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September 17, 2018

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On September 18, 2018
Last modified:October 14, 2018

Summary:

Emmys 2018 saw the return of "Game of Thrones" and the premiere of "Mrs. Maisel" to the stage "Versace" and "Ru Paul's Drag Race" also took home gold. But, lackluster hosting made for a slow night.

TV’s Biggest Night, the Emmy Awards, proved to be a night of some surprise wins, some snubs, and a proposal! The show was hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che of Saturday Night Live and produced by SNL head honcho, Lorne Micheals. With SNL cast members (alums and current) taking over for comedy, there were some good bits and some bits that lasted a little too long. Overall, the Emmy show went as planned, but the best speech went to Oscars director Glenn Weiss who proposed to his girlfriend after his win.

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Hosting Duties

Jost and Che are best known for co-hosting SNL’s iconic Weekend Update. The hosts having been manning the desk for several years and their deadpan presentation makes them a hit with viewers. Although, their lackluster style doesn’t quite work to fill the room. They could win the award for least energetic hosts. Some jokes landed, some didn’t. The majority of the jokes were focused on diversity, race, and Michael Che’s mother’s request for more winners to thank Jesus in speeches. Their ongoing shtick with Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen was a little too forced.

The top of the show was actually opened by SNL fan favorites Kate McKinnon and Kennan Thompson with a song about celebrating the “solve” to Hollywood’s diversity problem. A dance number is always a smart way to open the show, but this performance, which later included Titus Burgess, Kristen Bell, and a cameo from Ru Paul, felt more like an SNL spoof of the Emmy’s than the opening of the show itself. The best SNL cast member Emmy’s host was Jimmy Fallon who opened the Emmys in 2010 with a memorable and star-studded performance of “Born to Run.”

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Winners Circle

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Not surprisingly, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from Amazon was the top awards collector. Rachel Brosnahan, Amy Sherman-Palladino, and the series took home gold at the Golden Globes last winter just after the show’s release. The buzz never stopped and the series went home with 8 wins total. Brosnahan went home with the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series win. Sherman-Palladino won for both writing and direction of the pilot episode. An additional win went to Alex Borstein for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Borstein has been a staple in TV comedy for decades with an additional win this year for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for Lois Griffin on Family Guy.

Other comedy award highlights go to Henry Winkler winning his long-anticipated Emmy for HBO’s Barry. He claims he wrote his speech 43 years earlier. The TV icon was celebrated by the audience with a standing ovation. Winkler’s Barry co-star, Bill Hader, won for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy.

Image result for emmy 2018The drama categories also didn’t surprise much. Game of Thrones was not included in many of the categories, but Peter Dinklage took home another Emmy for the series. GoT won Outstanding Drama Series, so the year and a half long wait didn’t seem to stop the awards train for the fan favorite. With the show not returning until “sometime” in 2019, it is possible the show will qualify for next year’s Emmys, but that remains to be seen. The current rumor has the show returning in April, which would leave it eligible for next season’s Emmys.

The limited series category has largely been dominated by dramatic stories. This year the top prize went to projected winner, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. The series also saw a win for series creator and director, Ryan Murphy, and a first-Emmy win for star, Darren Criss. The original run of Crime Story focused on the O.J. Simpson trial to rave reviews. The third season is reportedly about hurricane Katrina. Jeff Bridges and Merritt Wever took home the gold for Godless in the supporting categories.

Snubs and Losses

The biggest surprises came from who didn’t win. With Game of Thrones off the air last year, Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale took home the majority of awards, but this year did not win any category at the primetime show. Only a few Creative Arts Emmy wins last week, including a win for Guest Actor for Samira Wiley. This season of Handmaid’s Tale was not as buzzed about or as culture shifting as the first season seemed to be. With main and supporting cast and series nominated, the show could have won two years in a row, but GoT proved too big a juggernaut for Emmy voters to ignore.

In reality, Ru Paul’s Drag Race took the top prize over consistent winner, Top Chef. The other single representative for a series was Thandie Newton for Westworld. The western’s sophomore run proved not to be part of the larger Emmy conversation this year.

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Complete Winner List

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

Louie Anderson,” Baskets”
Alec Baldwin, “Saturday Night Live”
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Brian Tyree Henry, “Atlanta”
Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”
Henry Winkler, “Barry” – WINNER

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

Zazie Beetz, “Atlanta”
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – WINNER
Aidy Bryant, “Saturday Night Live”
Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”
Leslie Jones, “Saturday Night Live”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Laurie Metcalf, “Roseanne”
Megan Mullally, “Will & Grace”

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or TV movie

Antonio Banderas, “Genius: Picasso”
Darren Criss, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” – WINNER
Benedict Cumberbatch, “Patrick Melrose”
Jeff Daniels, “The Looming Tower”
John Legend, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”
Jesse Plemons, “USS Callister (Black Mirror)”

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series or TV movie

Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”
Laura Dern, “The Tale”
Michelle Dockery, “Godless”
Edie Falco, “Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders”
Regina King, “Seven Seconds” – WINNER
Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Cult”

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Ted Danson, “The Good Place”
Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”
Bill Hader, “Barry” – WINNER
William H. Macy, “Shameless”

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – WINNER
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Tracee Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie”

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie

Sara Bareilles, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert”
Penelope Cruz, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”
Judith Light, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”
Adina Porter, “American Horror Story: Cult”
Merritt Wever, “Godless” – WINNER
Letitia Wright,”Black Mirror (Black Museum)”

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie

Jeff Daniels, “Godless” – WINNER
Brandon Victor Dixon,”Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”
John Leguizamo, “Waco”
Ricky Martin, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”
Edgar Ramirez, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “The Looming Tower”
Finn Wittrock, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Ed Harris, “Westworld”
Matthew Rhys, “The Americans” – WINNER
Milo Ventimiglia, “This Is Us”
Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld”

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

Claire Foy, “The Crown” – WINNER
Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Keri Russell, “The Americans”
Evan Rachel Wood, “Westworld”

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, “Game of Thrones”
Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones” – WINNER
Joseph Fiennes, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
David Harbour, “Stranger Things”
Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”
Matt Smith, “The Crown”

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series

Alexis Bledel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Millie Bobby Brown, “Stranger Things”
Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Lena Headey,”Game of Thrones”
Vanessa Kirby, “The Crown”
Thandie Newton, “Westworld” – WINNER
Yvonne Strahovski, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Outstanding reality/competition series

“The Amazing Race”
“American Ninja Warrior”
“Project Runway”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” – WINNER
“Top Chef”
“The Voice”

Outstanding variety sketch series

“At Home with Amy Sedaris”
“Drunk History”
“I Love You, America”
“Portlandia”
“Saturday Night Live” – WINNER
“Tracey Ullman’s Show”

Outstanding variety talk series

“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” – WINNER
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
“The Late Late Show with James Corden”
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”

Outstanding limited Series

“The Alienist”
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” – WINNER
“Genius: Picasso”
“Godless”
“Patrick Melrose”

Outstanding comedy series

“Atlanta”
“Barry”
“Black-ish”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“GLOW”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – WINNER
“Silicon Valley”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

Outstanding drama series

“Game of Thrones” – WINNER
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Stranger Things”
“The Americans”
“This Is Us”
“Westworld”
How did you feel about this year’s show and winners? Let us know in the comments!
Emmys 2018 saw the return of "Game of Thrones" and the premiere of "Mrs. Maisel" to the stage "Versace" and "Ru Paul's Drag Race" also took home gold. But, lackluster hosting made for a slow night.

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