The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2019, until May 31, 2020, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was originally to be held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead hosted from the Staples Center, while winners gave speeches remotely from their homes or other locations. It aired live on September 20, 2020, following the 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 14–17 and 19. During the ceremony, Emmy Awards were handed out in 23 categories. The ceremony was produced by Done and Dusted, directed by Hamish Hamilton, and broadcast in the United States by ABC. Jimmy Kimmel served as host for the third time.
At the main ceremony, Schitt's Creek won all seven comedy categories including Outstanding Comedy Series, becoming the first comedy series to complete a sweep of those categories. Succession and Watchmen each won four awards, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Limited Series, respectively. Other winning programs include Euphoria, I Know This Much Is True, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Morning Show, Mrs. America, Ozark, RuPaul's Drag Race, and Unorthodox. Including Creative Arts Emmys, Watchmen led all programs with 11 wins and 26 nominations, while HBO took home 30 awards to lead all networks.
Winners and nominees
The nominations for the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on July 28, 2020, by host Leslie Jones and presenters Laverne Cox, Josh Gad, and Tatiana Maslany. Watchmen led all programs with 26 total nominations between the main ceremony and the 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, followed by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with 20 and Ozark and Succession with 18 each. Netflix led all networks and platforms with 160 nominations, beating the record of 137 set by HBO the previous year. Disney+, Apple TV+, and Quibi all received their first Emmy nominations and wins this year.
The winners were announced on September 20. Schitt's Creek became the first series to sweep all seven comedy categories and the second to ever complete a sweep, following Angels in America as a miniseries in 2004. It also became the first Canadian program to win the overall comedy or drama series award and set a record for most Emmys for a Canadian series. Additionally, it became the first comedy series to win all four main acting categories in a single year and the first show overall to sweep the acting categories since Angels in America. Combined with its two Creative Arts Emmys, the show became the most awarded comedy in a single year with nine wins, breaking The Marvelous Mrs. Maisels record of eight from 2018 and 2019.
Dan Levy won four awards for Schitt's Creek to tie Moira Demos and Amy Sherman-Palladino for the most wins for an individual in one year, while he and Eugene Levy became the first father-son duo to win Emmys in the same year. For her work on Euphoria, Zendaya became the youngest winner in the Lead Actress in a Drama Series category at 24 years old, breaking Jodie Comer's record from the previous year. She also became the second black actress to win the category, following Viola Davis in 2015. Regina King's win for her performance in Watchmen marked her fourth career Emmy, tying her with Alfre Woodard for the most wins by a black performer. Zendaya and King were also two of the seven black winners for acting in comedy, drama, or limited series, breaking the record of six.
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡). For simplicity, producers who received nominations for program awards have been omitted.
