On a winning streak
Stranger Things, Westworld and Big Little Lies among shows to walk away with Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
NETFLIX’S Stranger Things and HBO’s Westworld gained momentum in the Emmy Award race as both shows racked up five wins at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
NBC’s This Is Us pulled out a big win with the last award of the night – the guest drama actor win for Gerald McRaney. The same was true for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale as Alexis Bledel prevailed for guest drama actress.
Saturday Night Live, the venerable NBC sketch comedy, also took five wins, including comedy guest actor and actress awards for Dave Chappelle, as host, and Melissa McCarthy, for her guest appearances as former White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Stranger Things took the drama series casting kudo – a category that is often a bellwether for programme wins at the televised Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which is set for Sept 17. HBO’s Big Little Lies won for casting for a limited series.
Two other wins for Big Little Lies – the first-ever music supervision award and contemporary costumes – indicate Emmy voters’ affection for the limited series. HBO’s The Night Of collected four wins that recognised the craftsmanship of the show, taking the trophies for cinematography, editing, sound mixing and sound editing.
HBO’s Westworld established its momentum early in the night. The epic fantasy drama won for visual effects, sound mixing, interactive programming, hairstyling and makeup.
Netflix’s The Crown collected two prizes, for production design and period-drama costumes.
Stranger Things also took the main title theme music win, for TV newbies Michael Stein and Kyle THE big night is almost upon us.
The Emmys are taking place next Sunday, and as the ceremony nears, the predictions ramp up, especially for one of the most important categories of the show, best drama.
With Game Of Thrones out of the running this year, the road’s been paved for other dramas to take the spotlight.
HBO’s Westworld has the distinction of being tied with Saturday Night Live for the most Dixon. Jeff Russo won for music composition for a limited series for FX’s Fargo. Jeff Beal won music composition for a series for Netflix’s House Of Cards. Jane Lynch added another Emmy to her trophy with the win for short-form actress for her online series Dropping The Soap.
Kim Estes won short-form actor for Dicks. Both McRaney and Bledel were unexpected winners against tough competition. McRaney has been a staple of TV since the 1970s but This Is Us marked his first-ever Emmy nomination. McRaney told reporters backstage that he’s happy for the breakthrough at long last because “what it means to a working actor is that he can keep working.” But McRaney also emphasised that he never chased awards stardust. The work is the major reward, he said.
“If I worked in a bank, I’d also be working at a little theatre doing a play,” he said. “To me the process of doing this is more important than just about anything else... This is the icing on a very delicious cake.”
Bledel said she was gratified to have been part of a series that has touched a nerve in the culture with its look at a dystopian America where women are subjugated for breeding purposes.
“It’s really an incredible thing when creating art inspires conversation and it’s thought-provoking enough to stand out in this way,” she said. – Reuters