USA TODAY International Edition
Emmys voters turn to ‘SNL,’ ‘Big Little Lies’
Brown, Glover make their mark; ‘Veep’ star sets a new mark
The Emmys always has been an awards show that thrived on its own predictability. Beloved shows repeat in the same categories year after year, the same stars walk the red carpet and the show runs longer than its allotted time.
At the 69th Primetime Emmys Sunday, the awards had to be a bit unpredictable, whether the TV Academy liked it or not. Game of
Thrones, which has been an Emmy favorite since it made its debut in 2011 and won the outstanding drama series award for the past two years, wasn’t eligible because of its summer start date.
Coupled with the sheer number of new series entering the fray, from cable and streaming but also NBC’s family drama This
Is Us, the races — especially in drama series — became a little more exciting. And even when playing it safe, the TV Academy picked strong, worthy winners. When there’s this much talent on the screens, it’s hard to go wrong.
The winners for leading comedy actor and actress highlighted the duality of this year’s awards. Donald Glover, one of the most intriguing new voices in the room, won for his series, FX’s Atlanta, making him a welcome addition to the roster of winners. For the sixth consecutive time, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for HBO’s Veep, a record number of wins for the same role. She continues to do great work, but it would have been nice to see Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish) or Pamela Adlon (Better Things) break through.
Veep also took the award for best comedy for the third year running. In his acceptance speech, executive producer David Mandel recognized that the series is on its way out. (HBO has announced a seventh and final season for 2018.) Perhaps Atlanta will have a better chance after
Veep’s finale.
It was a big night for HBO, even without Thrones. The network’s Big Little Lies won five awards, including best limited series, and three of the four acting categories for limited series/TV movie. Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, who produced and starred in the series, recognized the power of TV and the power of stories by and about women when accepting the limited-series award. “Bring women to the front of their own stories, make them the hero of their own stories,” Witherspoon said.
Saturday Night Live also had a great night, taking the award for outstanding variety sketch series, its first win in a comparable category since 1993, when it won for variety, music or comedy series. Kate McKinnon was rewarded for supporting actress, her second consecutive win.
Alec Baldwin, perhaps the man most responsible for this season’s success thanks to his impression of President Trump, won for supporting actor in a comedy. “I suppose I should say, at long last Mr. President, here is your Emmy,” he quipped at the beginning of a moving speech about the importance of art.
Proving that the Emmys could still have big surprises, Ann Dowd was named supporting actress, drama for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s
Tale, a worthy win for a veteran actress that was so shocking, even Dowd seemed numbed by it. Riz Ahmed also was a welcome spoiler, winning actor in a limited series or TV movie for The Night
Of. Some predictable choices were more than welcome, such as John Lithgow taking supporting actor in a drama, for playing Winston Churchill in The Crown.
The Emmys were at their best when they recognized different points of view thriving on TV. Lena Waithe a winner for Master of
None, echoed that sentiment. “The things that make us different, those are our superpowers.”