The people in hazmat suits handing out awards weren’t the weirdest thing to happen at this year’s Emmys. Okay, so yes, maybe the strangeness of the first-ever socially distanced telecast out-weirds some of the biggest surprises of the night, but there were still some nice “holy cow” moments sprinkled in with many of the other presumed winners.

If you didn’t watch the 2020 Emmys or watched but haven’t been paying attention enough to know what was expected and what wasn’t, below we’ve run down some of the night’s biggest surprises – from a Schitt’s Creek sweep to a truly stunning Zendaya win.

‘Schitt’s Creek’ Sweeps the Comedy Categories — Literally

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Image via Pop TV

Going into Emmys night, most expected Schitt’s Creek’s final season would do well, and it was the presumed favorite to win the Best Comedy Series Emmy. But few predicted the Pop TV comedy would win everything. Literally, Schitt’s Creek won every single Comedy Series Emmy – Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Writing, and Directing. It’s the first Comedy or Drama series to ever perform this feat. Now will you finally catch up on this tremendously joyful little comedy series?

Hulk Defeats Wolverine

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Image via HBO

In the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie category, Hugh Jackman was the heavy favorite for his truly terrific performance in the HBO film Bad Education. And if not him, surely some love could be thrown Paul Mescal’s way for his soulful turn in Hulu’s Normal People. Or maybe the Watchmen sweep would include Jeremy Irons’ biting performance as Adrian Veidt? But nope, Mark Ruffalo pulled off the surprise win in the category for his dual performances in the HBO limited series I Know This Much Is True, in which he played twin brothers. The performer dedicated his award to writer/director Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines), who spearheaded the darkly dramatic limited series. It marked Ruffalo’s first acting Emmy win, although he previously scored a trophy as a producer on the HBO original film The Normal Heart.

Zendaya Becomes the Youngest Lead Actress in a Drama Winner

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Image via HBO

The Lead Actress in a Drama category was a bit of a wildcard this year, but the odds favored Helena Bonham Carter for The Crown or maybe Jennifer Aniston for The Morning Show. In a truly shocking move, however, Zendaya won the trophy and became the youngest person to ever win in this category for her starring role in the HBO series Euphoria. The look of sheer surprise on Aniston’s face tells you everything you need to know about how unexpected Zendaya’s win here is, and watching the jubilant celebration of her and her family was one of the perks of this socially distanced Emmys telecast.

‘Unorthodox’ Wins Best Directing for a Limited Series

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Image via Netflix

Netflix’s limited series Unorthodox was a bit of a surprise contender when it picked up so many Emmy nominations, but few expected it would best three stunning Watchmen episodes to win the Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special category. Maria Schrader came away the victor for her direction of this drama series, which is primarily in Yiddish. This could very well have been a case of the three Watchmen episodes cancelling each other out, or perhaps the bevy of nominations convinced more voters to actually watch Unorthodox, after which they deemed it worthy. Regardless, this was a nice little surprise.

Uzo Aduba Wins Again

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Image via FX

Actress Uzo Aduba has won Emmys in the Supporting Actress in a Drama and Guest Actress in a Comedy categories thanks to Orange Is the New Black’s category swap over the years, but now she can add Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie to her list of wins. She beat out favorite Jean Smart in Watchmen and fellow Mrs. America castmembers Margo Martindale and Tracey Ullman to win for her turn as Shirley Chisholm in the Hulu limited series, and honestly her jubilant cry of “Mommy!” after giving her speech from her home was one of the night’s highlights.

‘The Good Place’ Ends Its Run Without a Single Emmy

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Photo by: Colleen Hayes/NBC

Given the aforementioned Schitt’s Creek sweep and the fact that Maya Rudolph lost to herself in the Guest Actress category (she won for SNL), NBC’s four-season comedy The Good Place officially ended its run with zero Emmy wins. Zilch. And that is bullshirt. This was one of the most thoughtful, unique, and funny comedies of the last four years and certainly deserved something during its interim, but oddly enough it was an uphill battle from the start – the show didn’t even receive a Best Comedy Series nomination until its third season.

Unfortunately this is nothing new for beloved showrunner Michael Schur. His brilliant previous show Parks and Recreation also never won a single Emmy, and also didn’t earn its first Best Comedy Series nomination until a few seasons in. And while it’s heartening that Schur continues to create shows that are hilarious, endlessly rewatchable, and deeply introspective, I’ll admit it sucks to see them sidelined by the Television Academy. Fork this.

Pop TV Beats Netflix to a Series Win

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Image via Netflix

It’s kind of crazy, but true – PopTV now has a Best Series win and Netflix still has zero. But I can’t decide if Netflix is deeply upset or just fine. On the one hand, prestige is something most networks aspire to; HBO has kind of made it its brand. And Netflix has certainly had key wins before for shows like The Crown and Ozark, but never the big “Best Series” trophy. On the other hand, do Emmy wins matter for Netflix’s bottom line? Does their subscriber base rise or fall based on Emmy-caliber programming? Probably not. Still, I’ll be curious to see if this truly dismal showing (Netflix only won 2 major Emmys this year) results in a further push into creating prestige or high-caliber programming. If two seasons of Mindhunter does nothing for the TV Academy, I'm not sure what their next play is.

For more on this year’s Emmys, check out Liz’s full review of the surprisingly good telecast.

Adam Chitwood is the Managing Editor for Collider. You can follow him on Twitter @adamchitwood.