‘Thrones’ & ‘Maisel’ win big at Emmys

Trio bag awards

LOS ANGELES, Sept 16, (Agencies): “Games of Thrones” raked in 10 trophies on Sunday to dominate the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, held at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

“Thrones” cleaned up in craft and technical categories, from visual effects to single-camera, nonprosthetic makeup to main title design to drama series casting. The show is the most nominated program in the 2019 Emmy race, with a total of 32 noms and up for 18 kudos on Sunday. As expected, “Thrones” is heading into the Sept 22 Primetime Emmy Awards with strong momentum to triumph once again at the ceremony, which will be telecast live on Fox. On Sunday, HBO’s “Chernobyl” grabbed seven wins, followed by Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” with six. The heft from “Thrones” and “Chernobyl” put HBO over the top in the network race coming out of the two-night Creative Arts ceremony, with HBO collecting 25 statuettes to Netflix’s 23. National Geographic TV and Amazon were tied for third with eight apiece.

A trio of Emmy-honored actors are winners again for their guest performances in TV series, joined by an awards newcomer.

Bradley Whitford and Cherry Jones received trophies for their “The Handmaid’s Tale” roles at Sunday’s creative arts Emmy ceremony.

Jane Lynch and Luke Kirby won on the comedy side, both for “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”.

Jones, who previously won for “24”, heaped praise backstage on fellow nominee Phylicia Rashad (“This Is Us”), calling it “absurd” that Rashad has yet to win an Emmy despite four nominations, and saluted Cicely Tyson, nominated for “How to Get Away with Murder”.

“I got to tell Ms Tyson tonight that watching the ‘Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’ is one of the things that made me want to be an actress, and I tell her that every time I see her and she always rolls her eyes,” Jones said.

Whitford has an Emmy for “The West Wing” and one for “Transparent” – the latter for guest actor in a comedy, making him the first actor to win comedy and drama guest star Emmys.

In his acceptance speech, Whitford struck a political note as he thanked Margaret Atwood for the titular novel that is the basis of the dystopian “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Atwood is “giving us perspective in this disorienting moment as we are inundated and undermined by a misogynistic, radical, right-wing ideology,” he said. “She understands three things: Despair is not an option. Our children can’t afford it. Action is the antidote to despair.”

Lynch, who added to her four previous Emmys for series including “Glee” and “Hollywood Game Night”, said she based her portrayal of a 1950s comic on the women she grew up watching.

“I went right to the source: Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields, Moms Mabley,” Lynch said. “Back then, in order for a woman to be in comedy, she had to have a gimmick. Usually that meant cracking wise about her own looks, her bad body, how she can’t hold on to a man. But these women did it with such panache and style and such self-possession, and they inspire me.”

Kirby, who played Lenny Bruce on “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”, has also appeared in “The Deuce” and “Rectify”.

“Chernobyl’s” victories included limited series/TV movie music composition for the haunting work by Icelandic composer Hildur Gudnadottir. The first-time Emmy winner bowed to the crowd as she dedicated her win to the people of the Chernobyl region who endured the horror of a nuclear disaster.

“To everyone who suffered at all from Chernobyl, thank you for allowing us to tell this story,” she said.

Netflix’s critical darling “Russian Doll” captured three awards, including half-hour production design and cinematography honors.

Nike’s “Dream Crazy” won the kudo for commercial. HBO’s “Succession” won for main title theme music, for composer Nicholas Britell.

Netflix’s “When They See Us” took the casting laurel for limited series. Casting director Aisha Coley dedicated the win to the five men who were wrongfully convicted in the 1989 Central Park jogger case. She also expressed her gratitude to “When They See Us” exec producer, writer and director Ava DuVernay. “You inspire us,” she said of DuVernay.

Lynch

Winners

Outstanding short form comedy or drama series: State of the Union (Sundance TV)

Outstanding single-camera picture editing for a drama series: Game of Thrones (HBO)

Outstanding single-camera picture editing for a comedy series: Fleabag (Amazon)

Outstanding cinematography for a single-camera series (half-hour): Russian Doll (Netflix)

Outstanding cinematography for a limited series or movie: Chernobyl (HBO)

Outstanding actress in a short form comedy or drama series: Rosamund Pike, State of the Union (Sundance TV)

Outstanding sound editing for a limited series or movie: Chernobyl (HBO)

Outstanding sound mixing for a comedy or drama series (one hour): Game of Thrones (HBO)

Outstanding casting for a drama series: Game of Thrones (HBO)

Outstanding casting for a comedy series: (Amazon)

Outstanding casting for a limited series, movie or special: When They See Us (Netflix)

Outstanding music supervision: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amazon)

Outstanding music composition for a limited series, movie or special (original dramatic score): Chernobyl (HBO)

Outstanding music composition for a series (original dramatic score): Game of Thrones (HBO) Outstanding commercial: Nike – Dream Crazy Outstanding original interactive program: NASA’s InSight Mars Landing

Outstanding creative achievement in interactive media within a scripted program: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix)

Outstanding actor in a short form comedy or drama series: Chris O’Dowd, State Of The Union (Sundance TV)

Outstanding original main title theme music: Succession (HBO)

Fleabag