Primetime Emmys: Mad Men, 30 Rock Take Home Top Honors
AMC drama, NBC comedy take home top prizes at 60th Primetime Emmy Awards.
By Marisa Guthrie & Joel Topcik -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/21/2008 9:09:00 PM
| Live Blogging the Emmys: B&C's Joel Topcik is on the scene at the Primetime Emmy Awards. For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, log onto BC Beat. For B&C's complete Emmy coverage, click here. |
The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards was a celebration of little-watched television with the top awards going to two series -- NBC’s 30 Rock and AMC’s Mad Men -- that have struggled to attract significant viewership.
Even as HBO garnered the most awards, as it has in years past, it was basic-cable shows like Mad Men and FX’s Damages that stole the buzz.
AMC’s Mad Men, which made history as the first basic-cable series to nab a best drama Emmy, averaged fewer than 1 million viewers per episode in its first season.
30 Rock, which kicks off its third season in October, has enjoyed critical praise and the largesse of award panels but not hit status. In its second season, the Thursday-night comedy averaged 6.4 million viewers (less than some reruns of CSI on CBS).
Tina Fey acknowledged 30 Rock’s ratings-challenged status in her acceptance speech, reminding viewers that the show can be seen on “NBC.com, Hulu, iTunes, Verizon phones and United Airlines and occasionally on actual television. Please check us out Thursday at 8:30 on NBC.”
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HBO |
10 |
|
NBC |
4 |
|
ABC |
3 |
|
AMC |
3 |
|
CBS |
2 |
|
Comedy |
2 |
|
FX |
2 |
|
FOX |
1 |
|
PBS |
1 |
Damages boasted multiple wins with statues going to Zeljko Ivanek and Glenn Close in the supporting-actor and lead-actress categories. Ivanek beat out his Damages co-star, Ted Danson, as well as Michael Emerson of Lost, John Slattery of Mad Men and past winner William Shatner of Boston Legal.
And Bryan Cranston was as surprised as anyone by his outstanding-drama-actor Emmy for his role in AMC’s Breaking Bad as a science teacher who takes up manufacturing and selling crystal meth when he learns that he’s terminally ill.
Cranston, sporting a shaved head, noted that the Emmy is also a chrome dome. “She’s bald too,” he said. “I haven’t been able to get this close to her until now.”
Addressing the first for basic cable, Mad Men executive producer Matthew Weiner told reporters, “I’m surprised that there’s such a segregated caste system at the Emmys. I wasn’t aware of that. I thought it was about quality.” Weiner made a point of thanking critics for supporting the show, saying, “You are so important, as important as anything that happened to us.”
But broadcast television wasn’t completely shut out. 30 Rock’s Tina Fey took three forays across the stage of the Nokia Theatre LA Live, collecting Emmys for acting and writing in addition to the aforementioned best-comedy statue. Her co-star, Alec Baldwin, was also recognized in the supporting-actor category, while Jean Smart of ABC’s Samantha Who? took home the Emmy for supporting comedy actress. CBS’ The Amazing Race won the reality-competition Emmy for the sixth consecutive year.
This year was also a first for the reality-television world, with a new category honoring outstanding host of a reality-competition series. All five nominees -- Project Runway’s Heidi Klum, Dancing with the Stars’ Tom Bergeron, Deal or No Deal’s Howie Mandel, American Idol’s Ryan Seacrest and Survivor’s Jeff Probst -- co-hosted the ceremony, a stunt that appeared to fall a bit flat and drew scorn from some of the winners (see BC Beat).
Probst won the inaugural award in a fitting tribute to his role on the seminal CBS reality show.
HBO Cleans Up ... Again
HBO, which has routinely led Emmy nominations and awards in recent years, cleaned up with 10 Emmys overall, including best made-for-TV movie and miniseries for Recount and John Adams, respectively.
John Adams set a new Emmy record with 13 statues, eight at the Creative Arts Emmys and five at Sunday night’s show. Stars Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney won for top actors in a miniseries; Tom Wilkinson won the supporting-actor award for his portrayal of Benjamin Franklin; and Kirk Ellis won for outstanding writing. Recount also scored a directing Emmy for Jay Roach.
Dianne Wiest was the supporting actress in a drama winner for her role as Gabrielle Byrne’s psychiatrist in HBO’s In Treatment. And Jeremy Piven took home his third consecutive supporting-actor Emmy for his spirited embodiment of sleazy Hollywood agent Ari Gold in HBO’s Entourage.
Comedy and Politics
Comedy Central cleaned up in the outstanding comedy/variety show category with the writing nod going to The Colbert Report and the outstanding comedy/variety show Emmy going to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
In the press room, Stewart and Colbert addressed the recurring jokes about Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, with Colbert suggesting that he would be a better choice than Tina Fey to play Palin on Saturday Night Live “because I have absolutely no business being vice president.”
For her part, Fey expressed her hope that her Palin impersonation would be a limited engagement, telling reporters: “I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5. If anyone can help me be done, that would help me.”
PRIMETIME EMMY WINNERS
List updated as winners are announced
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES:
Boston Legal, ABC
Damages, FX
Dexter, Showtime
House, Fox
Lost, ABC
Mad Men, AMC -- Winner
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES:
Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO
Entourage, HBO
The Office, NBC
30 Rock, NBC -- Winner
Two and a Half Men, CBS
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES:
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad -- Winner
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES:Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Glenn Close, Damages -- Winner
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES:
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock -- Winner
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Steve Carell, The Office
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES:
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Tina Fey, 30 Rock -- Winner
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, New Adventures of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM:
The Amazing Race, CBS -- Winner
American Idol, Fox
Dancing with the Stars, ABC
Project Runway, Bravo
Top Chef, Bravo
OUTSTANDING HOST, REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM:
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Tom Bergeron, Dancing with the Stars
Howie Mandel, Deal or No Deal
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Jeff Probst, Survivor -- Winner
OUTSTANDING MINISERIES:
The Andromeda Strain, A&E Network
Cranford, HBO
John Adams, HBO -- Winner
Tin Man, Sci Fi Channel
OUTSTANDING MADE-FOR-TELEVISION MOVIE:
Bernard and Doris, HBO
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale, HBO
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Lifetime Television
A Raisin in the Sun, ABC
Recount, HBO -- Winner
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR, MINISERIES OR MOVIE:
Ralph Fiennes, Bernard and Doris
Ricky Gervais, Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
Paul Giamatti, John Adams -- Winner
Kevin Spacey, Recount
Tom Wilkinson, Recount
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS, MINISERIES OR MOVIE:
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
Susan Sarandon, Bernard and Doris
Dame Judi Dench, Cranford
Laura Linney, John Adams -- Winner
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun
For the complete list of winners, click here.
