by Nathaniel R
It was both a usual Emmy night (Regina King + HBO dominance) and a very unusual one. In fact, last night's Primetime Emmy Awards were historic in many more ways than just being held in a nearly empty building during a pandemic. Zendaya became the youngest winner ever for Best Drama Actress (she turned 24 three weeks ago). It was a clean sweep for Schitt's Creek with all seven Comedy awards which has literally never happened before. After the jump the full list of winners with more commentary...
Comedy Series Schitt’s Creek
Comedy Directing Andrew Cividino & Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek "Happy Ending"
Comedy Writing Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek "Happy Ending"
Comedy Actress Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Comedy Actor Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek
Comedy Supporting Actress Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
Comedy Supporting Actor Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek
Frasier, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Cheers with 38, 29, and 28 Emmys respectively, are the all time leaders for Outstanding Comedy Series but none of them ever took ALL the awards on a single night. Consider the Schitt's Creek sweep a byproduct of television's cacophonous contemporary landscape where there are more content providers than ever and it can be difficult to stand out. But then once you're discovered, people can binge the entire series like its brand new -- sometimes literally years after its begun! That couldn't / didn't happen pre-streaming. Back in the day when there weren't hundreds of shows, Schitt's Creek wouldn't have swept because the love wouldn't have been so pent up, it would have already taken some Emmys here and there over its run. Daniel Levy, who created the show, won four Emmys himself: acting, directing, writing, and producing.
It'll be interesting to see what happens to the Best Comedy Series competition in 2021. The last two years have been dominated by shows in their final seasons (Fleabag, Schitt's Creek) in terms of wins but a good number of the nominations have also been for shows that were ending (Veep, The Good Place)
Drama Series Succession
Drama Directing Andrij Parekh, Succession "Hunting"
Drama Writing Jesse Armstrong, Succession "This is Not For Tears"
Drama Actress Zendaya, Euphoria
Drama Actor Jeremy Strong, Succession
Drama Supporting Actress Julia Garner, Ozark
Drama Supporting Actor Billy Crudup, Morning Show
While Succession literally couldn't sweep as it had no lead actress nomination, despite having a lead actress (she competed in supporting) it did very well for itself. One fun thing about the drama group is that, with the exception of actress Julia Garner and writer Jesse Armstrong, who both won last year for these same shows, all of these winners were first time Emmy nominees. Emmy was eager for fresh blood!
Billy Crudup now has both a Tony and an Emmy. Will he eventually triple crown?
Limited Series Watchmen
Limited Series, Directing Maria Schrader, Unorthodox
Limited Series, Writing Damon Lindelof & Cord Jefferson, Watchmen "This Extraordinary Being"
Limited Series Actress Regina King, Watchmen
Limited Series Actor Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True
Limited Series Supporting Actress Uzo Aduba, Mrs America
Limited Series Supoprting Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen
Regina King wins her fourth Emmy, which means she's now tied Alfre Woodard for most Emmy wins for a black performer. But it's another black woman I was thinking of in terms of awards trivia, when she won. Regina King has become to the Emmys what Audra McDonald is the Tonys, in that the awards body in her medium of choice cannot get enough of her. For those who don't follow the Tonys, Audra McDonald is nominated almost every time she works and almost always wins when she is. Regina King has (so far) been up for 5 Emmys and has won 4 times. Audra has been up for 8 Tonys winning 6 times. Nobody does this at the Oscars (Meryl does the first part, nominated almost every time she works, but has only one thrice) but the Emmys and the Tonys have no such inhibitions about throwing love in the shape of trophies at the same performer repeatedly.
Mark Ruffalo's win must be considered a surprise, yes? His show was not well loved by Emmy voters but he managed to beat Hugh Jackman (whose Bad Education won Best TV Movie during the pre-ceremony Emmys) and the year's most exciting discovery Paul Mescal (Normal People). This is Ruffalo's second Emmy having previously won for producing The Normal Heart. Though he's previously been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Globes, this is only his second major award for individual acting (he previously won the SAG for male lead via The Normal Heart).
Competition Program RuPaul's Drag Race
Variety Talk Series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Last Week Tonight has won its category 5 years consecutively now and since the category has only existed in its current form for 6 years it is the all time leader. RuPaul's Drag Race has won its category 3 years consecutively now but it's a long ways away from being the top champ in its category since The Amazing Race won this prize 10 times.
Previous Emmy winners (they have so many awards they can't possibly give them all out in one night) are listed here in case you missed them.