Grown-ups rule: Emmy night belongs to TV’s enduring stars

Hollywood spends plenty of time searching for its next big thing, but television’s biggest night belonged to some very familiar faces as Jean Smart, Noah Wyle and Sally Field were among the veteran stars celebrating at the 78th Emmy Awards, on a night that produced records, career revivals and some richly deserved recognition for performers who have been doing their best work for decades.

Smart’s extraordinary run continues

Smart, 75, continued an extraordinary late-career run by winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks.

It was her fifth consecutive win in the category for playing comedian Deborah Vance and her eighth acting Emmy overall, putting her alongside the most decorated performers in Emmy history.

Smart also became the first performer to win an Emmy for every season of a television series that has run for more than three seasons.

Wyle’s return to the top

Noah Wyle, 55, has found himself back at the top of television almost 30 years after becoming one of its most recognisable faces as Dr John Carter in ER.

Wyle won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for The Pitt for the second year running, while the medical drama retained the night’s biggest drama prize, winning Outstanding Drama Series.

Matthew Rhys, 51, also had a night to remember, becoming the first man to win two lead acting Emmys in the same year.

Rhys won Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay and Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me.

With his previous Emmy for The Americans, Rhys has now won lead acting awards across drama, comedy and limited series.

Field and Fox share the spotlight

Sally Field, 79, added another trophy to a career stretching back more than six decades, winning Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Michael J. Fox, 65, was also at the centre of one of the evening’s most emotional moments, receiving the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his decades of advocacy and fundraising for Parkinson’s disease research.

Meanwhile, Widow’s Bay emerged as the night’s comedy powerhouse, taking Outstanding Comedy Series and 14 Emmys overall.