Amazon鈥檚 鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel鈥� became the first streaming series to win top Emmy comedy honours and HBO鈥檚 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� recaptured the best drama series award Monday at a ceremony that largely slighted its most ethnically diverse field of nominees ever.
With the exception of 鈥淪aturday Night Live,鈥� broadcast shows were shut out of the top awards as 21st-century platforms continued to overshadow traditional network fare like 鈥淭his Is Us.鈥�
HBO, which had ceded its top-dog status in total nominations for the first time in 17 years in July (108, to Netflix鈥檚 112), ended up in a tie for wins with the streaming service at 23 each.
鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,鈥� a freshman sitcom about an unhappy 1950s homemaker liberated by stand-up comedy, earned best actress honours for star Rachel Brosnahan.
Her castmate Alex Borstein earned the supporting actress trophy and the series creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino (鈥淕ilmore Girls鈥�), nabbed writing and directing awards.
Claire Foy of 鈥淭he Crown鈥� and Matthew Rhys of 鈥淭he Americans鈥� won top drama acting Emmys, their first trophies for the roles and last chance to claim them, with Foy鈥檚 role as Queen Elizabeth II going to another actress and Rhys鈥� show wrapped.
The field bested by Foy included last year鈥檚 winner Elisabeth Moss for 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� and Sandra Oh of 鈥淜illing Eve,鈥� who would have been the first actor of Asian descent to get a top drama award.
鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 supposed to happen,鈥� said a startled Foy. She played the young British queen who, as the series continues, will be shown advancing in years.
鈥淕ame of Thrones,鈥� which sat out last year鈥檚 Emmys because of scheduling, won its third best drama trophy despite competition from defending champ 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale.鈥�
鈥淭hank you for letting us take care of your people,鈥� 鈥滸ame of Thrones鈥� producer D.B. Weiss said to George R.R. Martin, whose novels and their characters fuel the drama.
In a ceremony that started out congratulating TV academy voters for the most historically diverse field of nominees yet, the early awards all went solely to whites.
An African-American sweep of guest series actor awards at the recent creative arts Emmys suggested big changes ahead for the awards, which only recently have given significant honours to performers and creators of colour.
But there was disappointment for 鈥淎tlanta,鈥� which had claimed acting and directing trophies last year for its star and creator Donald Glover and seemed poised for more with 16 nominations.
Rather than become the first black-led comedy in 33 years to be named the best (since 鈥淭he Cosby Show鈥� in 1985), 鈥淎tlanta鈥� was shut out Monday (it won two awards, including guest actor for Katt Williams, last week).
The showing by 鈥淢rs. Maisel鈥� extended the long winning streak of shows that focus on white lives, including 鈥淢odern Family鈥� and 鈥淔riends,鈥� with ethnic minorities rarely given screen time.
鈥淟et鈥檚 get it trending: #EmmysSoWhite,鈥� presenter James Corden joked at the ceremony鈥檚 midway point.
Then Regina King broke the string, with a best actress win in a limited series or movie for 鈥淪even Seconds,鈥� which tracks the fallout from a white police officer鈥檚 traffic accident involving a black teenager.
鈥淚 feel like a lot of times we are so divided as a country that things are always black and white. I鈥檓 guilty of that a lot of times. I think that probably played into my assumption the chances of me winning was so small,鈥� King said backstage.
Darren Criss, who is of Filipino descent, won the lead acting award for the miniseries 鈥淭he Assassination of Gianni Versace,鈥� which won best limited series. Black actress Thandie Newton won best supporting drama actress for 鈥淲estworld.鈥�
Peter Dinklage added a third acting trophy to his collection for 鈥淕ame of Thrones.鈥�
Brosnahan used her acceptance speech to give a shout-out to her comedy鈥檚 celebration of women power.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about a woman who鈥檚 finding her voice anew, and it鈥檚 one of the things that鈥檚 happening all over the country now,鈥� she said. She urged the audience to exercise that power by voting.
Bill Hader collected the best comedy actor award for 鈥淏arry,鈥� a dark comedy about a hired killer who stumbles into a possible acting career.
Henry Winkler, aka 鈥淭he Fonz,鈥� won a supporting actor award 鈥� his first Emmy 鈥� for 鈥淏arry,鈥� four decades after gaining fame for his role in 鈥淗appy Days.鈥�
鈥淚f you stay at the table long enough, the chips come to you. Tonight, I got to clear the table,鈥� an ebullient Winkler said, with an equally delighted auditorium audience rising to give him a standing ovation. To his grown children, he said: 鈥淵ou can go to bed now, daddy won!鈥�
The biggest award won by a broadcast network was 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� for best variety sketch series.
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The Emmys had a real-life dramatic moment when winning director Glenn Weiss, noting his mother had died two weeks ago, proposed to his girlfriend , Jan Svendsen.
鈥淵ou wonder why I don鈥檛 want to call you my girlfriend? It鈥檚 because I want to call you my wife,鈥� Weiss said. She said yes, he put his mother鈥檚 ring on her finger and the crowd whooped and cheered.
John Oliver, in picking up the trophy for best variety talk show award for 鈥淟ast Week Tonight,鈥� thanked Weiss鈥� girlfriend for giving the right answer or, he joked, the whole ceremony could have gone south.
The Emmys kicked off with a song, 鈥淲e Solved It,鈥� a self-mocking celebration to the diversity of nominees sung by stars including Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson. The tune included a mention of Oh鈥檚 possible victory: 鈥淭here were none, now there鈥檚 one, so we鈥檙e done,鈥� the comedians sang.
Oh played along from her seat: 鈥淭hank you, but it鈥檚 an honour just to be Asian,鈥� said the Korean-Canadian actress.
鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� creator Lorne Michaels, producing his second Emmy telecast in 30 years, was tasked with turning viewership around after the 2017 show鈥檚 audience of 11.4 million narrowly avoided the embarrassment of setting a new low.
The ceremony clearly bore his stamp, with Michael Che and Colin Jost as hosts and familiar 鈥淪NL鈥� faces, including Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin, as presenters and nominees. The long-running NBC sketch show, already the top Emmy winner ever with 71, won again for best variety sketch series.
The pressure was on Michaels because NBC and other broadcasters are increasingly reliant on awards and other live events to draw viewers distracted by online options.
The networks, which air the Emmy telecast on a rotating basis, are so eager for the ad dollars it generates and its promotional value for fall shows that they endure online competitors sharing 鈥� and dominating 鈥� the stage.
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AP Writers Jonathan Landrum Jr. and Mike Cidoni Lennox in Los Angeles and Leanne Italie in New York contributed to this report.
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Lynn Elber, The Associated Press
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