Even the Emmys' Hosts Made Fun of The Bear Being Considered a Comedy
The 2024 Emmys got underway with Dan Levy and dad Eugene Levy addressing the elephant in the room.
That, of course, would be the fact that The Bear is considered...funny.
"The Bear is nominated for 23 Emmys tonight, making it the most nominated comedy in history," Eugene noted during their opening monologue. “Now, I love the show and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy."
He added, "But, in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes."
Chef's kiss, right?
Because while The Bear certainly has provided its share of laughs—Jeremy Allen White's Carmy and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Richie swearing profusely at each other has a certain comedic poetry to it (and the actors have the respective Emmys for lead and supporting performances to prove it—but at the end of the long, hard, grease-and-sauce-smeared day, the FX show is heartbreaking. (Click here for the complete list of winners from the 2024 Emmys.)
And heartwarming at least a quarter of the time, but its half-hour status time and again seems to be what lands it in comedy categories, dramas like the late, great Succession (if not The Crown or Shogun) having offered more jokes-per-minute than The Bear.
Hacks star Hannah Einbinder's mom, original Saturday Night Live member Laraine Newman, certainly didn't put a lid on her feelings: Shortly after Liza Colón-Zayas, who plays coming-into-her-own sous-chef Tina, bested her daughter in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series race, Newman posted to X: ""F--K. THE. BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She has since deleted the sentiment and wrote, "I think the Bear is a great show but IMHO it’s not a comedy- not even a dark comedy."
Presumably her initial posted left a bad taste in the mouths of a too few many fans of The Bear, which has won (so far) a whopping 21 Emmys over the course of its first two seasons.
And no matter whether you tune in for its biting humor, the kitchen drama, the compelling look of nausea on Carmy's face when he turns his ever-critical eye inward... The Bear remains a buffet of entertainment.
See all the winners at the 2024 Emmys, in all the categories, funny and otherwise:
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers
WINNER: Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
Jon Hamm, Fargo
Tom Hollander, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
Andrew Scott, Ripley
WINNER: Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country
Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry
Juno Temple, Fargo
Sofía Vergara, Griselda
Naomi Watts, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
Dakota Fanning, Ripley
Lily Gladstone, Under The Bridge
WINNER: Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
Aja Naomi King, Lessons in Chemistry
Diane Lane, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer
Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country
Jonathan Bailey, Fellow Travelers
John Hawkes, True Detective: Night Country
Robert Downey Jr., The Sympathizer
WINNER: Lamorne Morris, Fargo
Tom Goodman-Hill, Baby Reindeer
Treat Williams, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
WINNER: Baby Reindeer
Fargo
Lessons in Chemistry
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country
WINNER: The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night With Seth Meyers
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
The Amazing Race
Top Chef
RuPaul’s Drag Race
WINNER: The Traitors
The Voice
The Crown
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Fallout
WINNER: Shogun
The Gilded Age
Slow Horses
The Morning Show
3 Body Problem
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Curb Your Enthusiasm
WINNER: Hacks
Only Murders In The Building
Palm Royale
Reservation Dogs
What We Do In The Shadows
Christine Baranski, The Gilded Age
Greta Lee, The Morning Show
Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show
Lesley Manville, The Crown
WINNER: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Karen Pittman, The Morning Show
Holland Taylor, The Morning Show
Tadanobu Asano, Shogun
WINNER: Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Takehiro Hira, Shogun
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
Jonathan Pryce, The Crown
Carol Burnett, Palm Royale
WINNER: Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
Lionel Boyce, The Bear
Paul Rudd, Only Murders in the Building
Paul W. Downs, Hacks
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
WINNER: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Idris Elba, Hijack
WINNER: Hiroyuki Sanada, Shogun
Walton Goggins, Fallout
Dominic West, The Crown
Donald Glover, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
WINNER: Anna Sawai, Shogun
Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Imelda Staunton, The Crown
Maya Erskine, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Maya Rudolph, Loot
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Kristen Wiig, Palm Royale
Matt Berry, What We Do In The Shadows
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Steve Martin, Only Murders In The Building
Martin Short, Only Murders In The Building
WINNER: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tie, Reservation Dogs
