The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards held on Monday (IST) surprised many with unexpected winners and upsets as some of television’s most popular names went home empty-handed while some underdogs secured wins in important categories.

Snub: HBO’s The White Lotus entered the evening with 10 nominations but failed to win even a single trophy by the end. Apple TV+’s Severance and HBO’s The Pitt emerged as major winners in drama categories.

Surprise: Katherine LaNasa won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Pitt, beating Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell and Aimee Lou Wood — all nominated for The White Lotus.

Snub: Veteran actress Kathy Bates, who was expected by many fans to win the Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role (drama) for Matlock, lost to Britt Lower of Severance.

Surprise: Jeff Hiller of HBO’s Somebody Somewhere stunned the audience by bagging the award for supporting actor. In his acceptance speech, Hiller thanked HBO for “putting a show about sweaty, middle-aged people on the same network as the sexy teens of Euphoria”.

Snub: Another moment of awkwardness came when Elizabeth Banks took the stage to present the award for Outstanding Direction in a Limited Series. Banks lauded the fact that five of the six nominees were women, only for the award to go to the only male nominee, Philip Barantini, for Adolescence.

Surprise: The biggest surprise of the evening was The Pitt beating Severance in best drama category. The series also delivered a career milestone for Noah Wyle, who won best actor in a drama more than 30 years after his first Emmy nomination for ER. Severance had bagged a historic 27 nominations this year.

Snub: Star power didn’t guarantee success this year at the Emmys. Colin Farrell lost lead actor in a limited series for The Penguin to Stephen Graham of Adolescence, while Harrison Ford, a frontrunner in the supporting actor (comedy) category for Shrinking, lost to surprise winner Hiller.