Culture: Emmy recap: Big winners, big surprises, big last-minute switches
- Two modern classics win big — again: With the lovably wry Jane Lynch at the helm, the Emmys proved both entertaining and greatly rewarding to TV fans who have been in a bit of a television renaissance in recent years. The Emmys themselves haven’t been doing so great lately, but Lynch’s performance may be just the kick in the pants the show needed, with small touches proving as memorable as the recorded skits (above is one of those, the intro skit). The two biggest awards went to shows with differing routes to the top — both perennial winners, but one bagged way more awards. “Mad Men” won just one award (for Best Drama Series), while “Modern Family” won five (Best Comedy Series, both supporting actor comedy awards, Best Directing and Best Writing). Other highlights:
- winners Some highlights: “Friday Night Lights,” which ended its run this year, won two awards, and “Masterpiece” miniseries “Downton Abbey” scored four. Meanwhile, “The Daily Show” won for Best Variety Show for a record ninth year. Whoa.
- surprises The maligned miniseries “The Kennedys” won an award for Barry Pepper’s Bobby Kennedy; it was so unexpected that he skipped the show. And Melissa McCarthy, on a hot streak, won Best Comedy Actress for her “Mike and Molly” role.
- losers Sadly, Steve Carell goes his entire stint as star of “The Office” without a single Emmy. And critical all-star “Boardwalk Empire” only scored a single award tonight — for Martin Scorsese’s direction — despite many nominations. source
- » The best highlight? Not even on the show: The opening clip we posted above could’ve been even better if Fox hadn’t put the kibosh on it. See, it originally starred Alec Baldwin, and had a plot that made light of News Corp.’s phone-hacking scandal. They had to ditch it at the last minute, proving one thing: In a pinch, Leonard Nimoy makes a passable Alec Baldwin.
