Emmys 2018: A Review

Emmys+2018%3A+A+Review

Sabrina Li, Staff Writer

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.