By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” became the first streaming series to win top Emmy comedy honors and HBO’s “Game of Thrones” recaptured the best drama series award Monday at a ceremony that largely slighted its most ethnically diverse field of nominees ever.
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Amazon’s freshman sitcom about an unhappy 1950s homemaker liberated by stand-up comedy, earned best actress honors for star Rachel Brosnahan.
Her castmate Alex Borstein earned the supporting actress trophy and the series creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, nabbed writing and directing awards.
Claire Foy of “The Crown” and Matthew Rhys of “The Americans” won top drama acting Emmys, their first trophies for the roles and last chance to claim them, with Foy’s role as Queen Elizabeth II going to another actress and Rhys’ show wrapped.
The field bested by Foy included last year’s winner Elisabeth Moss for “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Sandra Oh of “Killing Eve,” who would have been the first actor of Asian descent to get a top drama award.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” said a startled Foy.
“Game of Thrones,” which sat out last year’s Emmys because of scheduling, won despite competition from defending champ “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“Thank you for letting us take care of your people,” ‘’Game of Thrones” producer D.B. Weiss said to George R.R. Martin, whose novels fuel the drama.
In a ceremony that started out congratulating TV academy voters for the most ethnically diverse field of nominees ever, the early awards all went to whites.
“Let’s get it trending: #EmmysSoWhite,” presenter James Corden joked at the midway point, riffing off an earlier tribute to Betty White.
“I want to say six awards, all white winners, and nobody has thanked Jesus yet,” co-host Michael Che said, referring back to his earlier joke that only African-American and Republican winners do.
Then Regina King broke the string, with a best actress trophy in a limited series or movie for “Seven Seconds,” which tracks the fallout from a white police officer’s traffic accident involving a black teenager.
She was followed by Darren Criss, who won the lead acting award for the miniseries “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” and who is of Filipino descent.
Thandie Newton won best supporting drama actress for “Westworld,” and Peter Dinklage added a third trophy to his collection for “Game of Thrones.”
Brosnahan used her acceptance speech to give a shout-out to her comedy’s celebration of women power.
“It’s about a woman who’s finding her voice anew, and it’s one of the things that’s happening all over the country now,” she said. She urged the audience to exercise that power by voting.
Bill Hader collected the best comedy actor award for “Barry,” a dark comedy about a hired killer who stumbles into a possible acting career.
Henry Winkler, aka “The Fonz,” won a supporting actor award — his first Emmy — for “Barry,” four decades after gaining fame for his role in “Happy Days.”
“If you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you. Tonight, I got to clear the table,” an ebullient Winkler said, with an equally delighted auditorium audience rising to give him a standing ovation. To his grown children, he said: “You can go to bed now, daddy won!”
The biggest award so far won by a broadcast network was “Saturday Night Live” for best variety sketch series.
The Emmys had a real-life dramatic moment when winning director Glenn Weiss, noting his mother had died two weeks ago, proposed to his girlfriend, Jan Svendsen.
“You wonder why I don’t want to call you my girlfriend? It’s because I want to call you my wife,” Weiss said. She said yes, he put his mother’s ring on her finger and the crowd whooped and cheered.
John Oliver, in picking up the trophy for best variety talk show award for “Last Week Tonight,” thanked Weiss’ girlfriend for giving the right answer or, he joked, the whole ceremony could have gone south.
The Emmys kicked off with a song, “We Solved It,” a celebration to the diversity of nominees sung by stars including Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson. The tune included a mention that Oh could become the first woman of Asian descent to win an Emmy. “There were none, now there’s one, so we’re done,” the comedians sang.
Oh played along from her seat: “Thank you, but it’s an honor just to be Asian,” said the Korean-Canadian actress.
“Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, producing his second Emmy telecast in 30 years, was tasked with turning viewership around after the 2017 show’s audience of 11.4 million narrowly avoided the embarrassment of setting a new low.
The ceremony clearly bore his stamp, with Che and Jost as hosts and familiar “SNL” faces, including Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin, as presenters and nominees. The long-running NBC sketch show, already the top Emmy winner ever with 71, won again for best variety sketch series.
The pressure’s on Michaels because NBC and other broadcasters are increasingly reliant on awards and other live events to draw viewers distracted by streaming and more 21st- century options. The networks, which air the Emmy telecast on a rotating basis, are so eager for the ad dollars it generates and its promotional value for fall shows that they endure online competitors sharing the stage.
