The 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honored the best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2020, until May 31, 2021, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The awards were presented across three ceremonies on September 11 and 12, 2021, at the Event Deck at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles, California, preceding the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19. A total of 99 Creative Arts Emmys were presented across 92 categories. The ceremonies were produced by Bob Bain, directed by Rich Preuss, and broadcast in the United States by FXX on September 18.
The Queen's Gambit won nine awards, leading all programs; The Mandalorian and Saturday Night Live followed with seven wins each. The Mandalorian also received the most nominations with 19, followed by WandaVision with 15 and Saturday Night Live with 14. Program awards went to Boys State, Carpool Karaoke: The Series, Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square, For All Mankind: Time Capsule, Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Love, Death & Robots, Queer Eye, RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked, Secrets of the Whales, Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, and 76 Days. Netflix led all networks with 34 wins and 104 nominations.
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡). Sections are based upon the categories listed in the 2020–2021 Emmy rules and procedures. Area awards and juried awards are denoted next to the category names as applicable. For simplicity, producers who received nominations for program awards have been omitted.
Programs + Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square (Netflix) Oslo (HBO) Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Lifetime) Sylvie's Love (Prime Video) Uncle Frank (Prime Video) ''Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: "Plague of Madness" (Adult Swim) Big Mouth: "The New Me" (Netflix) Bob's Burgers: "Worms of In-Rear-ment" (Fox) The Simpsons: "The Dad-Feelings Limited" (Fox) South Park: The Pandemic Special (Comedy Central) |- | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Queer Eye (Netflix) Antiques Roadshow (PBS) Property Brothers: Forever Home (HGTV) Running Wild with Bear Grylls (National Geographic) Shark Tank (ABC) | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (VH1) Becoming (Disney+) Below Deck (Bravo) Indian Matchmaking (Netflix) Selling Sunset (Netflix) |- | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Secrets of the Whales (Disney+) Allen v. Farrow (HBO) American Masters (PBS) City So Real (National Geographic) Pretend It's a City (Netflix) | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Boys State (Apple TV+) The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (HBO) Framing Britney Spears (The New York Times Presents) (FX) The Social Dilemma (Netflix) Tina (HBO) |- | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (CNN) My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (Netflix) Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special (CBS) United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell (CNN) Vice (Showtime) | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | 76 Days (Pluto) Dick Johnson Is Dead (Netflix) Welcome to Chechnya (HBO) |- | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple TV) Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS (YouTube) The Randy Rainbow Show (YouTube) Reno 911! (Quibi) Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News (Paramount+) | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (YouTube) Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Pandemic Video Diaries: Vaxxed and Waxxed (TBS) Inside Pixar (Disney+) Pose: Identity, Family, Community (FX) Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen (Bravo) |- | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Love, Death & Robots: "Ice" (Netflix) Maggie Simpson In: The Force Awakens from Its Nap (Disney+) Once Upon a Snowman (Disney+) Robot Chicken: "Endgame" (Adult Swim) | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" | Space Explorers: The ISS Experience (Oculus) Create Together with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (YouTube) Inside COVID19 (Oculus) Welcome to the Blumhouse Live (Prime Video) |- | style="vertical-align:top;" width="50%" colspan="2" | For All Mankind: Time Capsule'' (Apple TV+)
