this definitely contributes to the meaning of it. Thank you very much to everybody … Good night, everybody. I’m going to go home. I am not like a sore winner, but I’m going to go home because I can’t top this right now.”

Lizzo and her female-majority team of producers for “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” also had a major victory, winning the Emmy for Outstanding Competition Program. The show, which celebrates female body diversity, is a talent contest for plus-sized women to become touring backup dancers for Lizzo, who is the creator/host of “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.”

Lizzo on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022 -- Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC
Lizzo on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022 — Photo credit: Chris Haston/NBC

A triumphant and emotional Lizzo said in her acceptance speech: “I need my big girls to come to the stage right now. I want to say thank you to the Emmys and the Emmys voters, first of all. I’m very emotional. And the trophy is nice, but my emotion is for these people who are on this stage with me, the stories that they shared. They’re not that unique. They just don’t get the platform.”

Lizzo added, When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media, someone fat like me, black like me, beautiful like me. If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You’re going to see that person, but, bitch, it’s going to have to be you.’”

She continued, “One year ago, these women were filming this television show that would change their lives forever. They are Emmy award-winning superstars who are going on a world tour. Make some noise for my big girls. I love you guys so much. Daddy, I love you. Oh, my God. God bless y’all. This is for the big girls. L-I-Z-Z-O B-I-G G-R-R-R-L, we the best.”

The Emmy win in this category for “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” ended the four-year winning streak of the VH1 drag queen competition “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Don’t feel bad for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” though. The show still won two Emmys this year: RuPaul Charles got the prize for Outstanding Host for a Reality Competition Program, while production designers on the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Reality Competition Series.

These prizes were part of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which were handed out this year on September 3 and September 4 at the Microsoft Theater, with the two-part ceremony livestreamed on Emmys.com. Highlights from the 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards were televised September 10 on FXX, and the show is available for streaming on Hulu through September 27.

Other notable Black winners of Creative Arts Emmy Awards included “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” director Nneka Onuorah, who won for Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program. Onuorah is the first Black woman and first openly queer woman to win an Emmy in this category. And for the second year in a row, HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show” won the Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editor for a Variety Programming. The all-Black team of editors who won this year are Stephanie Filo, Bradinn French, Taylor Joy Mason, and S. Robyn Wilson.

Black celebrities at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony included presenters Oprah Winfrey, Angela Bassett, Ariana DeBose, Shonda Rhimes, Kerry Washington, Pete Davidson, Regina Hall, Rosario Dawson, Ayo Edebiri, and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Charles. John Legend performed for the In Memoriam segment. Sam Jay was the show’s on-air announcer. And the show had some nostalgia, as Emmy host Thompson briefly reunited with Kel Mitchell, his former co-star of the Nickelodeon series “Kenan & Kel,” which was on the air from 1996 to 2000. Reginald Hudlin was one of the 2022 Emmy ceremony’s executive producers, through his Hudlin Entertainment, which produced the ceremony with production company Done + Dusted.

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