‘The Studio’ sweep, ‘Gilmore Girls’ reunion and more: The 2025 Emmy Awards

The 2025 Emmy Awards took place on Sept. 14, with many winners making history — “The Studio” took home more Emmys than any comedy series has in a single year, a donation counter kept speeches short and a star from “Adolescence” became the youngest male to ever win an Emmy for acting. The event was full of memorable moments and firsts.

Instead of a traditional monologue, the show opened with a sketch about the future of television featuring host Nate Bargatze and “Saturday Night Live” cast members James Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang and Mikey Day, setting the tone for the unusual awards show evening.

Bargatze also informed the attendees of a looming threat for if they went over time in their speeches: every time someone went over in their speech, he would subtract from a $100,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club. This effort kept some stars brief, with others saying they’d pay the difference. In the end, $350,000 was donated to the Boys & Girls Club, despite numerous award winners going over in their speeches and the initial donation only being set at $100,000.

Hannah Einbinder took home the award for outstanding actor in a comedy series for her performance in “Hacks,” using her speech to take a stance on important issues in the world. She began her speech with the usual thanks, then went on to say she would pay the difference on the donation for going over time. She concluded her speech with arguably one of the most memorable moments of the evening: “Go Birds, f*** ICE and free Palestine.”

Stephen Colbert won the award for best talk series, and the crowd greeted him with a standing ovation. This recognition comes not long after the decision to cancel his show, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Colbert reminisced on how he’s loved doing the show and how much he is going to miss it.

The Emmy stage transformed into Lorelai and Rory’s front porch for the much-anticipated “Gilmore Girls” reunion, led by Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham. The duo introduced the category for outstanding writing for a comedy series. They began with a bit about how they were a small show, they were hungry and all they had were scripts.

“Gilmore Girls” wasn’t the only show celebrating an anniversary, though. “The Golden Girls” received a musical tribute from Reba McEntire and Little Big Town, who sang the theme song in celebration of the show's 40th anniversary.

Owen Cooper, 15-year-old star of “Adolescence,” also made history that evening, becoming the youngest male to win an Emmy for acting.

Apple TV’s “The Studio” took home the most awards of the night, though, winning 13 of the 23 awards it was nominated for. It was a very successful evening for Seth Rogen, making history as both the most awarded new comedy series and the most awarded comedy series in one year.

For those who missed the live broadcast, the Emmys can be streamed on Paramount+.

powers40@miamioh.edu