Performing + Dave Chappelle – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Dave Chappelle" as host (NBC) Alec Baldwin – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Dave Chappelle" as President Donald Trump (NBC) Morgan Freeman – The Kominsky Method: "Chapter 20. The round toes, of the high shoes" as Morgan Freeman (Netflix) Daniel Kaluuya – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Daniel Kaluuya" as host (NBC) Dan Levy – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Dan Levy" as host (NBC) Maya Rudolph – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Maya Rudolph" as host (NBC) Jane Adams – Hacks: "I Think She Will" as Nina Daniels (HBO Max) Yvette Nicole Brown – A Black Lady Sketch Show: "But the Tilapias Are Fine Though, Right?" as Judge Harper (HBO) Bernadette Peters – Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: "Zoey's Extraordinary Girls' Night" as Deb (NBC) Issa Rae – A Black Lady Sketch Show: "My Booty Look Juicy, Don't It?" as Jess (HBO) Kristen Wiig – Saturday Night Live: "Host: Kristen Wiig" as host (NBC) Courtney B. Vance – Lovecraft Country: "Whitey's on the Moon" as George Freeman (HBO) Don Cheadle – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: "New World Order" as Colonel James Rhodes / War Machine (Disney+) Charles Dance – The Crown: "Gold Stick" as Lord Mountbatten (Netflix) Timothy Olyphant – The Mandalorian: "Chapter 9: The Marshal" as Cobb Vanth (Disney+) Carl Weathers – The Mandalorian: "Chapter 12: The Siege" as Greef Karga (Disney+) Claire Foy – The Crown: "48:1" as Queen Elizabeth II (Netflix) Alexis Bledel – The Handmaid's Tale: "Testimony" as Emily (Hulu) Mckenna Grace – The Handmaid's Tale: "Pigs" as Esther Keyes (Hulu) Sophie Okonedo – Ratched: "The Dance" as Charlotte Wells (Netflix) Phylicia Rashad – This Is Us: "I've Got This" as Carol "Mama C" Clarke (NBC) J. B. Smoove – Mapleworth Murders as Chief Billy Bills (Quibi) Kevin Hart – Die Hart as Kevin Hart (Quibi) John Lutz – Mapleworth Murders as Gilbert Pewntz (Quibi) Brendan Scannell – Bonding as Pete Devon (Netflix) John Travolta – Die Hart as Ron Wilcox (Quibi) Keke Palmer – Keke Palmer's Turnt Up with the Taylors as Barbie, Gammy Tay, Lil Thad, Miranda, and Rick (Facebook Watch) Nathalie Emmanuel – Die Hart as Jordan King (Quibi) Kerri Kenney-Silver – Reno 911! as Deputy Trudy Wiegel (Quibi) Paula Pell – Mapleworth Murders as Mrs. Abigail Mapleworth (Quibi) Maya Rudolph – Big Mouth: "A Very Special 9/11 Episode" as Connie the Hormone Monstress (Netflix) Stacey Abrams – Black-ish: Election Special (Part 2) as Stacey Abrams (ABC) Julie Andrews – Bridgerton: "Diamond of the First Water" as Lady Whistledown (Netflix) Tituss Burgess – Central Park: "A Fish Called Snakehead" as Cole Tillerman (Apple TV+) Seth MacFarlane – Family Guy: "Stewie's First Word" as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire (Fox) Stanley Tucci – Central Park: "A Fish Called Snakehead" as Bitsy Brandenham (Apple TV+) Jessica Walter – Archer: "The Double Date" as Malory Archer (FX) Sterling K. Brown – Lincoln: Divided We Stand: "The Dogs of War" (CNN) David Attenborough – A Perfect Planet: "Volcano" (Discovery+) David Attenborough – The Year Earth Changed (Apple TV+) Anthony Hopkins – Mythic Quest: "Everlight" (Apple TV+) Sigourney Weaver – Secrets of the Whales: "Ocean Giants" (Disney+) RuPaul – RuPaul's Drag Race (VH1) Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Ness – Queer Eye (Netflix) Nicole Byer – Nailed It! (Netflix) Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O'Leary – Shark Tank (ABC) Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons – Top Chef (Bravo)
