The 66th annual
Primetime Emmy Awards were all kinds of awesome, with very satisfactory
results, a good host and a rather well-paced evening. Take a look at the highlights
of the show...
The Emmys started with
quite the burst of laughs, with the line-up of host Seth Meyers' opening full
of relevant and topical references to television's glorious present, the
emergence of Netflix, the broadcast vs. cable battle and digs that were made,
at HBO, at the death of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER's titular mother, the GAME OF
THRONES actors having no job security and THE BIG BANG THEORY's leading actors
making $1 million per episode, were priceless. It was quite a way to begin the
awards presentation, even if most of the meaty material of the evening was
exhausted in the first segment itself.
While some other presenters, such as
Jimmy Fallon, went on to make less than funny jokes that fell flat, the
interaction with the audience members such as Jon Hamm and Melissa McCarthy,
didn’t strike the right chord either. However, Seth Meyers kept returning with
bits of freshness, especially during his presentation with Andy Samberg. The
worded medley of TV show themes that followed was quite entertaining, especially
the GAME OF THRONES bit at the end. Andy Samberg as King Joffrey interrupting
Lena Headey's presentation was hilarious. Among the other presenters that
brought the house down were Ricky Gervais and Julia Roberts, despite the
latter's delayed announcement of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
And that brings me to
the results... I can honestly say that I do not remember the last time that I
was this satisfied with the results of an awards show. BREAKING BAD won big,
and deservedly so. Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn winning supporting actor and
actress, respectively, was not a surprise, given their exceptional performances
in the last few episodes of the series.
However, Bryan Cranston's win
definitely came as a surprise for many; not because he didn't deserve it
(definitely not), but because everyone was pretty sure that Matthew McConaughey
would win for TRUE DETECTIVE. Many even believed that TRUE DETECTIVE would win
Outstanding Drama Series, but BREAKING BAD's amazing swan song was rewarded
with the big prize instead.
The other big winner of
the evening was MODERN FAMILY, and not just because it won Outstanding Comedy
Series and Ty Burrell’s Outstanding Supporting Actor – Comedy win. The show's
win for comedy series put it alongside FRASIER, becoming one of two shows that
have won the highest number of Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series. MODERN
FAMILY's fifth consecutive win in this category may have garnered polarized
views, with people going 'yawn' or 'yay', but I think that it's a show that
deserves to have that distinction, owing to its consistent quality year after
year.
While jokes were made
about broadcast vs. cable, Julianna Margulies, made a strong point, when
accepting her well-deserved Emmy for THE GOOD WIFE. She said, “But truly, this
belongs to [showrunners] Robert and Michelle King; all our writers, who never
cease to amaze me with 22 episodes a year.” This made a strong point about how the
show’s quality is at par with any of the cable (or Netflix) dramas that are considered among the finest on television,
despite how the volume of material that a show like theirs produces is far
more, sometimes even three times more, than what the cable shows produce. And
it was actually refreshing that this time at the Emmys, even though no
broadcast show was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, it turned out that they
won as many awards as cable shows did in the main categories—outstanding series,
acting (lead and supporting), and direction. I was pleasantly surprised by
Allison Janney’s win for MOM. The nomination itself was a surprise, but for the
Academy to have given her the award is quite commendable.
While several results
were predictable—Jim Parsons for THE BIG BANG THEORY and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
for VEEP, for instance—the Emmy winners were in no way undeserving. And
regardless of the few moments of forced humor, it was a well-balanced show. The
‘In Memoriam’ section was kept short and sweet, yet allowing Billy Crystal to
do justice to his tribute to Robin Williams, perhaps because of the criticism that
the Emmys got last year for dragging it out. And if the results are as
satisfying, to the point of being able to say that no one was really snubbed,
then I’d say that it was a good Emmys! And of course, we'll always remember how Bryan Cranston reminded Julia Louis-Dreyfus of when they had worked together on SEINFELD, a long time ago!
Take a look at this list
of some of the main winners and share your thoughts on the Emmys in the comments
section below.
