Andrew Robinson
On Monday night, the 2018 Emmys were held. Hosted extremely awkwardly and at-times annoyingly by Colin Jost and Michael Che, the awards show began by seemingly attempting to make light of the recent fire faced by Hollywood awards shows’ propensity for awarding white actors/other winners, while ignoring any real sense of diversity. Already an interesting decision to do that, things only got more awkward when award after award went to, you guessed it, white winners. There was some diversity, yes – Regina King won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for Seven Seconds, and Thandie Newton won Outstanding Supporting Actress for Westworld, to name a few – but favorites such as Sandra Oh for Killing Eve and Sterling K. Brown for This Is Us went unrecognized. Maybe it’s time for Hollywood to stop trying to make light of serious situations, and actually work to do something to fix them.
Anyway, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel racked up the awards in the comedy category, winning Outstanding Casting, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Supporting Actress (Alex Borstein), Outstanding Lead Actress (Rachel Brosnahan), and Outstanding Comedy Series, among others. Personally, I’ve never seen the show that follows a 1950s housewife who decides to be a stand-up comic, but I’ve only heard good things. It’s on my extremely long, 192-title ‘Watchlist’ on IMDb, so hopefully I’ll get to it sometime before I die!
On the drama side, Game of Thrones somewhat surprisingly won three Emmys, including Best Visual Effects, Best Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), and Best Drama Series. I love Game of Thrones, but season seven was a bit of a mess, and the show winning Best Drama over heavyweights The Handmaid’s Tale, This Is Us, The Crown, Stranger Things, Westworld, and The Americans is shocking.
Well, on second thought, I guess it’s not so surprising when you keep in mind that Emmy voters love to continue honoring the same show again and again, and were quick to give GoT awards in 2018 after it premiered too late to qualify for the 2017 Primetime Emmys. I’d be shocked if GoT doesn’t win even more awards for its epic conclusion to the series in season eight (though whether that will be at the 2019 Primetime Emmys or in 2020 is still unknown).
In a cool moment, in the Best Supporting Actor for a Comedy Series category, Henry Winkler won his first ever Emmy for playing Gene Cousineau on HBO’s Barry. After coming to the stage, Winkler joked that he had written his speech 43 years ago, and was genuinely ecstatic to receive the award. Winkler is as veteran as they come in the television business, and it was really cool to see him finally get some recognition for his work.
Glenn Weiss, who won Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, proposed to his girlfriend during his speech, which was very cute and unexpected. What surprised me the most, however, is that a director for another awards show is allowed to win at the Emmys – Weiss won for directing the Oscars. I genuinely didn’t know that was possible before Monday night but, hey, the more you know!
In the Limited Series category, American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace won Outstanding Casting, Directing, Lead Actor (Darren Criss), and Limited Series.
Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of this season, especially after expecting so much due to the awesome season surrounding the O.J. Simpson trial that ACS produced in 2016. Even I will say that Criss was a worthy contender for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series award, though – he was haunting as Versace’s killer, Andrew Cunanan. The show that should have won Outstanding Limited Series in a landslide – Twin Peaks: The Return, in David Lynch’s epic return – wasn’t even nominated for the category. Furthermore, The Return’s Kyle MacLachlan, who played four different characters in the limited series, should have been the clear winner for Outstanding Lead Actor, but Lynch’s outstanding Showtime drama proved to be a bit too strange for Emmy voters.
Netflix’s drama Stranger Things walked away award-less, unfortunately. While David Harbour (Outstanding Supporting Actor) and Millie Bobby Brown (Outstanding Supporting Actress) had uphill battles to climb, it still would have been nice to see the fantastic second season of the Netflix powerhouse win something. Also, Noah Schnapp failing to be nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category for his incredible portrayal of Will Byers – who goes through a case of possession in season two, and is thus essentially two different characters – is disappointing, but predictable; voters rarely like to nominate children.
Much like how Brown carried Stranger Things season one with her breakthrough portrayal, however, Schnapp carried the show’s second season, emerging as a force to be reckoned with in whatever he attaches his name to in the future.
Claire Foy unsurprisingly won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for The Crown, and Matthew Rhys took home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in The Americans, which probably deserved to win more awards than it received on Monday night. At least the final season of a critically and commercially-beloved series was recognized.
The 2018 Emmys didn’t feature too many surprises, as most of the award-winners were to be expected. Jost and Che could have done a better job hosting the awards show, but we seem to say that every year. My biggest gripe with them is actually with whoever wrote their jokes/opening monologue – I’m not quite sure why Hollywood loves to keep making light of serious issues that they have.
Regardless, congratulations to all of the 2018 Emmy winners!
