Twenty-four nominations. Zero wins. That was Antiques Roadshow's record heading into Saturday night at the Peacock Theater, a streak of futility going back to 2002. It ended there, with the show picking up Outstanding Structured Reality Program at the first of two Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies, the unglamorous cousin of Monday's televised main event that still manages, most years, to produce the better stories.

This was one of those years.

The loudest number on the board belonged to Bad Bunny. The Apple Music Super Bowl LX halftime show, performed in Spanish and, per TheWrap, "a matter of contention in some circles," walked away with seven Emmys, more than any other program on the night. It took Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special for Hamish Hamilton, plus wins across choreography, music direction and sound mixing. Whatever the online arguments about the performance itself, the Television Academy wasn't having any of them.

But the night's real subtext ran through CBS. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, cancelled by the network earlier this year, took five awards for its farewell week, including Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series for Yvonne De Mare's work on the final episode. Its digital companion, Colbert Before Air, grabbed its own trophy in short-form comedy. TheWrap read the sweep as a pointed message, aimed at the network and, by extension, at the White House, which had cheered the show's cancellation. Jimmy Kimmel, another regular target of the Trump administration, picked up the game-show hosting Emmy for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Cumming pulls ahead, Muppets beat Swift

The Traitors finished second with six wins, among them Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program and Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program. Host Alan Cumming won for a third straight year, breaking a tie with Jane Lynch to claim sole possession of third place on the all-time list for the category. He's still behind Survivor's Jeff Probst, a four-time winner, and RuPaul Charles, whose eight-year run ended when Cumming first won in 2024.

Disney's Muppet Show revival, fronted by Sabrina Carpenter, took four Emmys and beat Taylor Swift's Eras Tour special for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), a category few would have bet on going that way. Mariska Hargitay, hosting Monday's main telecast, won two awards of her own for My Mom Jayne, and Octavia Spencer took her first Emmy for narrating Lost Women of Alaska, edging out two nominations for the 100-year-old David Attenborough.

All of it plays out against a backdrop of guild anger. The DGA, WGA and SAG-AFTRA issued a joint statement this year objecting to several categories, including variety writing and directing, being pulled off the primetime broadcast entirely. The second Creative Arts show airs Sunday, covering drama, comedy and limited-series categories. Both nights get edited into a single broadcast on FXX on September 12, ahead of the main Primetime Emmys telecast on September 14.