72nd Primetime Emmy Awards
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
Acting
Lead performances
Supporting performances
Directing
Writing
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
For the purposes of the lists below, "major" constitutes the categories listed above, while "total" includes the categories presented at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.| Nominations | Show | Network |
| 11 | Watchmen | HBO |
| 10 | Succession | HBO |
| 9 | Ozark | Netflix |
| 8 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Prime Video |
| 8 | Schitt's Creek | Pop TV |
| 6 | The Crown | Netflix |
| 6 | Mrs. America | FX on Hulu |
| 5 | The Good Place | NBC |
| 5 | The Morning Show | Apple TV+ |
| 4 | Better Call Saul | AMC |
| 4 | Hollywood | Netflix |
| 4 | Killing Eve | BBC America |
| 4 | Unorthodox | Netflix |
| 4 | What We Do in the Shadows | FX |
| 3 | Dead to Me | Netflix |
| 3 | The Handmaid's Tale | Hulu |
| 3 | Insecure | HBO |
| 3 | The Kominsky Method | Netflix |
| 3 | Little Fires Everywhere | Hulu |
| 3 | Normal People | Hulu |
| 3 | Ramy | Hulu |
| 3 | Saturday Night Live | NBC |
| 3 | Unbelievable | Netflix |
| 2 | Big Little Lies | HBO |
| 2 | Black-ish | ABC |
| 2 | The Great | Hulu |
| 2 | Westworld | HBO |
| Nominations | Show | Network |
| 26 | Watchmen | HBO |
| 20 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Prime Video |
| 18 | Ozark | Netflix |
| 18 | Succession | HBO |
| 15 | The Mandalorian | Disney+ |
| 15 | Saturday Night Live | NBC |
| 15 | Schitt's Creek | Pop TV |
| 13 | The Crown | Netflix |
| 12 | Hollywood | Netflix |
| 11 | Westworld | HBO |
| 10 | The Handmaid's Tale | Hulu |
| 10 | Mrs. America | FX on Hulu |
| 10 | RuPaul's Drag Race | VH1 |
| 9 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | HBO |
| 9 | The Oscars | ABC |
| 8 | Insecure | HBO |
| 8 | Killing Eve | BBC America |
| 8 | The Morning Show | Apple TV+ |
| 8 | Stranger Things | Netflix |
| 8 | Unorthodox | Netflix |
| 8 | What We Do in the Shadows | FX |
| 7 | Better Call Saul | AMC |
| 7 | Queer Eye | Netflix |
| 6 | Cheer | Netflix |
| 6 | Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones | Netflix |
| 6 | Euphoria | HBO |
| 6 | The Good Place | NBC |
| 6 | Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness | Netflix |
| 6 | The Voice | NBC |
| 5 | Apollo 11 | CNN |
| 5 | Beastie Boys Story | Apple TV+ |
| 5 | Big Little Lies | HBO |
| 5 | The Daily Show with Trevor Noah | Comedy Central |
| 5 | Little Fires Everywhere | Hulu |
| 5 | McMillion$ | HBO |
| 5 | The Politician | Netflix |
| 5 | Pose | FX |
| 5 | Star Trek: Picard | CBS All Access |
| 5 | This Is Us | NBC |
| 5 | Will & Grace | NBC |
| Wins | Show | Network |
| 7 | Schitt's Creek | Pop TV |
| 4 | Succession | HBO |
| 4 | Watchmen | HBO |
| Wins | Show | Network |
| 11 | Watchmen | HBO |
| 9 | Schitt's Creek | Pop TV |
| 7 | Succession | HBO |
| 7 | The Mandalorian | Disney+ |
| 6 | RuPaul's Drag Race | VH1 |
| 6 | Saturday Night Live | NBC |
| 4 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | HBO |
| 4 | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Prime Video |
| 3 | Apollo 11 | CNN |
| 3 | Cheer | Netflix |
| 3 | Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones | Netflix |
| 3 | Euphoria | HBO |
| 3 | Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal | Adult Swim |
| 2 | The Cave | National Geographic |
| 2 | The Crown | Netflix |
| 2 | #FreeRayshawn | Quibi |
| 2 | Hollywood | Netflix |
| 2 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times" | ABC |
| 2 | The Oscars | ABC |