Hopefully you didn't put too much money in your office Emmy pool, because if you did, chances are you woke up this morning significantly in the hole. Last night's Emmys were without a doubt the most surprise-filled awards ceremony in recent memory. So let's recap the best and worst moments (and some in between), as well as the biggest shockers of last night's star-studded event.
The hilarious comedy duo salvaged a shaky opening by heckling host Neil Patrick Harris from the front row. Accessorized with 3D glasses and buckets of popcorn, the real-life besties were reminiscent of a far more attractive Statler and Waldorf. They finally got the crowd chuckling with their demands for NPH to "twerk it" and show his "business." Best quote, from Amy Poehler: "It might be degrading, but we'd be de-grateful." Can Tina & Amy host every awards show ever?
The first award of the night yielded one of the biggest surprises when Merritt Wever (from "Nurse Jackie") won for Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series. Ms. Wever herself was clearly among those shocked, as she found herself totally unprepared to deliver a speech, which led to this clearly unrehearsed and very flustered gem: "Oh god, thank you so -- oh no -- thanks so much! Um, thank you so much! Um. I gotta go, bye!" Can all acceptance speeches be this short and to-the-point, please?
When the "Veep" star won for Best Leading Actress In A Comedy Series (for the second year in a row), she was accompanied by her co-star Tony Hale (who had also just won for Best Supporting Actor In a Comedy). On the show, Hale plays Gary, the sycophantic bagman to Louis-Dreyfus' vice president, and the two riffed on those roles onstage. Hale grabbed Louis-Drefyus' clutch and whispered helpful reminders on who to thank (audibly) into her ear.
It's crazy to think that the 84-year-old actor, famous for "The Bob Newhart Show" (which ran for six seasons) and "Newhart" (which ran for eight), had never won an Emmy until this year. What finally bagged him a statue? A guest starring role on "The Big Bang Theory". Better late than never, though, and it was great to see the beloved comedian finally recognized with a prolonged standing ovation.
Neil Patrick Harris, star of "How I Met Your Mother", hosted the ceremony for the second time (his first was back in 2009). Since then, he's also hosted the Tony Awards four times (only Angela Lansbury has hosted that ceremony more), and has become known as a host for his elaborate, over-the-top song-and-dance numbers that open the show. This year, instead of opening with a song, the ceremony started with a pre-taped bit that had Harris attempting to catch up on the entire season of TV, and having conversations with cleverly-edited clips from the year's biggest shows. It was a neat idea, but not nearly funny enough to make up for how long it went on. Kudos to Harris for trying something new, but this might be a perfect case of "don't fix what ain't broke."
Elton John performed a sleep-inducing ballad in what was nominally a tribute to Liberace (the subject of HBO's "Behind The Candelabra", which won for Best Miniseries Or Television Film), but was really a shameless self-promotion for his new album. Carrie Underwood delivered an uncharacteristically shaky cover of The Beatles' "Yesterday" in a bizarre and random tribute to "50 Years Ago In TV." And when NPH finally sang a song, it was the overlong, one-joke "The Song In The Middle Of The Show." All three of these musical numbers brought the three-hour-plus ceremony to a screeching halt.
The usually classy presenter succumbed to Hollywood's indefatigable misogyny when he introduced Sofia Vergara as "them...I mean her." It's sad to see the men of Hollywood still valuing women on the size of their chests in 2013 (see also: Seth MacFarlane's "We Saw Your Boobs" song at the Oscars earlier this year). However, I'll give NPH the benefit of the doubt on this one and blame the writers for this tasteless "joke."
It was probably a nice idea on paper: in addition to the traditional montage of the stars who passed away over the last year, there would be special "In Memoriam" segments sprinkled throughout the broadcast, delivered by the colleagues who knew them best. Some of them were moving (particularly Edie Falco's teary tribute to her "Sopranos" husband James Gandolfini and Jane Lynch's fond remembrance of "Glee" costar Cory Monteith), but largely they were just awkward, for several reasons. First off, how did the producers choose which five people were highlighted? (Special mentions were also given to Jean Stapleton of "All In The Family", Jonathan Winters of "Mork & Mindy" and "Family Ties" creator Gary David Goldberg.) How was Monteith, whose passing was undeniably tragic but who had never been nominated for a single award in his short career, chosen over "Dallas" legend Larry Hagman (for example)? Secondly, why didn't we get to see any clips of these actors' iconic work? Thirdly, by continually interrupting the broadcast with a sad reminder of a person's passing, it kept pulling the mood down, which not even chipper NPH could bring back up. Finally, the highlighted tributes made those who were only included in the traditional montage seem like "also-rans" in the Most Popular Dead Person competition. Awkward.
