Jon Hamm, ‘Game of Thrones’ finally win Emmys glory

LOS ANGELES | HBO’s fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” won for best drama series and Jon Hamm finally took home a trophy for “Mad Men” on Sunday at the Emmy Awards — a night of firsts that saw a black actress make history.

Viola Davis gave an emotional speech as she became the first African-American to win the award for best actress in a drama series for her portrayal of a law professor involved in a twisted plot on ABC’s “How To Get Away with Murder.”

Other highlights of the show included a best comedy series prize for HBO’s political satire “Veep” and several prizes for Amazon’s dark transgender comedy “Transparent” — a major breakthrough for the streaming content provider.

“Game of Thrones” was the big winner at the star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles, raking in 12 awards, and HBO also struck gold with “Olive Kitteridge,” about a couple whose marriage is in trouble, which won eight awards.

“Thrones” – a sweeping epic filled with blood, sex and back-stabbing — had won many awards before, but never the top prize.

“Thanks again, HBO, for believing in dragons,” said series co-creator David Benioff.

But the emotional high points of the night — television’s equivalent of the Oscars — belonged to Hamm and Davis.

Hamm — whose portrayal of seductive, mysterious ad man Don Draper on retro-cool “Mad Men” had won him rave reviews and transformed his career — finally struck gold on his eighth nomination for the role.

“It’s incredible and impossible for me personally to be standing here,” Hamm said after receiving a standing ovation from the audience at the 67th Emmys.

For Davis, the moment was not one to be missed.

“Let me tell you something,” she told the audience to wide applause. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.”

She thanked series creator Peter Nowalk, executive producer Shonda Rhimes and others, calling them “people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black.”

- Four-peat for Julia Louis-Dreyfus -

“Transparent”, about a transgender woman, won five Emmys overall for Amazon in its first year with nominations for its scripted content, as it tries to catch up with streaming pioneer Netflix.

Jeffrey Tambor took home the trophy for best actor in a comedy for his portrayal of a transgender woman in the series, which also took honors for directing, best guest actor in a comedy and for two technical categories.

“I have been given the opportunity to act because people’s lives depend on it,” Tambor said in his acceptance speech.

“I’d like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for your inspiration.”

In addition to top comedy series honors, “Veep” — the story of a female US vice president who rises to the presidency and her bumbling staff — saw its star Julia Louis-Dreyfus win for the fourth time in a row. Co-star Tony Hale won his second Emmy for best supporting actor in a comedy.

Louis-Dreyfus cracked a joke about Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump in her acceptance speech, saying, “It’s getting trickier and trickier to satirize this stuff.”

- Host Samberg quips -

Host Andy Samberg kicked off the ceremony with a musical video skit about the wealth of quality television now on offer, featuring several stars like Hamm and Kerry Washington, the star of “Scandal.”

Samberg — the star of Fox’s sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and a former cast member of US comedy show “Saturday Night Live” — then hailed this year’s event for recognizing diversity.

“This is the most diverse group of nominees in Emmy history,” he said, then quipping: “So congratulations Hollywood, you did it. Yeah, racism is over.”

source: interaksyon.com

Damaged, dirty women do well in TV’s Emmy nominations

LOS ANGELES | A word of warning to sensitive viewers: Some seriously damaged and foul-mouthed women are winning over the world of television.

The Emmy nominations on Thursday validated a number of raunchy and troubling performances by women in both comedy and drama – lending credence to the idea that likeability is no longer the key to success for female characters.

Take Amy Schumer, rewarded with her first lead actress nomination for her candid and crude Comedy Central series “Inside Amy Schumer.”

Then there’s veteran Lily Tomlin, a six-time Emmy winner who pulls no punches as a feisty, sexually explicit woman in her 70s in Netflix’s new comedy “Grace and Frankie.”

For audiences and critics who have longed to see female actors occupy the anti-hero space that has been so successful for TV’s men in recent years, the wait appears to be over.

“For years, there’s been a huge problem for women, because female characters could not be perceived as being unlikeable,” said Mary McNamara, television critic for the Los Angeles Times.

“Now we’re seeing that’s changing,” she added. “You can have women who are complicated, irritating, bad, who make stupid decisions, are raunchy. You’re seeing a deepening of the female character across the board.”

Uzo Aduba knows something about that, as the woman who plays the deeply damaged “Crazy Eyes” in Netflix female prison saga “Orange Is The New Black” and last year won the Emmy for best guest actress in a comedy. She was nominated again on Thursday, this time in the drama supporting actress category.

“What I feel when I watch our show is that a collection of different types of people can actually be engaging to audiences, if the story is true and if it’s honest,” Aduba said.

In a Hollywood long filled with laments over the lack of good parts for women, television gets higher marks than film for pushing the boundaries for females.

“We had a meaningful increase in the number of women nominated in director and writing categories, a terrific amount of diversity in front of the camera, and in storytelling,” said Bruce Rosenblum, Television Academy chairman and CEO.

As it happens, Schumer was also nominated for directing and writing her feminist satire, a no-holds-barred takedown of her ditzy, selfish, promiscuous self.

“I wasn’t surprised given the amount of acclaim,” said Cynthia Littleton, managing editor of television for Variety. “That woman just has momentum on momentum.”

source: interaksyon.com