Programs + Schitt's Creek (Pop TV) Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) Dead to Me (Netflix) The Good Place (NBC) Insecure (HBO) The Kominsky Method (Netflix) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video) What We Do in the Shadows (FX) Succession (HBO) Better Call Saul (AMC) The Crown (Netflix) The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu) Killing Eve (BBC America) The Mandalorian (Disney+) Ozark (Netflix) Stranger Things (Netflix) Watchmen (HBO) Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu) Mrs. America (FX on Hulu) Unbelievable (Netflix) Unorthodox (Netflix) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1) The Masked Singer (Fox) Nailed It! (Netflix) Top Chef (Bravo) The Voice (NBC)
Acting
Lead performances + Eugene Levy – Schitt's Creek as Johnny Rose (Pop TV) Anthony Anderson – Black-ish as Andre "Dre" Johnson Sr. (ABC) Don Cheadle – Black Monday as Mo Monroe (Showtime) Ted Danson – The Good Place as Michael (NBC) Michael Douglas – The Kominsky Method as Sandy Kominsky (Netflix) Ramy Youssef – Ramy as Ramy (Hulu) Catherine O'Hara – Schitt's Creek as Moira Rose (Pop TV) Christina Applegate – Dead to Me as Jen Harding (Netflix) Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Miriam "Midge" Maisel (Prime Video) Linda Cardellini – Dead to Me as Judy Hale (Netflix) Issa Rae – Insecure as Issa (HBO) Tracee Ellis Ross – Black-ish as Rainbow Johnson (ABC) Jeremy Strong – Succession as Kendall Roy (HBO) Jason Bateman – Ozark as Martin "Marty" Byrde (Netflix) Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us as Randall Pearson (NBC) Steve Carell – The Morning Show as Mitch Kessler (Apple TV+) Brian Cox – Succession as Logan Roy (HBO) Billy Porter – Pose as Pray Tell (FX) Zendaya – Euphoria as Rue (HBO) Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show as Alex Levy (Apple TV+) Olivia Colman – The Crown as Queen Elizabeth II (Netflix) Jodie Comer – Killing Eve as Villanelle (BBC America) Laura Linney – Ozark as Wendy Byrde (Netflix) Sandra Oh – Killing Eve as Eve Polastri (BBC America) Mark Ruffalo – I Know This Much Is True as Dominick and Thomas Birdsey (HBO) Jeremy Irons – Watchmen as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias (HBO) Hugh Jackman – Bad Education as Frank Tassone (HBO) Paul Mescal – Normal People as Connell (Hulu) Jeremy Pope – Hollywood as Archie Coleman (Netflix) Regina King – Watchmen as Angela Abar / Sister Night (HBO) Cate Blanchett – Mrs. America as Phyllis Schlafly (FX on Hulu) Shira Haas – Unorthodox as Esther Shapiro (Netflix) Octavia Spencer – Self Made as Madam C. J. Walker (Netflix) Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere as Mia Warren (Hulu)
Supporting performances + Dan Levy – Schitt's Creek as David Rose (Pop TV) Mahershala Ali – Ramy as Sheikh Malik (Hulu) Alan Arkin – The Kominsky Method as Norman Newlander (Netflix) Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Raymond Holt (NBC) Sterling K. Brown – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Reggie (Prime Video) William Jackson Harper – The Good Place as Chidi Anagonye (NBC) Tony Shalhoub – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Abe Weissman (Prime Video) Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Annie Murphy – Schitt's Creek as Alexis Rose (Pop TV) Alex Borstein – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Susie Myerson (Prime Video) D'Arcy Carden – The Good Place as Janet (NBC) Betty Gilpin – GLOW as Debbie Eagan (Netflix) Marin Hinkle – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Rose Weissman (Prime Video) Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Yvonne Orji – Insecure as Molly (HBO) Cecily Strong – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Billy Crudup – The Morning Show as Cory Ellison (Apple TV+) Nicholas Braun – Succession as Greg Hirsch (HBO) Kieran Culkin – Succession as Roman Roy (HBO) Mark Duplass – The Morning Show as Charles "Chip" Black (Apple TV+) Giancarlo Esposito – Better Call Saul as Gus Fring (AMC) Matthew Macfadyen – Succession as Tom Wambsgans (HBO) Bradley Whitford – The Handmaid's Tale as Commander Joseph Lawrence (Hulu) Jeffrey Wright – Westworld as Bernard (HBO) Julia Garner – Ozark as Ruth Langmore (Netflix) Helena Bonham Carter – The Crown as Princess Margaret (Netflix) Laura Dern – Big Little Lies as Renata Klein (HBO) Thandie Newton – Westworld as Maeve (HBO) Fiona Shaw – Killing Eve as Carolyn Martens (BBC America) Sarah Snook – Succession as Shiv Roy (HBO) Meryl Streep – Big Little Lies as Mary Louise Wright (HBO) Samira Wiley – The Handmaid's Tale as Moira (Hulu) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Watchmen as Cal Abar / Dr. Manhattan (HBO) Jovan Adepo – Watchmen as Officer Will Reeves / Hooded Justice (HBO) Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend as Titus Andromedon (Netflix) Louis Gossett Jr. – Watchmen as William Reeves (HBO) Dylan McDermott – Hollywood as Ernie (Netflix) Jim Parsons – Hollywood as Henry Willson (Netflix) Uzo Aduba – Mrs. America as Shirley Chisholm (FX on Hulu) Toni Collette – Unbelievable as Det. Grace Rasmussen (Netflix) Margo Martindale – Mrs. America as Bella Abzug (FX on Hulu) Jean Smart – Watchmen as Agent Laurie Blake (HBO) Holland Taylor – Hollywood as Miss Kincaid (Netflix) Tracey Ullman – Mrs. America as Betty Friedan (FX on Hulu)
Directing + Schitt's Creek: "Happy Ending" – Andrew Cividino and Dan Levy (Pop TV) The Great: "The Great" – Matt Shakman (Hulu) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: "It's Comedy or Cabbage" – Amy Sherman-Palladino (Prime Video) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: "Marvelous Radio" – Daniel Palladino (Prime Video) Modern Family: "Finale, Part 2" – Gail Mancuso (ABC) Ramy: "Miakhalifa.mov" – Ramy Youssef (Hulu) Will & Grace: "We Love Lucy" – James Burrows (NBC) Succession: "Hunting" – Andrij Parekh (HBO) The Crown: "Aberfan" – Benjamin Caron (Netflix) The Crown: "Cri de Coeur" – Jessica Hobbs (Netflix) Homeland: "Prisoners of War" – Lesli Linka Glatter (Showtime) The Morning Show: "The Interview" – Mimi Leder (Apple TV+) Ozark: "Fire Pink" – Alik Sakharov (Netflix) Ozark: "Su Casa Es Mi Casa" – Ben Semanoff (Netflix) Succession: "This Is Not for Tears" – Mark Mylod (HBO) Unorthodox – Maria Schrader (Netflix) Little Fires Everywhere: "Find a Way" – Lynn Shelton (Hulu) (posthumous) Normal People: "Episode 5" – Lenny Abrahamson (Hulu) Watchmen: "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice" – Nicole Kassell (HBO) Watchmen: "Little Fear of Lightning" – Steph Green (HBO) Watchmen: "This Extraordinary Being" – Stephen Williams (HBO)
Writing + Schitt's Creek: "Happy Ending" – Dan Levy (Pop TV) The Good Place: "Whenever You're Ready" – Michael Schur (NBC) The Great: "The Great" – Tony McNamara (Hulu) Schitt's Creek: "The Presidential Suite" – David West Read (Pop TV) What We Do in the Shadows: "Collaboration" – Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil (FX) What We Do in the Shadows: "Ghosts" – Paul Simms (FX) What We Do in the Shadows: "On the Run" – Stefani Robinson (FX) Succession: "This Is Not for Tears" – Jesse Armstrong (HBO) Better Call Saul: "Bad Choice Road" – Thomas Schnauz (AMC) Better Call Saul: "Bagman" – Gordon Smith (AMC) The Crown: "Aberfan" – Peter Morgan (Netflix) Ozark: "All In" – Chris Mundy (Netflix) Ozark: "Boss Fight" – John Shiban (Netflix) Ozark: "Fire Pink" – Miki Johnson (Netflix) Watchmen: "This Extraordinary Being" – Damon Lindelof and Cord Jefferson (HBO) Mrs. America: "Shirley" – Tanya Barfield (FX on Hulu) Normal People: "Episode 3" – Sally Rooney and Alice Birch (Hulu) Unbelievable: "Episode 1" – Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman (Netflix) Unorthodox: "Part 1" – Anna Winger (Netflix)
Governors Award The Governors Award was presented to Tyler Perry and The Perry Foundation "in recognition of their unparalleled contributions to shaping the television medium" and for their "inclusion, engagement, employment and other philanthropic initiatives". The award was moved to the main telecast from its usual presentation at the Creative Arts Emmys.
Nominations and wins by program