As Gold Derby predicted, “Game of Thrones” prevailed as Best Drama Series at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards. It also won Best Drama Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), Best Drama Writing (“Mother’s Mercy“) and Best Drama Directing (also “Mother’s Mercy”). Combined with the whopping eight it claimed at the Creative Arts Awards last weekend, it claimed a total of 12 prizes, setting a new record for the most wins by a series in a single year; “The West Wing” won nine in 2000.
Emmy Awards: Complete list of winners
“Veep” entered the telecast having won Best Comedy Casting at Creative Arts, and it won four more: Best Comedy Series, Best Comedy Actress (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won for the fourth year in a row), Best Comedy Supporting Actor (Tony Hale, his second win in the category) and Best Comedy Writing (“Election Night“).
“Transparent” claimed two awards at Sunday night’s telecast: Best Comedy Actor (Jeffrey Tambor, prevailing for the very first time), Best Comedy Directing (“Best New Girl,” helmed by series creator Jill Soloway). It won three other prizes at Creative Arts for its costumes, main title theme and guest actor Bradley Whitford, bringing its total to five for its freshman season.
Lead acting awards for drama went to Jon Hamm (“Mad Men“) and Viola Davis (“How to Get Away with Murder“). It was Hamm’s first victory after eight years playing Don Draper on AMC’s period drama. Davis’s win was also historic, marking the first win for an African-American in that category.
The most awarded show of the telecast was “Olive Kitteridge,” which competed in seven categories at the primetime telecast and won six: Best Limited Series, Best Movie/Mini Actor (Richard Jenkins), Best Movie/Mini Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Movie/Mini Supporting Actor (Bill Murray), Best Movie/Mini Writing (Jane Anderson), Best Movie/Mini Directing (Lisa Cholodenko).
Allison Janney (“Mom“) won Best Comedy Supporting Actress for the second year in a row. It’s her seventh career win, which puts her one away from tying the Primetime Emmy acting record held by Cloris Leachman, who has won eight times.
Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the New Black“) also made history. She became the first actor to win comedy and drama Emmys for the same role on the same show. Ed Asner previously won as the character Lou Grant in both drama and comedy races, but for two different programs: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant.”
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” ended its run in August, and the TV academy gave the show a victory lap, awarding it Best Variety Talk Series, Best Variety Writing and Best Variety Directing.
