The ceremony was produced by Reginald Hudlin and Ian Stewart, directed by Hamish Hamilton, and broadcast in the United States by CBS and Paramount+.

The nominations for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on July 13, 2021, by Ron and Jasmine Cephas Jones via a virtual event.

[5] Michaela Jaé Rodriguez of the series Pose became the first transgender person to be nominated for a major acting Emmy Award.

[12] It also became just the third show to complete a sweep of the major categories, following Angels in America as a limited series in 2004 and Schitt's Creek as a comedy in 2020.

[21] Jean Smart became the second woman to win Emmys for lead, supporting, and guest acting in comedies, after Betty White.

[23] While a record was set for diverse nominations and the ceremony featured many presenters of color,[24][25] white individuals won all 12 major acting trophies.

[24] The Creative Arts Emmys were more diverse, with three of the four guest acting winners being black and many people of color winning in technical categories, though those awards are considered less notable.

The Governors Award was presented to Debbie Allen "in recognition of her numerous contributions to the television medium through multiple creative forms and her philanthropic endeavors around the world".

[75] In an interview with Variety, Hudlin and Stewart explained that they aimed to make the ceremony a "celebration" after the events of the previous year.

Jimmy Kimmel hosted the ceremony from Staples Center with no audience, while all nominees appeared remotely via video link.

[78] When announcing the move to the Event Deck, the Television Academy explained that the change would allow the ceremony to "utilize an indoor/outdoor setting and more socially-distanced audience seating".

[85] The comments, which were delivered off-script and partially tongue-in-cheek, led to criticism of the event on social media and reportedly frustrated producers Stewart and Hudlin.

[86][87] The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health also clarified that the ceremony was fully compliant with COVID-19 regulations for film, television, and music productions, which included proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the event.

[89] In June, it was announced that acting nominees and winners could request that the gender-neutral term "performer" be used instead of "actor" or "actress" on their certificates and statuettes.

[97] IndieWire's Ben Travers noted that the awards were "a traditional telecast" befitting CBS's light, safe programming and found that it lacked a "special sauce ... to distinguish it for anything good".

[98] Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin found that most of the jokes "didn't just fall flat — they cratered",[99] while Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone called it "one long coffin flop" that "decided to remind everyone what sucked about [award ceremonies]".

[101] Robert Lloyd from the Los Angeles Times found the ceremony "fun, if nerve-racking" given the apparent disregard for COVID-19 protocols, singling out the pacing and energy for praise; he also applauded the diversity of the presenters.

[102] Several moments also received praise even from negative reviews, such as Michaela Coel's acceptance speech and Conan O'Brien "injecting a little anarchy into the proceedings" from the audience.