Outstanding
Drama Series
BREAKING BAD
DOWNTON ABBEY
GAME OF THRONES
HOUSE OF CARDS
MAD MEN
TRUE DETECTIVE
Outstanding
Comedy Series
THE BIG BANG THEORY
LOUIE
MODERN FAMILY
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
SILICON VALLEY
VEEP
Lead
Actor in a Drama
Bryan Cranston, BREAKING
BAD
Jeff Daniels, THE
NEWSROOM
Jon Hamm, MAD MEN
Woody Harrelson, TRUE
DETECTIVE
Matthew McConaughey,
TRUE DETECTIVE
Kevin Spacey, HOUSE OF
CARDS
Lead
Actress in a Drama
Lizzy Caplan, MASTERS OF
SEX
Claire Danes, HOMELAND
Michelle Dockery,
DOWNTON ABBEY
Julianna Marguiles, THE
GOOD WIFE
Kerry Washington,
SCANDAL
Robin Wright, HOUSE OF
CARDS
Lead
Actor in a Comedy
Louis C.K., LOUIE
Don Cheadle, HOUSE OF
LIES
Ricky Gervais, DEREK
Matt LeBlanc, EPISODES
William H. Macy,
SHAMELESS
Jim Parsons, THE BIG
BANG THEORY
Lead
Actress in a Comedy
Lena Dunham, GIRLS
Edie Falco, NURSE JACKIE
Julia Louis-Dreyfus,
VEEP
Melissa McCarthy, MIKE
& MOLLY
Amy Poehler, PARKS &
RECREATION
Taylor Schilling, ORANGE
IS THE NEW BLACK
Supporting
Actor in a Drama
Aaron Paul, BREAKING BAD
Jim Carter, DOWNTON
ABBEY
Peter Dinklage, GAME OF
THRONES
Josh Charles, THE GOOD
WIFE
Mandy Patinkin, HOMELAND
Jon Voight, RAY DONOVAN
Supporting
Actress in a Drama
Anna Gunn, BREAKING BAD
Maggie Smith, DOWNTON
ABBEY
Joanne Froggatt, DOWNTON
ABBEY
Lena Headey, GAME OF
THRONES
Christine Baranski, THE
GOOD WIFE
Christina Hendricks, MAD
MEN
Supporting
Actor in a Comedy
Andre Braugher, BROOKLYN
NINE-NINE
Adam Driver, GIRLS
Jesse Tyler Ferguson,
MODERN FAMILY
Ty Burrell, MODERN
FAMILY
Fred Armisen, PORTLANDIA
Tony Hale, VEEP
Supporting
Actress in a Comedy
Mayim Bialik, THE BIG
BANG THEORY
Julie Bowen, MODERN
FAMILY
Allison Janney, MOM
Kate Mulgrew, ORANGE IS
THE NEW BLACK
Kate McKinnon, SATURDAY
NIGHT LIVE
Anna Chlumsky, VEEP
Outstanding
Directing For A Drama Series
BOARDWALK EMPIRE
("Farewell Daddy Blues"), Tim Van Patten
BREAKING BAD
("Felina"), Vince Gilligan
DOWNTON ABBEY
("Episode 1"), David Evans
GAME OF THRONES
("The Watchers on the Wall"), Neil Marshall
HOUSE OF CARDS
("Chapter 14"), Carl Franklin
TRUE DETECTIVE
("Who Goes There"), Cary Joji Fukunaga
Outstanding
Directing For A Comedy Series
EPISODES ("Episode
309"), Iain B. MacDonald
GLEE ("100"),
Paris Barclay
LOUIS ("Elevator,
Part 6"), Louis C.K.
MODERN FAMILY
("Vegas"), Gail Mancuso
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
("Lesbian Request Denied"), Jodie Foster
SILICON VALLEY
("Minimum Viable Product"), Mike Judge
Outstanding
Writing For A Drama Series
BREAKING BAD
("Ozymandias"), Moira Walley-Beckett
BREAKING BAD
("Felina"), Vince Gilligan
GAME OF THRONES
("The Children"), David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
HOUSE OF CARDS
("Chapter 14"), Beau Willimon
TRUE DETECTIVE
("The Secret Fate of All Life"), Nic Pizzolatto
Outstanding
Writing For A Comedy Series
EPISODES ("Episode
305"), David Crane
LOUIE ("So Did The
Fat Lady"), Louis C.K.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
("I Wasn't Ready"), Jenji Kohan and Liz Friedman
SILICON VALLEY
("Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency"), Alec Berg
VEEP ("Special
Relationship"), Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, and Armando Iannucci
Photo courtesy: Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences, NBC
This post also appeared on TheLabel.in.
This post also appeared on TheLabel.in.
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