Counting last weekend's Creative Arts Emmys, HBO and Netflix tied for the most Emmy wins with 23 apiece.
"Game of Thrones" topped the program tally with nine Emmys, followed by "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and "Saturday Night Live" with eight each, and "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" with seven.
Here's a rundown of the evening's Emmy winners:
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
HENRY WINKLER as Gene Cousineau HBO
Barry
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
ALEX BORSTEIN as Susie
PRIME VIDEO
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
AMY SHERMAN-PALLADINO, Written by
PRIME VIDEO
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Pilot
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
AMY SHERMAN-PALLADINO, Directed by
PRIME VIDEO
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Pilot
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
RACHEL BROSNAHAN as Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel
PRIME VIDEO
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
BILL HADER as Barry
HBO
Barry
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
MERRITT WEVER as Mary Agnes
NETFLIX
Godless
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
JEFF DANIELS as Frank Griffin
NETFLIX
Godless
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
WILLIAM BRIDGES, Written by
CHARLIE BROOKER, Written by
NETFLIX
USS Callister (Black Mirror)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
RYAN MURPHY, Directed by
FX NETWORKS
The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
The Man Who Would Be Vogue
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
REGINA KING as Latrice Butler
NETFLIX
Seven Seconds
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
DARREN CRISS as Andrew Cunanan
FX NETWORKS
The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
JOHN MULANEY, Written by
NETFLIX
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous At Radio City
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
GLENN WEISS, Directed by
ABC
The Oscars
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
PETER DINKLAGE as Tyrion Lannister
HBO
Game Of Thrones
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
THANDIE NEWTON as Maeve
HBO
Westworld
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
JOEL FIELDS, Written by
JOE WEISBERG, Written by
FX NETWORKS
The Americans
Start
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
STEPHEN DALDRY, Directed by
NETFLIX
The Crown
Paterfamilias
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
MATTHEW RHYS as Philip Jennings
FX NETWORKS
The Americans
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
CLAIRE FOY as Queen Elizabeth II
NETFLIX
The Crown
OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE
VH1
Pamela Post, Executive Producer
Tim Palazzola, Executive Producer
Fenton Bailey, Executive Producer
Randy Barbato, Executive Producer
Tom Campbell, Executive Producer
RuPaul Charles, Executive Producer
Mandy Salangsang, Executive Producer
Steven Corfe, Executive Producer
Bruce McCoy, Co-Executive Producer
Michele Mills, Co-Executive Producer
Jacqueline Wilson, Co-Executive Producer
Lisa Steele, Supervising Producer
Thairin Smothers, Senior Producer
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
NBC
Lorne Michaels, Executive Producer
Ken Aymong, Supervising Producer
Lindsay Shookus, Producer
Erin Doyle, Producer
Tom Broecker, Producer
Steve Higgins, Produced by
Erik Kenward, Produced by
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER
HBO
John Oliver, Executive Producer/Host
Tim Carvell, Executive Producer
Liz Stanton, Executive Producer
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY
FX NETWORKS
Ryan Murphy, Executive Producer
Nina Jacobson, Executive Producer
Brad Simpson, Executive Producer
Alexis Martin Woodall, Executive Producer
Tom Rob Smith, Executive Producer
Daniel Minahan, Executive Producer
Brad Falchuk, Executive Producer
Scott Alexander, Executive Producer
Larry Karaszewski, Executive Producer
Chip Vucelich, Co-Executive Producer/Produced by
Eric Kovtun, Producer
Lou Eyrich, Producer
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Producer
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Amy Sherman-Palladino, Executive Producer
Daniel Palladino, Executive Producer
Sheila Lawrence, Co-Executive Producer
Dhana Rivera Gilbert, Produced by
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
GAME OF THRONES
HBO
David Benioff, Executive Producer
D.B. Weiss, Executive Producer
Carolyn Strauss, Executive Producer
Frank Doelger, Executive Producer
Bernadette Caulfield, Executive Producer
George R.R. Martin, Co-Executive Producer
Guymon Casady, Co-Executive Producer
Vince Gerardis, Co-Executive Producer
Bryan Cogman, Co-Executive Producer
Chris Newman, Producer
Lisa McAtackney, Producer
Greg Spence, Producer
AP Writers Mike Cidoni Lennox in Los Angeles and Leanne Italie in New York contributed to this report.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More