"Homeland" ended the "Mad Men" dominance on
Sunday night, scoring Showtime its first Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama
Series, while "Modern Family"
continued its winning streak by picking up its third consecutive Emmy Award for
Outstanding Comedy Series.
As befitting a presidential election year, Emmy voters rewarded "Game Change"
for looking at another contentious White House run from the recent past. The HBO
film received an Outstanding Miniseries or Movie Emmy Award for its look at
John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, giving the cable
network its biggest prize of the night.
Emmy voters endorsed
"Homeland" in a big way while allowing Showtime to take several victory laps for
backing the freshman series, which takes on hot button topics like Middle
Eastern terrorism. Had "Mad Men" won, it would have been the first drama series
to win five consecutive statues in the top category. Instead, AMC, which backs
"Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad," had to
see "Homeland" snag the leading acting categories as well.
HBO was
the most honored network of the evening, picking up 23 awards primarily from the
movies and miniseries categories, while CBS was second with 16 wins and PBS was
third with 12 wins. Although Showtime only scored six awards, the network was
clearly the night's big victor now that it has a top-shelf program that puts it
on the level of its more critically lauded rivals.
Claire Danes, who plays a CIA analyst
suffering from bipolar disorder, won her second Emmy Award on Sunday night for
her starring turn on "Homeland." In a breathless speech, the pregnant Danes
thanked her "baby daddy" Hugh Dancy, as well as her fellow
castmembers.
"The entire cast is just uniformly, shameless talented
and I'm so honored to be in their company," Danes said.
Right before she
took the stage, Danes' co-star Damian Lewis upset perennial winner
Bryan Cranston to capture Outstanding
Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
"I don't really believe in judging art, but
I thought I'd show up just in case," Lewis joked.
Lewis' portrayal of a
terrorist sympathizer in the Showtime thriller was gripping and grueling enough
to score him his first award and hold off a challenge from Cranston ("Breaking
Bad").
Calling himself a pesky Brit, the English actor hailed his
fellow nominees as evidence that this was a "Golden Age in television."
On the comedy front, Julia Louis-Dreyfus picked up her
third Emmy Award for her role as an ambitious, conniving and politically inept
vice president on HBO's "Veep."
"People
say that this is a comedy, but I don't see anything funny about me being vice
president of the United States," Louis-Dreyfus said.
However, she gave a
hilarious speech that will be making the highlight reels with a gag that had
Louis-Dreyfus pretend to read from fellow nominee Amy Poehler's acceptance
speech.
"Isn't it a shame that Amy Poehler didn't win," Louis-Dreyfus
joked.
A visibly shocked Cryer alluded to the unexpected nature of
his victory by saying "Don't panic people, something has clearly gone terribly
wrong."
It was Cryer's first win and nomination as Outstanding Lead
Actor, having been previously nominated and winning in the supporting
category. It was a season that saw Cryer and the hit CBS sitcom moving on after
a contentious and highly publicized breakup with Charlie Sheen, and then adding a new
co-star in the form of Ashton Kutcher, so it could be an
award for endurance as much as humor.
Julianne Moore scored an Outstanding
Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for playing Republican vice-presidential
nominee Sarah Palin in "Game Change."
"I feel so validated because
Sarah Palin gave me a big thumbs-down," Moore said.
The HBO film also picked up awards for directing for Jay Roach and for
writing for Danny Strong.
One area where "Game Change" had to concede ground was Outstanding Lead Actor
in a Miniseries or Movie, which saw Woody Harrelson lose to another movie
star, Kevin Costner.
Costner now has an Emmy Award to go along with his Oscar, picking up his
first statue, for his role in the hit history series, "Hatfields &
McCoys," in a career that has primarily unfolded on the big screen.
"I love being an actor," Costner said. "I love this life; it's changed my
life, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have it."
Although Bryan Cranston saw Emmy voters finally cool to his explosive
performance, Aaron Paul won his second Emmy Award for his portrayal of a meth
cook on AMC's "Breaking Bad," beating out his co-star Giancarlo Esposito to nab
the statue.
The Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Series winner noted that his character wasn't supposed to survive the
show's first season, thanking the creator of "Breaking Bad" for sparing
him.
