The Oscars, ‘SNL’ and Billy Joel’s Madison Square Garden Special Win at Creative Arts Emmys

It’s the first time the Oscars have won the top program Emmy in variety since 1991.

Jimmy Kimmel at the 96th Annual Oscars held at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Rich Polk for Variety

The 2024 edition of the Oscars won outstanding variety special (live) on night one of the Creative Arts Emmys. It’s the first time the Oscars have won the top program Emmy in variety since 1991, when it won in a predecessor category, outstanding variety, music or comedy program. Before that, the Oscars won the top program award in 1979 and 1988.

In winning outstanding variety special (live), The Oscars prevailed over The Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show Starring Usher, The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady and the latest editions of the Grammys and the Tonys.

Raj Kapoor, Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan served as executive producers of the Oscars. Jimmy Kimmel hosted for the fourth time.

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The Creative Arts Emmys are being presented over two consecutive nights at the Peacock Theater at LA Live in in downtown Los Angeles. The first ceremony on Saturday (Sept. 7) focused on unscripted and documentary programs. Sunday’s ceremony will focus on scripted programs.

Rickey Minor won outstanding music direction for his work on the Oscars. It’s his third win in the category, following wins for Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories That Changed America (2017) and the Kennedy Center Honors (2020).This year’s win was a particular achievement because Minor was competing with himself. He was also nominated for his work on The 46th Kennedy Center Honors.

The Oscars won two other Creative Arts Emmys – outstanding direction for Hamish Hamilton and outstanding production design for a variety special. These four awards bring the total number of Emmy Awards won by the Oscars to 63. (The show was known as the Academy Awards through 2012, when the show formally changed the name to the more fan-friendly Oscars.)

Saturday Night Live was the big winner on night one of the Creative Arts Emmys with six wins. This brings the show’s tally of Primetime Emmy wins to 97, the record for a series. The show is set to launch its 50th season this fall.

The show’s wins were all in technical craft categories – directing; lighting design/lighting direction; technical direction and camerawork; production design; hairstyling; and makeup.

Blue Eye Samurai, Jim Henson Idea Man and The Oscars each won four awards on Saturday. Billy Joel – The 100th Live at Madison Square Garden and Welcome to Wrexham each won three. Girls State and Love on the Spectrum each won two.

The Billy Joel special won three technical awards – sound mixing; lighting design/lighting direction; and technical direction and camerawork. But it lost the top award in its field, outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) to Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic. This is the second year in a row that award went to a show celebrating a TV legend in his or her 90s. Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love won last year.

As the executive producer/performer of the MSG special, Joel would have won his first Primetime Emmy if the program had won. He has won five Grammys and a Tony.

Jim Henson: Idea Man, a Disney + program about the genius creator of the Muppets, won outstanding documentary or non-fiction special, where it beat The Greatest Night in Pop, about the recording session that produced “We Are the World,” as well as separate docs about comedians Steve Martin and Albert Brooks and the Girl’s State event.

David Fleming won outstanding music composition for a documentary series or special (original dramatic score) for his work on Jim Henson Idea Man. It’s his first Primetime Emmy. The show’s other awards were outstanding sound editing for a non-fiction or reality program and outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program.

Henson, who died in 1990 at age 53, won five Grammys and three Primetime Emmys. In addition, he was inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame in 1987.

The Beach Boys on Disney + won for outstanding sound mixing for a nonfiction program.

The Voice won outstanding picture editing for a structured reality or competition program.

Maya Rudolph won outstanding character voice-over performance for her role as Connie the Hormone Monstress on Netflix’s Big Mouth. This is her sixth Primetime Emmy; her fourth in this category. Rudolph’s mother, the late Minnie Riperton, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975 with “Lovin’ You” and received two Grammy nominations.

Alan Cumming, host of The Traitors, won outstanding host for a reality/competition program, beating Ru Paul Charles, host of RuPaul’s Drag Race, who had won the last eight years running. Cumming won a Tony for best actor in a musical in 1998 for his role as the Emcee in a reboot of Cabaret. He picked up a second Tony in 2022 as one of platoon of producers of A Strange Loop.

Jeopardy! won outstanding game show for the second year in a row, but Ken Jennings, the show’s host (and contestant with the longest winning streak), lost outstanding game show host to Pat Sajak, who recently concluded a 40-year run as the host of that show.

Shark Tank won outstanding structured reality show for the fifth total time. It beat Queer Eye, which had won the last six years in a row. These two shows are the top winners in the history of the category.

An edited presentation of the awards from both nights of the Creative Arts Emmys will air Saturday, Sept. 14, at 8:00 p.m. PT on FXX. Subsequently, the program will be available for streaming on Hulu from Sunday, Sept. 15 through Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The 76th Emmy Awards will be broadcast live from the Peacock Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/5 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT on ABC. The broadcast will be available for streaming the next day on Hulu.

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