It was a great night for first-time Emmy winners Stephen Graham of Netflix’s “Adolescence” and Tramell Tillman of Apple TV+’s “Severance” at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, presented Sunday in Los Angeles. But it wasn’t a great night overall for Black representation, since Graham and Tillman were the only Black artists to win this year in categories for acting, performing, or hosting.

Graham (a Brit who identifies as mixed-race with Black Jamaican heritage) proved to be an Emmy-winning triple threat as a producer, actor, and writer. As an executive producer, he was awarded the prize for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. He also won the awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. 

In “Adolescence,” set in the United Kingdom, Graham portrays Eddie Miller, the father of a 13-year-old boy accused of killing a female classmate. “Adolescence” was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmys and won eight. Graham received his first Emmy nominations for “Adolescence.”

Tillman (who is openly gay) won the prize for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, which also marked his first Emmy nomination. It’s also the first time that a Black or openly gay artist has won in this Primetime Emmy category. In the sci-fi psychological thriller “Severance,” Tilman plays Mr. Milchick, an antagonistic office manager at a biotech firm. “Severance” had the most Primetime Emmy nods (27) going into the ceremony and ended up winning eight. 

Apple TV+’s “The Studio” won the ceremony’s most Primetime Emmys—13—including Outstanding Comedy Series, from 23 nominations for the show’s first season. “The Studio” co-executive producer/writer Frida Perez, who is Dominican American, won in the two categories for which she was nominated: Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. She is the first Afro Latina to win in these categories. 

HBO Max’s “The Pitt” also won several awards for its first season, including Outstanding Drama Series, one of the show’s five Primetime Emmy wins from 13 nominations. 

CBS broadcast the ceremony in the United States. It was livestreamed on Paramount+ Premium. Comedian/actor Nate Bargatze hosted the show, which took place at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

In his acceptance speech for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, 52-year-old Graham said: “This kind of thing doesn’t normally happen to a kid like me. I’m just a mixed-race kid from a block of flats in a place called Kirkby [in England]. So, for me, to be here today in front of my peers and to be acknowledged by you is the utmost humbling thing I could ever imagine in my life. And it shows you that any dream is possible.” 

Graham gave a special shout-out to his wife, Hanna Walters, who is a co-star and an executive producer of “Adolescence,” saying, “Without you, I’d be dead.”

“Severance” winner Tillman dedicated his award to his mother, who looked on from the audience with joy in her face. He described her this way: “My first acting coach was tough, y’all, but all great mothers are. Mama, you were there for me when no one else was, and no one else would show up. Your loving kindness stays with me.”

Backstage in the Primetime Emmys press room, Tillman said being the first Black person to win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series was a credit to many other Black artists.

“I’m still processing, but I am fortunate to be in the company of such great actors that have gone before me, like Andre Braugher, Ossie Davis, Michael K. Williams, that have done beautiful work, and those that are still with us today, like Giancarlo Esposito and Jeffrey Wright. These men, I’ve been taken by their work for years, and I borrow from them. So, I’m just honored to be in the class.”

Tillman, a former HBCU student who studied medicine, also credited his experiences at Xavier University in New Orleans with his success.

“Unfortunately, I was told I would never make it as an actor, that it’s a career that leads to a dead end,” he said. “But I was actually inspired at Xavier University by so many of my classmates who are now doctors and dentists, how they were pursuing the thing that they were passionate about. And I said, ‘Well if they can do that thing, why can’t I do what I’m passionate about?’ So, I took a chance. And I’ve learned that there are no guarantees in life. But you continue to take a chance on yourself. And see what happens.”

Tillman said there also were life lessons in his portrayal of Mr. Milchick, a Black man in a position of power and servitude in “Severance,” 

“This is a man who’s aware of his race and is in a place where he’s one of few [Black people]—at least that’s what we’ve seen so far. And I never want to lose sight of that. And I’m grateful to be part of a team that never wants to lose sight of that. They want to elevate his story,” Tillman said.

He added, “So, in the second season, we start seeing how race folds into the story of Lumin [Industries]. It’s been a wonderful exercise and also a little scary to navigate how that goes, but we want to practice authenticity in that story.”

“Saturday Night Live” co-star Michael Che was a double winner as a producer and writer. For NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special,” he was one of the winners for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.

Meanwhile, previous Emmy winners Quinta Brunson of ABC’s comedy series “Abbott Elementary,” RuPaul Charles of MTV’s reality competition “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and Ayo Edebiri of FX on Hulu’s comedy series “The Bear” were passed over from winning any Primetime Emmys this year, even though they each had multiple nominations. “Abbott Elementary” (which had six nominations), “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (which had eight nominations), and “The Bear” (which had 13 nominations) didn’t win any Emmys this year.

The biggest Primetime Emmy snubbing for Black people this year is no Black women winning any prizes for acting, performing, or hosting. Among the Black actresses nominated this year who missed out on out winning are “Abbott Elementary” co-stars Brunson, Janelle James, and Sheryl Lee Ralph; “The Bear” co-stars Edebiri and Liza Colón-Zayas; Uzo Aduba of Netflix’s comedy series “The Residence”; Rashida Jones of Netflix’s anthology series “Black Mirror”; Ruth Negga of Apple TV+’s limited series “Presumed Innocent”; Natasha Rothwell of HBO’s drama series “The White Lotus”; Maya Rudolph of Netflix’s animated series “Big Mouth”; and Jessica Williams of Apple TV+’s comedy series “Shrinking.”

Black News & Views has reported on the trend of snubs of Black actors and Black actresses in TV categories this year at other televised award ceremonies. Although the Primetime Emmys had two Black artists win this year in categories for acting, performing, or hosting, it’s a a significant decrease from the seven Black people who won Primetime Emmys at the previous ceremony in categories for acting, performing, or hosting. 

HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” writers Ali Barthwell and Ryan Ken are two of the very small number of Black people who’ve consistently gotten Primetime Emmys for late-night TV shows. Barthwell and Ken continued their hot streak by being among the winners for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Barthwell has won this prize at five consecutive Emmy ceremonies, while Ken has won at four consecutive Emmy ceremonies.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who died in a drowning accident on July 20, was given a brief tribute when his former “Cosby Show” co-star Phylicia Rashad introduced the “In Memoriam” segment for notable TV people who have passed away since the previous ceremony.

“Malcolm-Jamal Warner remains in our hearts,” Rashad said. 

Other Black presenters at the ceremony were Angela Bassett, Sterling K. Brown, Colman Domingo, Ice-T, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Jesse Williams.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards (for mostly technical categories) took place in Los Angeles on Sept. 6 and Sept. 7. FXX televised an edited version of the two-part ceremony on Saturday.

Here’s a list of several of the Black artists who won in Creative Arts Emmy categories:

• Karamo Brown: Outstanding Structured Reality Program (Netflix’s “Queer Eye”)
• Michael Che and Auguste White: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special (NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special”)
• Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Shiona Turini: Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Programming (Netflix’s “Beyoncé Bowl”)
• Kendrick Lamar: Outstanding Music Direction (Fox’s “The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar”)
• Barack Obama: Outstanding Narrator (Netflix’s “Our Oceans”)
• Nyle Washington: Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series (Netflix’s “Adolescence: The Making of Adolescence”)

A complete list of winners can be found at the Primetime Emmys website.