Following its sweep at the Golden Globes, Netflix’s “Beef” took home the Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Creator Lee Sung Jin accepted the honor with a heartfelt and funny speech.
“Wow, thank you. You know, a lot of the suicidal ideation in this show was based on stuff that I and some of the folks up here have struggled with over the years,” he said. “So I’m really grateful and humbled by everyone who watched the show and reached out about their own personal struggles. It’s very life-affirming, so thank you.
“I feel like we live in a world designed to kind of keep us separate,” he continued. “Even here, some of us go home with trophies, other people don’t. I think for some of us when we live in a world like this, you begin to think there’s no way anyone can ever understand you or like you or much less no potential at being loved. So the greatest joy of working on ‘Beef’ has truly been working with the folks up here who loved so unconditionally. Thank you to them. To anyone out there who directly or indirectly was involved with the show, thank you so much.”
He wrapped up his speech by quipping, “Lastly, everything I do is for my three dogs. The federal drug administration, if you please fast track that canine anti-aging pill that would be so lovely.”
“Beef” beat out “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” “Daisy Jones & the Six,” “Fleishman Is in Trouble” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” The series has been dominant in awards season so far, with a total of 13 Emmy nominations and four Critics Choice nominations. At the Golden Globes, it won in all three categories it was nominated in —best limited series, best actor in a limited series and best actress in a limited series.
The A24 series is also nominated in both supporting actor categories with Joseph Lee, Young Mazino and Maria Bello all being up for a trophy.
This year’s Emmys, originally set to air on Sept. 18, were pushed due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The show, hosted by Anthony Anderson, recognizes shows that aired between June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023. With the push to the January date, this meant that many shows nominated (like “The Bear” and “only Murders in the Building”) were recognized for later seasons at the Globes and Critics Choice, only to be nominated for a previous season at the Emmys.
At the Creative Arts Emmys, which took place on Jan. 6 and 7, HBO’s “The Last of Us” dominated with eight wins while FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” took home five awards. “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” “The Bear,” “Wednesday” and “The White Lotus” all earned four each.
