2023 Creative Arts Emmys Night One: Yes, Chef! ‘The Bear’ Has Strong Showing for First Emmys

Tonight was night one of the Creative Arts Emmys, presenting awards to the finest in cinematography, costuming, hairstyling, editing, and other technical achievements across television from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023. The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes pushed the awards back from their usual dates in late summer, but tonight began the two day Creative Arts Emmys before January 15th’s Primetime Emmy ceremony. 

HBO’s post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us was the big winner of the evening, taking home eight awards including Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Nick Offerman (who was competing directly with co-stars Murray Bartlett and Kevionn Woodard) and Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Storm Reid, who was in direct competition with two show castmates, Melanie Lynskey and Anna Torv. The blockbuster show also took home wins for sound editing, visual effects and prosthetic makeup, among others.

Judith Light picked up her first ever Primetime Emmy Award for her guest work in Peacock’s Poker Face. Light previously won two Daytime Emmy Awards from her daytime soap opera days on One Life to Live in 1980 and 1981. Light’s win was also the first ever for Peacock. Guest Actor in a Comedy Series went to Sam Richardson for the final season of Ted Lasso. It was his second nomination and first win.

Netflix’s hit series Wednesday took home several awards tonight, including Outstanding Contemporary Costumes, Outstanding Production Design for Narrative Contemporary Costumes, and Outstanding Contemporary Makeup. The Jenna Ortega-led series will see its star competing on the night of the Primetime Emmys in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category, where she is the second-youngest nominee ever in the category, following only Patty Duke, who was 17 when nominated for The Patty Duke Show in 1964. Tonight’s wins aren’t indicative of an upcoming performance win for the series, but the well-liked series is in steep competition and pulled out some good wins tonight.

Netflix found success in other categories tonight, including Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, which went to Tim Robinson for I Think You Should Leave. The streamer’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story took home the award for Outstanding Period and/or Character Hairstyling, while one of the biggest limited series of last year, Beef, took home several awards, including the coveted Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. This is usually an indicator of what the Television Academy might be thinking regarding the Outstanding Series awards at the Primetime show.

The Bear and The White Lotus also won for Casting in a Comedy Series and Casting in a Drama Series, respectively, putting them ahead of their peers in the race towards the big prize of the Emmys. These shows winning the Casting awards isn’t too much of a surprise, as the love for them the past year has been undeniably loud, putting them both in perfect positions to do well for these awards. The Bear also won for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half Hour) for its suffocating sound design that keeps the audience in the kitchen with Carmy and the rest of the staff. The FX series is looking to have a big year for its first Emmys (remembering the first season came out in June 2022).

Other winners of the night included Blindspotting winning Choreography for Scripted Programming, Ms. Marvel winning the juried prize for Outstanding Motion Design, and Barry taking home the award for Stunt Coordination in a Comedy or Variety Series. Weird: The Al Yankovic Movie closed the night by winning the award for Outstanding Television Movie. 

Night two of the Creative Arts Emmys will be tomorrow, January 7th. 

Here are the winners from the Creative Arts Emmys Night One:

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES: Tim Robinson, I Think You Should Leave (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A SHORT FORM COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES: Jasmine Guy, Chronicles of Jessica Wu (Prime Video) — WINNER

OUTSTANDING CASTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES: The Bear (FX) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CASTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES: The White Lotus (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CASTING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Beef (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY FOR SCRIPTED PROGRAMMING: Blindspotting (Starz) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Blackbird (AppleTV+) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SERIES (HALF-HOUR): Atlanta (FX) – WINNER 

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY FOR A SERIES (ONE HOUR): The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY COSTUMES FOR A SERIES: Wednesday (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY COSTUMES FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Beef (Netflix) – WINNER 

OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY HAIRSTYLING: The White Lotus (HBO) – WINNER 

OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY MAKEUP (NON-PROSTHETIC): Wednesday (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING FANTASY/SCI-FI COSTUMES: House of the Dragon (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Sam Richardson, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Nick Offerman, The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER  

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Judith Light, Poker Face (Peacock) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES: Storm Reid, The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING MAIN TITLE DESIGN: The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING MOTION DESIGN: Ms. Marvel (Disney+) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE): Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Roku) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE): The White Lotus (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING MUSIC SUPERVISION: The White Lotus (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC: Wednesday (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS: “A Beautiful Game,” Ted Lasso (AppleTV+) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIRSTYLING: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKEUP (NON-PROSTHETIC): The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PERIOD COSTUMES FOR A SERIES: The Great (Hulu) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PERIOD COSTUMES FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Daisy Jones & the Six (Prime Video) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES: The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES: Night Court (NBC) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A SINGLE-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES: The Bear (FX) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PICTURE EDITING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Beef (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR NARRATIVE CONTEMPORARY PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE): Wednesday (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A NARRATIVE PERIOD OR FANTASY PROGRAM (ONE HOUR OR MORE): Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR NARRATIVE PROGRAM (HALF-HOUR): Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING PROSTHETIC MAKEUP: The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR) AND ANIMATION: The Bear (FX) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR): The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER 

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Prey (Hulu) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (HALF-HOUR) AND ANIMATION: The Bear (FX) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING FOR A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES (ONE HOUR): The Bear (FX) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING FOR A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: Daisy Jones & the Six (Prime Video) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SEASON OR A MOVIE: The Last of Us (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SINGLE EPISODE: Five Days at Memorial (AppleTV+) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING STUNT COORDINATION FOR A COMEDY SERIES OR VARIETY PROGRAM: Barry (HBO) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING STUNT COORDINATION FOR DRAMA SERIES, LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE: The Boys (Prime Video) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING STUNT PERFORMANCE: The Mandalorian (Disney+) – WINNER

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE: Weird: The Al Yankovic Movie (Roku) – WINNER

Photo: FX