Host Jimmy Kimmel stands in front of a bank of monitors featuring Emmy nominees on Sunday night during the virtual 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. (ABC Live screen grab)

Streaming television’s recent awards show successes took a bit of a back seat on Sunday night, as HBO outpaced Netflix, Amazon and others at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

Netflix came into the event with the most nominations with 160 total. HBO had 107. The two networks each won 19 awards at the Creative Arts Emmys which took place earlier last week. Netflix won just two on Sunday night to finish with 21 and HBO led the pack with 30 total on the strength of the shows “Watchmen” and “Succession.”

Amazon had high hopes in the comedy category thanks to the Prime Video series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” which had 20 nominations. The show picked up all four of its awards during the Creative Arts Emmys. Amazon won 15 Emmys last year.

Amazon was up against a runway comedy train, though. The Canadian comedy series “Schitt’s Creek” was a big winner, capturing the first seven awards of the night as it swept the comedy category, winning Best Comedy Series, Comedy Lead Actor (Eugene Levy), Comedy Lead Actress (Catherine O’Hara), Comedy Supporting Actor (Dan Levy), Comedy Supporting Actress (Annie Murphy), and more.

The fact that the show even went on despite the coronavirus pandemic formed the basis for many of the jokes from host Jimmy Kimmel and other stars throughout the night. It all looked a lot like the world has looked for several months — a virtual event with nominees in their homes, connected to the show via what looked like a giant Zoom happy hour.

Kimmel took the stage to what appeared to be a full house of Hollywood stars. But after he was shown in the crowd laughing at one of his own monologue jokes, it became clear that he was indeed hosting without a crowd.

“Of course we don’t have a live audience,” Kimmel said. “This isn’t a MAGA rally, it’s the Emmys.”

“I feel like I’m in a Best Buy,” he said while standing in front of a sea of monitors featuring nominees waving back at him. He said that going on with the show would not stop COVID or the wildfires ravaging the West Coast. “But right now we need fun.”

Actor Ramy Youssef may have had the most viral moment of the night, when he tweeted what it looked like to lose at home, as an overly PPE-clad trophy presenter waved goodbye outside.

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