Ted Lasso wins Emmy for best supporting actress and actor in comedy

Bloomberg - - Ted Lasso won Emmy Awards for best supporting actress and actor in comedy for their work in Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein, who was able to create two early prizes for the Apple TV show on a night that promises to be a battleground for a new generation of streaming services.

Waddingham is a scheming team owner and Goldstein a once star player who has gone past his prime in the series about a U.S. college football coach who moves to England for a Premier League soccer team. Both Waddingham and Goldstein were relative unknowns in Hollywood before the show, an uplifting comedy that struck a chord with viewers and critics during the dark days of the pandemic.

The Emmy Awards, given by the Television Academy, are considered the highest honor in the TV business. The show isn t watched as much by people as the Grammys or Oscars, and awards programs have been losing viewers in recent years. Last year the academy held a smaller ceremony, in which winners distributed the statuettes at their homes.

They said this was outdoors, it s not, actor Seth Rogen joked in presenting the first award. It s more important we have chandeliers than we make sure we don t kill Eugene Levy. Ted Lasso was nominated for 20 Emmys, the most for comedy of first year and is the favourite to capture best comedy series. The show is Apple s first big breakout hit in terms of social media buzz, critical plaudits and industry prestige, and the wins Sunday night should drive more customers to Apple TV, the paid streaming service for iPhone makers. Produced by Warner Bros. TV Studio, Ted Lasso ended its second season and has been renewed for at least one more.

Many Hollywood figures have expressed skepticism about Apple's foray into entertainment. It has not acquired a catalog of shows to fill out its library for Apple TV and it has been wary of igniting controversy with its programs. Yet the company is dominating only one category at the TV industry s biggest annual gala less than two years after introducing the service.