INSIDE THE 2021 EMMY AWARDS
‘The Crown’ is winner of the best drama series, giving Netflix its first top series win
Netflix’s The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit combined with Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso to win top series honours at the Sunday’s Emmy Awards, a first for streaming services that cemented their rise to prominence in the television industry.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Peter Morgan, the creator and writer of the British royal saga The Crown, which collected acting, writing and directing awards in addition to four acting honours.
His comment may also apply to the premium cable channels that once dominated the Emmy Awards and to the broadcast networks — including Sunday’s ceremony host, CBS — that have long grown accustomed to being largely also-rans.
STREAMING WINS
Netflix won a leading total of 44 awards, equaling the broadcast network record set back in 1974, by CBS. There was a bright spot for HBO with its limited series Mare of Easttown, the crime drama that earned four Emmys, including a lead acting award for star Kate Winslet. For broadcaster NBC, Saturday Night Live again came through with variety honours.
The ceremony proved disappointing as well to those scrutinising diversity in Hollywood. The record number of nominees of colour yielded only two Black winners, including RuPaul for RuPaul’s Drag Race and Michaela Coel for I May Destroy You.
Cedric the Entertainer proved a game host, moving from a hip-hop opening number to gags and sketches, but the relatively small crowd — a result of pandemic precautions — was fairly muted in their response to him and others’ one-liners.
There was a feeling of personal loss that pervaded the night, with a number of winners recounting the loss of loved ones.
The Crown stars Olivia Colman and Josh O’Connor won the top drama acting honours Sunday, with Jason Sudeikis, star of the warm-hearted Ted Lasso, and Jean Smart of the generation-gap story Hacks, winners on the comedy side.
Colman and O’Connor were a winning fictional mother-son duo: She plays Queen Elizabeth II, with O’Connor as Prince Charles in the British royal family saga that combines gravitas and soap opera.
“I’d have put money on that not happening,” Colman said of the award, calling it “a lovely end to the most extraordinary journey” with the show’s cast and creators.
She cut her remarks short, explaining why she was growing tearful.
“I lost my daddy during Covid, and he would have loved all of this.” she said.
O’Connor gave a shoutout to Emma Corwin, who played opposite him as Princess Diana and was also a nominee Sunday, as a “force of nature.”
Sudeikis, who co-created the series that many viewers found a balm for tough pandemic times, gave a speech that evoked the chipper, upbeat character he plays in the series about a UK soccer team and its unlikely American coach. “This show’s about families and mentors and teammates, and I wouldn’t be here without those things in my life,” said Sudeikis. He also thanked his fellow castmates, saying “I’m only as good as you guys make me look.”
Smart, who received a standing ovation, began her acceptance speech on a somber note: Her husband actor, Richard Gilliland, died six months ago. “I would not be here without him” and his willingness to put her career first, said Smart.
Kate Winslet, who played the title character in Mare of Easttown, and Ewan McGregor, who starred in the fashion biopic Halston, were honoured as top actors for a limited series. Winslet saluted her sister nominees in “this decade that has to be about women having each other’s back.”