Los Angeles: 'Succession' and 'Ted Lasso' topped the Emmy Awards in a ceremony that touted the influence of TV and extended honours to 'Squid Game' and winners who delivered messages of empowerment.
The evening's uplifting tone, as voiced especially by Zendaya, Lizzo and Sheryl Lee Ralph, was in contrast to the darkness that pervaded the storytelling of best drama series winner 'Succession' and even comedy series victor 'Ted Lasso'.
"Thanks for making such a safe space to make this very difficult show," said Zendaya, claiming her second best drama actress award for 'Euphoria', about a group of teens' tough coming of age.
'Succession', a series about a media empire run by a grasping and cutthroat family, split drama series honours with 'Squid Game', a South Korean-set global sensation about the idle rich turning the poor into entertainment fodder.
Lee Jung-jae of 'Squid Game', who played the show's moral centre, became the first Asian to win the Emmy for best drama series actor.
"Thank you for making realistic problems we all face come to life so creatively on the screen," Lee said to 'Squid Game' creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, who earned the Emmy for best drama series directing.
Jason Sudeikis and Jean Smart collected back-to-back acting trophies, but several new Emmy winners were minted, with Lizzo, Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph of 'Abbott Elementary' collecting trophies.
Sudeikis won his second consecutive trophy for playing the unlikely US coach of a British soccer team in the comedy 'Ted Lasso', with Smart matching that haul for her role as a veteran comedian in 'Hacks'.
There was a ripple of reaction in the theatre when 'Succession' creator Jesse Armstrong mentioned Britain's newly crowned Princes Charles III in accepting the show's trophy, the cast standing alongside him.
Ralph stopped the Emmy Awards show by accepting the best-supporting actress comedy award for 'Abbott Elementary' with a brief but rousing song of affirmation. The audience, including Lizzo and many of television's biggest stars, leapt to their feet to cheer on Ralph.
When Lizzo herself accepted the award for the best-competition series trophy for 'Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls', she offered another emotional pep talk.
"When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, black and beautiful like me," the music artist said.
'Ted Lasso' co-star Brett Goldstein, won comedy supporting actors, while Matthew Macfadyen of 'Succession' and Julia Garner of 'Ozark' earned drama series supporting actor honours.
'The White Lotus' collected several honours, including best limited or anthology series.
Host Kenan Thompson kicked off the Emmys with a tribute to TV, dismissing 'Tik-Tok' as 'tiny vertical television' and a musical number of saluting series' theme songs from 'Friends' to 'The Brady Bunch' to 'Game of Thrones'. Once the music stopped, Thompson provided a mic drop moment announcing Oprah Winfrey as the first presenter.
Winfrey strutted onto the stage holding an Emmy statuette, declaring the night 'a party!' The night's first award went to Michael Keaton for his role in 'Dopesick'.
Amanda Seyfried earned the limited-series lead actress trophy for 'The Dropout', in which she played ill-fated Silicon Valley whiz kid Elizabeth Holmes. She thanked a list of family and colleagues and even her dog, Finn.
Murray Bartlett won the best supporting actor award for the limited series of 'The White Lotus', a tragicomedy set in a Hawaii resort. Jennifer Coolidge won best supporting actress honours for the show.