Even the Emmys' Hosts Made Fun of The Bear Being Considered a Comedy

The 2024 Emmys got underway with Dan Levy and dad Eugene Levy addressing the elephant in the room.

That, of course, would be the fact that The Bear is considered...funny.

"The Bear is nominated for 23 Emmys tonight, making it the most nominated comedy in history," Eugene noted during their opening monologue. “Now, I love the show and I know some of you might be expecting us to make a joke about whether The Bear is really a comedy."

He added, "But, in the true spirit of The Bear, we will not be making any jokes."

Chef's kiss, right?

Because while The Bear certainly has provided its share of laughs—Jeremy Allen White's Carmy and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's Richie swearing profusely at each other has a certain comedic poetry to it (and the actors have the respective Emmys for lead and supporting performances to prove it—but at the end of the long, hard, grease-and-sauce-smeared day, the FX show is heartbreaking. (Click here for the complete list of winners from the 2024 Emmys.)

And heartwarming at least a quarter of the time, but its half-hour status time and again seems to be what lands it in comedy categories, dramas like the late, great Succession (if not The Crown or Shogun) having offered more jokes-per-minute than The Bear.

Hacks star Hannah Einbinder's mom, original Saturday Night Live member Laraine Newman, certainly didn't put a lid on her feelings: Shortly after Liza Colón-Zayas, who plays coming-into-her-own sous-chef Tina, bested her daughter in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series race, Newman posted to X: ""F--K. THE. BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She has since deleted the sentiment and wrote, "I think the Bear is a great show but IMHO it’s not a comedy- not even a dark comedy."

Presumably her initial posted left a bad taste in the mouths of a too few many fans of The Bear, which has won (so far) a whopping 21 Emmys over the course of its first two seasons.

And no matter whether you tune in for its biting humor, the kitchen drama, the compelling look of nausea on Carmy's face when he turns his ever-critical eye inward... The Bear remains a buffet of entertainment.

See all the winners at the 2024 Emmys, in all the categories, funny and otherwise: 

Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers

WINNER: Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer

Jon Hamm, Fargo

Tom Hollander, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

Andrew Scott, Ripley

WINNER: Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country

Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry

Juno Temple, Fargo

Sofía Vergara, Griselda

Naomi Watts, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

Dakota Fanning, Ripley

Lily Gladstone, Under The Bridge

WINNER: Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer

Aja Naomi King, Lessons in Chemistry

Diane Lane, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer

Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country

Jonathan Bailey, Fellow Travelers

John Hawkes, True Detective: Night Country

Robert Downey Jr., The Sympathizer

WINNER: Lamorne Morris, Fargo

Tom Goodman-Hill, Baby Reindeer

Treat Williams, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

WINNER: Baby Reindeer

Fargo

Lessons in Chemistry

Ripley

True Detective: Night Country

WINNER: The Daily Show

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Late Night With Seth Meyers

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

The Amazing Race

Top Chef

RuPaul’s Drag Race

WINNER: The Traitors

The Voice

The Crown

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Fallout

WINNER: Shogun

The Gilded Age

Slow Horses

The Morning Show

3 Body Problem 

Abbott Elementary

The Bear

Curb Your Enthusiasm

WINNER: Hacks

Only Murders In The Building

Palm Royale

Reservation Dogs

What We Do In The Shadows

Christine Baranski, The Gilded Age

Greta Lee, The Morning Show

Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show

Lesley Manville, The Crown

WINNER: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

Karen Pittman, The Morning Show

Holland Taylor, The Morning Show

Tadanobu Asano, Shogun

WINNER: Billy Crudup, The Morning Show

Mark Duplass, The Morning Show

Jon Hamm, The Morning Show

Takehiro Hira, Shogun

Jack Lowden, Slow Horses

Jonathan Pryce, The Crown

Carol Burnett, Palm Royale

WINNER: Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building

Lionel Boyce, The Bear

Paul Rudd, Only Murders in the Building

Paul W. Downs, Hacks

Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

WINNER: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live

Idris Elba, Hijack

WINNER: Hiroyuki Sanada, Shogun

Walton Goggins, Fallout

Dominic West, The Crown

Donald Glover, Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Gary Oldman, Slow Horses

Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show

WINNER: Anna Sawai, Shogun

Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age

Imelda Staunton, The Crown

Maya Erskine, Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Maya Rudolph, Loot

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks

Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

Kristen Wiig, Palm Royale

Matt Berry, What We Do In The Shadows

Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Steve Martin, Only Murders In The Building

Martin Short, Only Murders In The Building

WINNER: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tie, Reservation Dogs