While the Golden Globes and the Oscars complained about a massive loss of attention due to Covid, their relatives, the Emmys, rejoiced. Cinema versus TV has a clear winner, television.
Mike White is delighted with his awards for «The White Lotus».
The Emmy Awards are the most important television awards in the United States, in which television is one of the leading media – according to estimates by Nielsen Universe, there will be at least one television in 2020/21 in 121 million households. The Emmy is one of the four major awards in the American entertainment industry, along with the Oscar (film), the Tony (theater) and the Grammy (music). And while cinemas, theaters and concert organizers were starving due to the pandemic, television and streaming services were booming.
Over 90 prize categories
Just as with the glamor events of the cinema industry, the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, a “Red Carpet Show” takes place before the actual main event. Bob Odenkirk takes off his sunglasses only briefly before disappearing – and reappearing for the interview in which he recounts his heart attack while filming “Better Call Saul”. He now has two stents and is fine again. Odenkirk is one of six nominees in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category. Incidentally, this is the semantic difference to the Oscars, where “Best” is mentioned instead of “Outstanding”. Both, however, have a capital letter, a capital letter, as befits their status.
Batman and Birdman first
The 74th Primetime Emmys will be moderated by actor and comedian Kenan Thompson, who has been a cast member of «Saturday Night Live» since 2003. They came to celebrate the greatest invention in human history: television. “No one in this room has read a book in 50 years,” claims the host. Scripts excepted. After a dance show, he asks to say hello to Oprah Winfrey. She appears in a white, floor-length tuxedo dress, a braid hanging over her right shoulder, diamonds on her ears, and announces the first category: “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie”. Former Batman and Birdman Michael Keaton wins for «Dopesick». “How many Emmys have you won,” he asks the talk billionaire, “ninety?”
Kenan jokes to Zendaya: “It was her birthday a week ago, she turned 26. A heck of a age. Young enough to play a high school student but too old to play Leonardo DiCaprio.” Laughter in the hall and fortunately no DiCaprio far and wide who could do the same as Will Smith. Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short are teasing each other. They announce the winner of the best talk show, it wins “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”. High time for another commercial break. Now at the latest one understands why a majority of the local television audience wants to skip the advertising on Replay-TV.
girl power
Amanda Seyfried received the Emmy for Best Lead Actress for her role as Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of the scam company Theranos, in The Dropout. Your acceptance speech is short. Big Grrrl Lizzo is the winner of the “Outstanding Competition Program” category with “Lizzo‘s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” she freaks out with excitement at finally being seen, heard, and honored with her Grrrls. The fantastic-looking Geena Davis received a special prize for her commitment to gender equality for her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
One of the main winners of the evening is the HBO series “The White Lotus”, a Hawaiian society satire that can be seen on Sky Show in this country. Director Mike White, who also wrote the screenplay, creates the double. And as with the Oscars, those who died last year are remembered, including a number of executives whose names are mostly unknown to us, very different from that of the “Golden Girl” Betty White or Nichelle Nichols aka Lieutenant Uhura from “Spaceship Enterprise”. The musical accompaniment to “In Memoriam” is provided by John Legend on the piano. Earlier, his pregnant wife Chrissie Teigen proudly showed off her baby bump on the red carpet.
Squid and Lasso
The stars of the series “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”, Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay, daughter of Jayne Mansfield, who died in an accident in 1967, and for a time the highest paid TV actress in the world, announce the best lead actor in a comedy series: It is Jason Sudeikis for «Ted Lasso». At the top of the Outstanding Drama Series is Squid Game. Director Hwang Dong-hyuk hopes this won’t be his last Emmy. See you at Season 2. Zendaya triumphs as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series with the HBO series Euphoria, which will see a third season. Zendaya is the future, even without Leonardo DiCaprio. The best “Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” goes to the great Jean Smart for “Hacks”, also an HBO series. Smart thanks Botox.
Drama instead of happy ending
Gradually, the eyelids become heavy. The hopefully last commercial break has an additional sedating effect. But in the end it gets exciting again. Who will be Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series? It’s Lee Jung-jae, the Last Man Standing in Squid Game, not the phenomenal Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul. Is there a hint of disappointment on the face of the man who has convincingly embodied the windy lawyer for six seasons? Another commercial break. “The White Lotus” takes one last time before the best comedy series is read out: “Ted Lasso”. Hope really dies last tonight with the promised final commercial break, hopefully not an empty promise. It’s almost five o’clock, the “Outstanding Drama Series” is waiting for the last Emmy. The winner is the HBO series «Succession». In the evening at 10:30 p.m. Warner TV series repeats the Emmy event, this time without commercial breaks. Good to know.