The Crown, Ted Lasso early winners at TV awards
Netflix hit gets the royal treatment with four early Emmy Awards, while comedy Ted Lasso also catches its share of prizes right off the bat
Netflix drama The Crown led the Emmys with four awards just 60 minutes into the show on Sunday night.
Tobias Menzies claimed best supporting actor, Gillian Anderson won best supporting actress, Jessica Hobbs won for outstanding directing for a drama and Peter Morgan scored the trophy for outstanding writing in a drama in the first hour of the 73rd Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. The Crown went into the night with a whopping 24 nominations.
“Not a lot of women have won this award so I feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of some, some really extraordinary people. I'm really grateful for the path that they lead and I would particularly like to pay tribute, tribute to my mum, who at 77, is still directing,” Hobbs said after accepting her award live from London where there was a separate location set up.
Ted Lasso actors also clinched early Emmy Awards on Sunday, setting the stage for multiple potential wins for the warm-hearted comedy about a struggling British soccer team.
Star Jason Sudeikis won for lead actor in a comedy series while British actors Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein were named supporting actress and actor in a comedy for their performances as the club owner and aging star player in Ted Lasso.
The comedy was widely expected to win one of the top prizes — best comedy series — after winning over audiences with its optimism and folksy humour during the dark days of the coronavirus pandemic.
SNL won the Emmy for best variety sketch series. Toronto-born-creator and producer Lorne Michaels accepted the award, saying they “began last season with six live election shows in a COVID bubble with everyone in masks and a small audience of exhausted first responders. No better way to do comedy.”
Julianne Nicholson and Evan Peters won Emmys for their supporting roles as a housewife and detective in the limited series Mare of Easttown about a murder in a small Philadelphia town.
Emmys host Cedric the Entertainer got the ceremony off to a rousing start with a musical rap, helped by the likes of Billy Porter, LL Cool J and Billy Porter on the theme of “TV — you got what I need.”
Meanwhile, the cast of the beloved Canadian sitcom Schitt's Creek — which cleaned up at last year's Emmys — made a cameo. Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, Catherine O'hara and Annie Murphy did a funny bit where there was nothing on the prompter, which may or may not have been intentional.
Concerns over the Delta variant of the coronavirus forced Sunday's ceremony to move to an outdoor tent in downtown Los Angeles, with a reduced guest list and mandatory vaccinations and testing.
Many of the British actors gathered in London to watch the ceremony there, but the Los Angeles red carpet looked much like pre-pandemic days, with stars posing maskless in plunging gowns and bold colours.
The Crown was widely expected to clinch its first best drama series Emmy toward the end of the night, as well as trophies for the actors who played Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman), Prince Charles (Josh O'connor), and a young Princess Diana (newcomer Emma Corrin).
A best drama series win for The Crown would mark a milestone for Netflix, while Apple TV+ would enter streaming's big league with a comedy series win for Ted Lasso.
Other leading best drama series contenders included dystopian saga The Handmaid's Tale, sci-fi favourite The Mandalorian featuring the lovable Baby Yoda, and period romance Bridgerton.
The closest contest on Sunday was for best limited series, which produced contenders ranging from harrowing British rape drama I May Destroy You to Kate Winslet's downtrodden detective in Mare of Easttown, and innovative superhero dramedy Wandavision on Disney+.