Emmys 2018: A Review
September 25, 2018
In case you missed it, the 70th annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on Monday of last week. Overall, the hosting was lackluster and the awards were unsurprising. The hosts of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, Colin Jost and Michael Che, were chosen to host this year’s Emmys. They presented a mediocre opening monologue, filled with jokes about diversity and the mostly liberal audience. The majority of the jokes played off of the fact that one host was black and one was white. Additionally, all the members of SNL seemed to have supporting roles in the overall hosting of the Emmys. Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, and Leslie Jones were present throughout the show and often stole the spotlight from the two actual hosts.
I honestly don’t understand why Colin Jost and Michael Che were chosen to host the Emmys. They aren’t even the most famous members of the SNL cast. Maybe NBC was attempting to imitate the famous duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at the Golden Globes, but instead they selected second-rate hosts that are known exclusively for their work on SNL and have no other extremely successful shows to their name, unlike Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (who starred in 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation, respectively).
Additionally, the Emmys took place on a Monday this year, which was an interesting choice by NBC, especially considering how award show views have decreased drastically across all primetime award shows in recent years. The Emmys’ seemingly random move to Monday likely didn’t help increase viewership either.
One of the few positive moments of an overall dull awards show was the sweet proposal of director Glenn Weiss to his long-term girlfriend, Jan Svendsen. Another highlight of the show was John Legend winning an Emmy for “Outstanding Variety Special (Live)” for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. This Emmy win completed John Legend’s EGOT status. He also became the first African-American man to achieve EGOT status.
And now, presenting the (extraordinarily unsurprising) nominees and winners of the Emmys…
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Brian Tyree Henry, Atlanta
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Henry Winkler, Barry
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Zazie Beetz, Atlanta
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Aidy Bryant, Saturday Night Live
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Laurie Metcalf, Roseanne
Megan Mullally, Will & Grace
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Antonio Banderas, Genius: Picasso
Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Melrose
Jeff Daniels, The Looming Tower
John Legend, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
Jesse Plemons, USS Callister (Black Mirror)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Jessica Biel, The Sinner
Laura Dern, The Tale
Michelle Dockery, Godless
Edie Falco, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Regina King, Seven Seconds
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Cult
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Bill Hader, Barry
William H. Macy, Shameless
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Allison Janney, Mom
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Sara Bareilles, Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert
Penelope Cruz, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Judith Light, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Adina Porter, American Horror Story: Cult
Merritt Wever, Godless
Letitia Wright, Black Mirror (Black Museum)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Jeff Daniels, Godless
Brandon Victor Dixon, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
John Leguizamo, Waco
Ricky Martin, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Edgar Ramirez, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Michael Stuhlbarg, The Looming Tower
Finn Wittrock, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Ed Harris, Westworld
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Foy, The Crown
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Joseph Fiennes, The Handmaid’s Tale
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Matt Smith, The Crown
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Vanessa Kirby, The Crown
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid’s Tale
Outstanding Reality/Competition series
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
The biggest winners this year were definitely streaming sites. Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisie took home several Emmys. Additionally, HBO took home awards for the famous dragon-filled Game of Thrones, the satirical talk show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the otherworldly Westworld, and the new comedic hit Barry, starring Bill Hader. American Crime Story had another successful season with The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Also, for the first time in 10 seasons, RuPaul’s Drag Race finally won an Emmy.
Overall, the 70th annual Primetime Emmy Awards was effectively hosted by the cast of SNL and had few surprising wins. There were a few heartwarming moments, like the cheesy but adorable proposal, but overall, it was yet another boring award show. Hopefully, future award shows will take note and make more successful—and unique—choices.