It may not be a Michelin star, but as the expressions on the faces of the cast and lead creative team of “The Bear” seemed to say, this was just as good: Nineteen months after it premiered, the first season of FX’s restaurant comedy series took home the Emmy for best comedy on Monday night.
The series had been nominated for 13 Emmys in its first year of eligibility, including first-time nominations for Jeremy Allen White, who stars as the driven chef Carmy, a former rising star of the New York culinary scene who inherits a Chicago sandwich shop from his dead brother; Ayo Edebiri, who plays an upstart young sous chef; and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who plays Carmy’s curmudgeonly cousin Richie.
In total, the show won six Emmys on the night, including the award for best actor in a comedy for White, best supporting comedy actress for Edebiri and best supporting comedy actor for Moss-Bachrach.
“I just want to thank restaurants as a whole, hospitality as a whole,” Matty Matheson, who plays Neil Fak in “The Bear” and is himself a chef, began as the cast and creative team gathered on stage to accept the award for best comedy. Then Moss-Bachrach swooped in and gave him a long kiss on the lips. “I love you, Ebon,” Matheson said after he recovered.
Season 1 of “The Bear” became a breakout show the summer of 2022, a surprise to many given its grubby aesthetic and lack of A-list cast members. But the clash of combustible egos and realistic depictions of restaurant work — with its constant pressure, impossible deadlines and “yes, chef”s — proved irresistible for viewers. (White’s signature tight white T-shirt — and now ubiquitous Calvin Klein ads — also likely didn’t hurt.)
Although the show’s critically acclaimed second season came to Hulu way back in June, only its first season, which debuted in summer 2022, was up for Emmy consideration this time; the window of eligibility for Monday’s ceremony, which ran from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, was an unusually long time ago. (The ceremony itself, originally scheduled for September, was delayed because of last year’s writer and actor strikes.) The show’s Golden Globe win last week for best comedy was for its second season.
Rest assured, there are more “yes, chef”s on the way soon: The show was renewed in November for a third season.