"Vince Gilligan, thanks so much for not
killing me off," Paul joked.
Maggie Smith won an Emmy
Award for her role as the imperious Dowager Countess on PBS' "Downton Abbey," but the
legendary English actress was not on hand to pick up her honor.
Jessica Lange's chilling performance
as a demented neighbor on "American Horror Story"
scared Emmy voters into awarding her the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a
Miniseries or Movie.
Lange said that "American Horror Story" made
her more promises than any man she'd ever met, but noted happily that they had
come true with her victory Sunday night.
Tom Berenger helped continue a career
resurgence that began with a supporting part in 2011's "Inception," scoring an
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie in
"Hatfields & McCoys."
Berenger won for portraying an
intemperate warlord whom he described as "a cross between a raccoon with rabies
and a demented garden gnome."
With its satiric take on the day's
political news still razor-sharp, "The Daily Show" continued its dominance
picking up its 10th Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series. "We were told we'd
get a free sandwich after 10," Jon Stewart said.
Also
finding itself in the winner's circle was "The Amazing Race,"
which beat out challengers like "Dancing With the Stars"
and "The Voice" to nab the
Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.
But "Dancing With
the Stars" did not go home empty-handed. Tom Bergeron picked up an Emmy for
his role as ringmaster on the dancing competition series.
Bergeron
poked good-natured fun at his fellow nominee Betty White ("Betty White's Off
Their Rockers") by saying his victory was satisfying because "Betty White always
kicks my ass in our mixed martial arts class."
Earlier in the
evening, Julie Bowen won her second
consecutive Emmy Award on Sunday night for her role as a harried wife and mother
on ABC's "Modern Family."
In her acceptance speech, Bowen paid tribute to her co-star and fellow
nominee Sofia Vergara.
"Sofia, I
know you're younger than me, but I want to be you when I grow up," Bowen
said.
Bowen's co-star Eric Stonestreet picked up the first
Emmy Award Sunday night, winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
for his portrayal of one half of a gay couple in "Modern
Family."
Stonestreet paid tribute to Jesse Tyler Ferguson, his on-screen
lover, in his acceptance speech.
"There is no Cam without Mitch,"
Stonestreet said.
The straight Stonestreet said it was an honor to show Americans that gay
couples could be just as committed and supportive as heterosexual ones, but
noted that there were unforeseen perks to playing one of the small screen's most
prominent gay characters.
"I love the pictures of hairy chests you
guys are sending me," he joked.
Also among the early winners were
Louis C.K. who won Outstanding
Writing for a Comedy Show for "Louie," and Steve
Levitan, who kept the "Modern Family" streak going strong with a win for
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
Jimmy Kimmel started the 64th
Primetime Emmy Awards with a bang, saying that Hollywood had assembled to
celebrate "the only American product the Chinese haven't learned how to
make."
In a prickly monologue, he poked fun at Emmy voters abiding love for English
shows like "Downton Abbey," saying Americans had an inferiority complex because
they were discovered at the mall, while the Brits were trained by the Royal
Shakespeare Company and HBO's canceled "Luck," which was pulled after several
horses died.
He also noted that the television business was a liberal bastion and that
Republicans like Kelsey Grammer were about as popular
as a "Chick-fil-A sandwich on the snack table at 'Glee.'"
The
evening began with a humorous backstage video of Emmy nominees and TV stars
sending up showbiz egos and "Girls" star Lena Dunham's propensity for nudity
-- as well as the failed experiment with having reality show hosts take over
emcee duties for the show. In it, actors like Kathy Bates ("Harry's Law") and Julia
Louis-Dreyfus ("Veep") pummelled Kimmel to help him recover from a botched Botox
job.
I know people will be shocked, but I never watch Modern Family, cannot stand Sofia Vergara who I think is a total put on trying to be Carmen Miranda only a sexy version. The tv shows today make me want to watch the rerums, which is do of The Cosby Show, I Love Lucy, Golden Girls. Now that was televsion shows at its best.
POPSUGAR Celebrity:Emmy Winner Julianne Moore Talks Playing Sarah Palin and Love for Game Change
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Game Change's Julianne Moore walked away with the Emmy tonight for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or a movie for playing Sarah Palin.
