Five-time champ “Modern Family” tried to set the all-time record by winning a sixth time as Best Comedy Series at the Emmys on Sunday, but instead, Gold Derby’s prediction of “Veep” won the TV election. HBO’s “Veep” had leading odds of 5/6 to win, compared to the third-place 11/2 odds for ABC’s “Modern Family.” This was the fourth consecutive shot for the political program, which had mostly counted on wins by star Julia Louis-Dreyfus in past years but not the big prize yet.
Watch our recent Emmy webchats with dozens of 2015 contenders
“Veep” had nine total nominations this year, winning the comedy casting award at last weekend’s Creative Arts ceremony in addition to Louis-Dreyfus (lead), Tony Hale (supporting actor), writing and series at the Primetime telecast. “Modern Family” only won sound mixing this year, a series low for the popular family comedy.
Rookie show “Transparent” was in second place with 4/1 odds. It had 11 nominations this year and won last Saturday for Bradley Whitford (guest actor), costumes and main title theme music. On Sunday night, it also won for Jeffrey Tambor (actor) and directing.
“Parks and Recreation” returned to this category for the first time since 2011. The NBC program stood in fourth place with 25/1 odds but only had three overall nominations for its final season. Star Amy Poehler was once again nominated for Best Comedy Actress, but lost to Louis-Dreyfus.
The last three spots were held by shows with distant 100/1 odds. Freshman program “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” from Netflix had a total of seven nominations, previous nominee “Silicon Valley” for HBO had seven bids and perennial FX hit “Louie” had six nominations.
Complete list of Emmy Awards winners
Photo Credit: Patrick Harbron/HBO