The battle between streaming and traditional TV was in full force during Sunday nights 70th annual Emmy Awards in LA.
Netflix and HBO went toe-to-toe with 112 and 108 total nominations respectively, while NBC and Amazon followed closely behind with 58 and 47 nods each.
But from the start of the ceremony it was clear that the internet would reign supreme.
It was Amazon Prime who gained an early lead, winning top comedic honors as Phoebe Waller-Bridge earned Best Comedy Actress not but minutes after topping the Writing category for Fleabag.
In the bag! Phoebe Waller-Bridge kicked off the Emmy honors with a win for her writing work on Fleabag, before earning top honors as Best Actress
The writer-actress looked radiant as she took the stage to accept her second award of the evening from late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.
She seemed besides herself after eking out a win against category favorite, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.
Also blindsided by her win, Phoebe said ‘No! Oh, my god, no,’ before going into her thanks.
Earlier on the English stunner took home the writing award from The Masked Singer’s Ken Jeong and Nick Cannon.
‘I find writing really, really hard and really painful,’ she admitted before giving props to her team and audiences alike.
It was a big night for Waller-Bridge, who was also nominated in several categories as the creator of the wicked spy drama Killing Eve.
Stunning: The writer-actress looked radiant as she took the stage to accept her second award of the evening from late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel
Stunned: English stunner Phoebe seemed besides herself as she thanked her creative team for their support and talent
Shocked: Also blindsided by her win, Phoebe said ‘No! Oh, my god, no,’ before going into her thanks
On her side: Fleabag director Harry Bradbeer also took home top honors, giving gratitude to Waller-Bridge. ‘Thank you, Phoebe, for coming into my life like a glorious grenade,’ he effused
Fleabag director Harry Bradbeer also took home top honors for being the eye behind the show’s season two premiere.
‘Thank you, Phoebe, for coming into my life like a glorious grenade. You’re so trusting. Scientists are still trying to work out how somebody who is so incredibly talented can be so utterly lovely. This is for you, you are at the center of it all,’ he effused.
Ben Stiller handed out the first award for Best Comedy Supporting Actor after honoring some of comedy’s greats with a gag that invited the legendary Bob Newart on stage.
Although HBO’s Barry dominated the category, with three actor nominated, it was Tony Shalhoub who earned the gong for Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Marvelous: Although HBO’s Barry dominated the category, with three actor nominated, it was Tony Shalhoub who earned the gong for Amazon Prime’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Supportive: Best Comedy Supporting Actress went to the incomparable Alex Borstein for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – her third ever honor
He aimed his full thanks at creative couple Amy Sherman-Palladino and husband Dan, telling audiences that it ‘takes a village before solely thanking the duo for producing, directing, and writing the streaming favorite.
Catherine O’Hara and Amy Poheler offered up the award for Best Comedy Supporting Actress, which went to the incomparable Alex Borstein for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – her third ever honor.
She poked fun at her hilarious acceptance speech from last year while also laughing off the excruciating summer heat with a bawdy joke.
While Maisel nearly swept comedy acting, Barry came out on top in the leading actor category with SNL alum Bill Hader winning big and also marking HBO’s first gong of the night.
In his speech thanked all of the show’s amazing directors, but dedicated some special words to Alec Berg.
Barry nice! While Maisel nearly swept comedy acting, Barry came out on top in the leading actor category
In between, Kim Kardashian and sister Kendall Jenner handed out the award for top Reality Competition, which went to RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Ru gave a stirring speech, urging people to make their voices heard and register to vote.
Then it was on to the Limited Series or Movie category, which pit comedies and dramas against one another.
In loving memory: Patricia Arquette of The Act won, marking her second honor. After a rejoicing with castmate Joey King, the creative team, and her family she gave a stirring speech about trans rights in honor of her late sister Alexis
‘Trans people are still being persecuted. I’m in mourning every day, Alexis and I will be the rest of my life until we change the world until trans people are not persecuted. They’re human beings, let’s get rid of this bias we have everywhere,’ she said tearfully
Patricia Arquette of The Act won, marking her second honor. After a rejoicing with castmate Joey King, the creative team, and her family she gave a stirring speech about trans rights in honor of her late sister Alexis, who passed in 2016.
‘Trans people are still being persecuted. I’m in mourning every day, Alexis and I will be the rest of my life until we change the world until trans people are not persecuted. They’re human beings, let’s get rid of this bias we have everywhere,’ she said tearfully.
Then Jharrel Jerome, just 21, took home an Emmy for lead actor in a limited series or movie for his role in Netflix’s When They See Us.
In their honor: Jharrel Jerome took home an Emmy for lead actor in a limited series or movie for his role in Netflix’s When They See Us, giving a special shout out to the Exonerated Five whose struggle inspired the Ava Duvernay project
‘I feel like I should be in the Bronx right now waiting for my mom’s cooking, Jerome said. ‘I have to thank my mom, my beautiful mother. I couldn’t do it without her… But most importantly, this is for the men we know as the exonerated five.’
Netflix’s groundbreaking choose your own adventure movie Bandersnatch won best Television Movie before Chernobyl took home Best Limited Series.
But proving neither streaming or premium cable had a monopoly on the honors, Michelle Williams won best Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie for FX’s Fosse/Verdon.
Outstanding: Proving neither streaming or premium cable had a monopoly on the honors, Michelle Williams won best Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie for FX’s Fosse/Verdon
The Academy Award winning actress gave a stirring speech which acknowledged all of the strong women in her category while also thanking her bosses for listening to her creative input.
‘All these things require effort and cost more money. But my bosses never presumed to know better than I did about what I needed in order to do my job and honor Gwen Verdon,’ she said.
She recognized the project as one of the rare times a female actor was given equal pay, while recognizing how rare her position was, even in an industry set on triumphing female talent.
‘[Our team] understood that when you put value into a person it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value and where do they put it? They put it into their work.’
‘And so the next time a woman, and especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white, male counterpart tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her, believe her.’
Variety Talk Series went to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver while Variety Sketch Show went to Saturday Night Live.