Outstanding Choreography has been a category in the Emmys since 1955, but never once has the ceremony ever featured any actual choreography from the nominees, nor has the award ever been handed out in primetime (it's usually given at the un-televised Creative Arts ceremony that occurs days before the main event). So it was nice to see the choreographers' hard work finally recognized, but the segment itself was a little bizarre. It featured dancers paying tribute to the year's most popular shows, including "Mad Men", "Game Of Thrones" and "Boardwalk Empire". But what does dubstep have to do with "Breaking Bad"? And who thought that creepy dancing nuns for "American Horror Story" would be a good idea?
Anna Gunn without a doubt deserved her first win for playing Walter White's besieged wife on "Breaking Bad". But it was surprising to see the Emmy voters risk the wrath of Dame Maggie Smith by breaking her two-year winning streak for "Downton Abbey". The Dowager Countess could eviscerate them all with a well-timed, scathing bon mot.
For the first time in the popular comedy's four-year run, "Modern Family" took home zero acting trophies. It had previously won Outstanding Supporting Actress twice in a row (both for Julie Bowen) and Supporting Actor three times in a row (twice for Eric Stonestreet, once for Ty Burrell). "Modern Family" was fully expected to sweep the Supporting Categories again, but shockingly lost out on both: Merritt Wever ("Nurse Jackie") displaced the ladies and Tony Hale ("Veep") beat out the men. You wouldn't have been blamed for thinking that these significant defeats signaled the end of the show's Emmy reign, but you would've been wrong -- it still managed to nab the Outstanding Comedy Series trophy. "Modern Family" is still a well-rated and funny show, but you would be hard-pressed to argue that it has broken much new ground in recent years. But voter indecision on which critically-acclaimed indie comedy should displace it ("Girls"? "Louie"? "Veep"?) helped pave the way for the show's fourth consecutive win.
"Breaking Bad" won Outstanding Drama Series. Anna Gunn won "Outstanding Supporting Actress". And "Breaking Bad" was up for two Supporting Actor nominations for Aaron Paul and Jonathan Banks. And even if the vote between those two deserving actors was split, the award was expected to go to "Homeland" actor Mandy Patinkin. So Bobby Cannavale's dark horse victory for playing Gyp Rosetti on "Boardwalk Empire" was totally out of left field. Sure, Gyp was probably the showiest, scenery-chewingest role of the bunch, but he also possessed the subtlety of the wrench he used to beat an innocent man to death with.
Daniels himself summed it up perfectly with the opening line of his acceptance speech: "Well, crap." This is the shocker that had viewers falling off their couches in disbelief. The award for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series was considered a deadlock between Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad" and Kevin Spacey of "House Of Cards". The only explanation for Jeff Daniels' win for "The Newsroom" is that the popular vote was so split between Cranston and Spacey that he managed to sneak through the minuscule crack between them. This was the only award that "The Newsroom" was even nominated for, which is not usually a good sign of that show's chances of taking home a statue. And as much as audiences loved the freshman season of Aaron Sorkin's new show, it was equally reviled by critics. None of this is to say that Daniels isn't a terrific actor or didn't deserve the award, but this was truly the upset that nobody saw coming.
"Breaking Bad"
"Downton Abbey"
"Game Of Thrones"
"Homeland"
"House Of Cards"
"Mad Men"
Hugh Bonneville, "Downton Abbey"
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Damian Lewis, "Homeland"
Kevin Spacey, "House Of Cards"
Connie Britton, "Nashville"
Claire Danes, "Homeland"
Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey"
Vera Farmiga, "Bates Motel"
Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"
Kerry Washington, "Scandal"
Robin Wright, "House Of Cards"
Jonathan Banks, "Breaking Bad"
Bobby Cannavale, "Boardwalk Empire"
Jim Carter, "Downton Abbey"
Peter Dinklage, "Game Of Thrones"
Mandy Patinkin, "Homeland"
Aaron Paul, "Breaking Bad"
Morena Baccarin, "Homeland"
Christine Baranski, "The Good Wife"
Emilia Clarke, "Game Of Thrones"
Anna Gunn, "Breaking Bad"
Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men"
Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"
"The Big Bang Theory"
"Girls"
"Louie"
"Modern Family"
"30 Rock"
"Veep"
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development"
Don Cheadle, "House Of Lies"
Louis C.K., "Louie"
Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"
Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"
Laura Dern, "Enlightened"
Lena Dunham, "Girls"
Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"
Amy Poehler, "Parks And Recreation"
Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"
Adam Driver, "Girls"
Bill Hader, "Saturday Night Live"
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, "Modern Family"
Tony Hale, "Veep"
Ed O'Neill, "Modern Family"
Mayim Bialik, "The Big Bang Theory"
Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"
Anna Chlumsky, "Veep"
Jane Krakowski, "30 Rock"
Jane Lynch, "Glee"
Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"
Merritt Wever, "Nurse Jackie"
What did you think of the ceremony? What were your favorite/least favorite moments? What was the biggest surprise for you? Tweet us @StageBuddy to let us know!
