Hannah Einbinder with her award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Seth Rogen poses with his "The Studio" awards at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14.
Britt Lower with her award for outstanding lead actress in a drama series at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, 2025 in Los Angeles.
Jeff Hiller with his award for outstanding actor in a comedy series at the 77th Emmy Awards on Sept. 14, 2025 in Los Angeles.

There was plenty of gold to go around at the Emmys, but not every star (or TV show) emerged victorious.

The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, which aired on Sunday, Sept. 14, proved that solid track records and fan-favorite status don't guarantee a win. Despite sweeping past ceremonies, bingeworthy heavyweights "The Bear" and "The White Lotus" were sidelined during the ceremony.

In hindsight, the 2025 Emmys could easily be billed the year of the freshman. Newcomers "Adolescence," "The Studio" and "The Pitt" dominated the awards show, racking up a combined 26 prizes.

The star-studded celebration also carried an underdog spirit, with longtime thespians such as Seth Rogen and Hannah Einbinder taking home their first Emmys.

Here are the biggest surprise wins and snubs from the ceremony.

'Adolescence' star Owen Cooper makes Emmys history

Owen Cooper, who plays the violent young boy Jamie Miller in Netflix's hit crime drama, made Emmys history with his win for best supporting actor in a limited series.

The 15-year-old British star is the youngest actor to win in the category, a feat Cooper called "so surreal" during his acceptance speech.

"Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple years back, I didn't expect to be even in the United States, never mind here," Cooper continued. "But I think tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life."

Hannah Einbinder gets her flowers with 'Hacks' win

After four seasons on the Jean Smart-led "Hacks," Einbinder finally won her first supporting comedy actress Emmy for her role of Ava Daniels on the HBO Max dramedy.

"I was just really committed to the personal narrative that I had that it's actually cooler to continue to lose," Einbinder said. "I was pretty committed to that. But this is cool, too. Punk rock!"

'The White Lotus' comes up short

It was a somber evening for "The White Lotus," which faced a major upset at the Emmys despite a high number of nominations.

The HBO dramedy, beloved for its morbidly funny wealth satire, tied for third place in nominations alongside Apple TV+'s comedy "The Studio" with 23 nods, including outstanding drama series.

In the end, "The White Lotus" only claimed a single award: outstanding original main title theme music.

'The Studio' and Seth Rogen sweep the Emmys

As far as movie magic goes, "The Studio" scored an iconic scene.

The cringe comedy series centering a conflicted Hollywood executive (Rogen) walked away with a whopping 13 awards, which included outstanding comedy series, outstanding writing for a comedy series and outstanding directing for a comedy series.

The show also earned Rogen his first-ever Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series.

"I've never won anything in my life," said Rogen during his acceptance speech, later quipping: "When I was a kid, I bought a used bowling trophy at an estate sale, and my parents were like, 'Yeah that's a good idea, you should probably buy that.'"

'Severance' underperforms, but shines spotlight on Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower

"Severance" may want to undergo a memory cleanse after its less-than-stellar performance at the Emmys.

The Apple TV+ sci-fi series, which follows the employees of Lumon Industries as they navigate surgically divided memories that separate their work and personal lives, led Emmy nominations with an impressive 27 nods and was in the running for best drama series.

However, the show won just eight of the nearly 30 awards it was up for. Some of the categories "Severance" triumphed in included outstanding cinematography for a series, outstanding title design and outstanding production design for a narrative contemporary program.

But the night wasn't a total bust. Tramell Tillman, who plays Seth Milchick, made Emmys history as the first Black man in the show's 77-year history to win outstanding supporting actor in a drama. Meanwhile, Britt Lower (aka Helly R) won outstanding lead actress in a drama, beating out "Matlock" star Kathy Bates.

'The Bear' goes empty-handed after banner 2024

No, chef. "The Bear" wasn't able to keep its Emmy streak going.

The FX dramedy about award-winning chef Carmy Berzatto and his colorful kitchen staff headed into the ceremony with 13 nominations, which spanned top honors such as outstanding comedy series, outstanding lead actor in a comedy series (Jeremy Allen White) and outstanding lead actress in a comedy series (Ayo Edebiri).

But the previous Emmy darling, which won 11 awards at the 2024 Primetime Emmys, didn't win any prizes during this year's show.

Jeff Hiller shakes up Emmys race with first-time win

At the Emmys, Jeff Hiller is definitely somebody.

Hiller, star of HBO's critically beloved but little-seen "Somebody Somewhere," won his first Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series. With his win, Hiller also bested a star-studded group of actors that included Harrison Ford ("Shrinking"), Colman Domingo ("The Four Seasons"), Bowen Yang ("Saturday Night Live") and Ebon Moss-Bachrach ("The Bear").

"I feel like I'm going to cry, because for the past 25 years I have been like, 'World, I want to be an actor!' And the world was like, 'Maybe computers,'" Hiller joked onstage.

'The Pitt' makes a splash at Emmys, including dark horse Katherine LaNasa

The diagnosis for "The Pitt" is simple: smash hit.

The HBO Max medical drama took home nearly half a dozen awards, winning five honors for outstanding drama series, outstanding lead actor in a drama series (Noah Wyle), outstanding supporting actress in a drama series (Katherine LaNasa), outstanding guest actor in a drama series (Shawn Hatosy) and outstanding casting for a drama series.

LaNasa, a dark horse contender in her category, nabbed her first Emmy for her role of nurse Dana Evans and beat out established stars such as Carrie Coon, Patricia Arquette and Parker Posey.

"I am so proud and honored to receive this award from the Academy," said LaNasa during her acceptance speech. "My whole career I wanted to work for John Wells, and he elevates everything in his wake. ... Thank you, R. Scott Gemmill, the writers and all the nurses that inspired Dana."

Contributing: Saman Shafiq and Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biggest surprise wins, snubs from Emmys 2025: Owen Cooper, Hannah Einbinder, 'Severance'

Reporting by Edward Segarra, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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