OG ‘Saturday Night Live’ icon Laraine Newman dropped multiple salty tweets as FX’s ‘The Bear’ beat its own record for most wins on its way to 11 Emmys, including her daughter’s category, ‘Hacks’ star Hannah Einbinder.
It was a big night for Hacks, with a surprise upset at the close when it took home best Comedy Series. But it was an even bigger night for The Bear, which set a new record for most wins by a comedy series. But is it? Laraine Newman isn’t so sure, and she’s not alone.
Categorizing in the Emmys has long been a question mark with certain shows, most often when questionable shows wind up in the comedy category despite not really meeting that criteria to many layman.
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That’s certainly been the case with The Bear, the FX series about Chicago chefs that even Emmy hosts Eugene and Dan Levy quipped has no jokes.
“Every time I think about The Bear being in the comedy category for the Emmys I can feel an ulcer developing,” Newman wrote on X/Twitter during Sunday’s broadcast.
In an even more aggressive — and since-deleted — post, the comedy legend and OG Saturday Night Live star blasted the series, writing, “F–K. THE. BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (only she didn’t censor herself). According to The Hollywood Reporter, this came when the show surpassed its own record 10 Emmys with an 11th win.
When she was called out about being a bit harsh, Newman replied, “I know. I took it down. Not my best moment.”
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One of those 11 wins for The Bear came at the expense of Newman’s daughter Hannah Einbinder, who was nominated for her stellar work on Hacks. That series is also a bona fide smash with critics. In a world without The Bear, it would likely dominate.
Even with The Bear in the mix, Hacks still scored big with wins for Jean Smart and arguably the biggest upset of the night when it picked up Best Comedy Series to close out the ceremony.
But Einbinder was not able to experience a personal celebration as she lost Best Supporting Actress to The Bear star Liza Colón-Zayas. She became the first Latina to win that category, and was surprised by her own win, praising many of the women in her category — but not Einbinder (more than likely an accidental oversight).
“Thank you to my husband David Zayas, he told me to write a speech and I didn’t, because I didn’t think it would be possible,” Colón-Zayas said on the stage. “How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett and Janelle [James] and Sheryl Lee Ralph.”
Newman wrapped up her Emmy messages on X/Twitter by noting, “I think the Bear is a great show but IMHO it’s not a comedy- not even a dark comedy.”
Obviously, The Bear is not a broad comedy, but there are those who would disagree with Newman and categorize it as a dark comedy, with more subtle humor. Humor is, after all, subjective. In the meantime, the debate will likely go on until The Bear is off the air — and another show surprises and perplexes fans with how it’s categorized.