Animation + Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: "Plague of Madness" – David Krentz (Adult Swim) ''Love, Death & Robots: "All Through the House" – Daniel Gill (Netflix) Love, Death & Robots: "Automated Customer Service" – Laurent Nicolas (Netflix) Love, Death & Robots: "Ice" – Patricio Betteo (Netflix) Love, Death & Robots: "Ice" – Robert Valley (Netflix) The Simpsons'': "Wad Goals" – Nik Ranieri (Fox)
Art Direction + Mare of Easttown – Keith P. Cunningham, James F. Truesdale, Gina Cranham, Edward McLoughlin, and Sarah McMillan (HBO) The Flight Attendant: "After Dark" – Sara K White, Christine Foley, and Jessica Petruccelli (HBO Max) The Handmaid's Tale: "Chicago" – Elisabeth Williams, Martha Sparrow, Larry Spittle, and Rob Hepburn (Hulu) The Undoing – Lester Cohen, Doug Huszti, and Keri Lederman (HBO) Yellowstone: "Going Back to Cali" – Cary White, Yvonne Boudreaux, and Carla Curry (Paramount Network) The Queen's Gambit – Uli Hanisch, Kai Karla Koch, and Sabine Schaaf (Netflix) Bridgerton: "After the Rain" – Will Hughes-Jones, Dominic Devine, and Gina Cromwell (Netflix) The Crown: "War" – Martin Childs, Mark Raggett, and Alison Harvey (Netflix) Halston – Mark Ricker, Nithya Shrinivasan, and Cherish M. Hale (Netflix) The Mandalorian: "Chapter 13: The Jedi" – Andrew L. Jones, Doug Chiang, David Lazan, and Amanda Serino (Disney+) Perry Mason: "Chapter Three" – John Goldsmith, Chris Farmer, and Halina Siwolop (HBO) WandaVision – Mark Worthington, Sharon Davis, and Kathy Orlando (Disney+) Emily in Paris: "Emily in Paris" – Anne Seibel, Jean-Yves Rabier, and Christelle Maisonneuve (Netflix) Hacks: "Primm" – Jon Carlos, James Bolenbaugh, and Ellen Reede Dorros (HBO Max) Ted Lasso: "For the Children" – Paul Cripps and Iain White (Apple TV+) United States of Al: "Pilot" – John Shaffner, Daren Janes, and Susan Eschelbach (CBS) Saturday Night Live: "Host: Kristen Wiig" – Eugene Lee, Akira Yoshimura, Keith Ian Raywood, N. Joseph DeTullio, and Melissa Shakun (NBC) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "Trump & Election Results / Fuck 2020" – Eric Morrell and Veronica Spink (HBO) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "Dr. Jon Lapook / Performance by Maroon 5" – Jim Fenhagen, Larry Hartman, Brendan Hurley, and Riley Mellon (CBS) The Masked Singer: "The Season Premiere – The Masks Return" – James Pearse Connelly, Ryan Suchor, and Lisa Nelson (Fox) RuPaul's Drag Race: "Condragulations" / "Bossy Rossy RuBoot" – James McGowan and Gianna Costa (VH1) The Oscars – David Rockwell, Joe Celli, Alana Billingsley, and Jason Howard (ABC) Friends: The Reunion – John Shaffner, Greg Grande, and Daren Janes (HBO Max) 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Brian Stonestreet and John Zuiker (NBC) The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards – Misty Buckley, Kristen Merlino, Gloria Lamb, and Matt Steinbrenner (CBS) Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 – Jim Fenhagen, Larry Hartman, Riley Mellon, and Brendan Hurley (Showtime)
Casting + Ted Lasso – Theo Park (Apple TV+) The Flight Attendant – Kim Miscia, Beth Bowling, and John Papsidera (HBO Max) Hacks – Jeanne McCarthy and Nicole Abellera Hallman (HBO Max) The Kominsky Method – Nikki Valko, Ken Miller, and Tara Treacy (Netflix) PEN15 – Melissa DeLizia (Hulu) The Crown – Robert Sterne (Netflix) Bridgerton – Kelly Valentine Hendry (Netflix) The Handmaid's Tale – Sharon Bialy, Sherry Thomas, Russell Scott, and Robin D. Cook (Hulu) Lovecraft Country – Kim Taylor-Coleman and Meagan Lewis (HBO) The Mandalorian – Sarah Halley Finn (Disney+) The Queen's Gambit – Ellen Lewis, Kate Sprance, Olivia Scott-Webb, Tina Gerussi, Anna-Lena Slater, Tatjana Moutchnik, and Stephanie Maile (Netflix) I May Destroy You – Julie Harkin (HBO) Mare of Easttown – Avy Kaufman, Diane Heery, and Jason Loftus (HBO) The Underground Railroad – Francine Maisler and Meagan Lewis (Prime Video)