Emmys Show Review: 'Game of Thrones,' 'Veep,' 'Kitteridge' Sweep, and Everyone Got What They Deserved
It’s not often that one comes away from an awards show thinking the awards were all well-deserved and that the show was frequently amusing, but that’s the way the Emmys went. Sometimes surprising winners and moments (Tracy Morgan returning to TV, and to present the Best Drama award!), and not excessively boring (the telecast even ended a minute early!), it was a fine Sunday night, especially if you were in any way associated with Game of Thrones, Veep, Olive Kitteridge, and … The Voice!
Related: The Complete List of 2015 Emmy Winners
If there could be said to be an upset, it was undoubtedly the triumph of Game of Thrones over the final season of Mad Men in numerous categories. But who could begrudge GoT after seasons of neglect? You could argue that this wasn’t Thrones’s strongest season, and that Mad Men went out excellently, but that’s a familiar characteristic of Emmy history, and, really, I was just glad to see Jon Hamm finally get his acting Emmy. I was also equally glad to see the Writing, Directing, and Supporting-Actor awards GoT walked away with. It was a nice birthday present for George R.R. Martin.
The Veep sweep was also one to be savored. The show took a risk this past season in moving Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Selina Meyer up a notch in job description, and it worked out beautifully as an artistic strategy. And, as it turned out, as an awards-attractor, including the fourth consecutive win for Louis-Dreyfus.
It was indeed a night of sweeps in each major genre, since Olive Kitteridge dominated the movie/miniseries category as well. I was kind of shocked that the gravely austere, deadpan Kitteridge prevailed over the much showier Bessie — it was one of the rare times in Emmy history in which the most artistically discrete creation prevailed.
Related: Yahoo TV’s Complete Emmys Coverage
Andy Samberg proved a surprisingly charming and not-surprisingly funny host. His opening, taped segment about catching up on a year’s worth of TV-watching was superbly crafted, crammed with TV shows and laughs, as was his Mad Men-finale sketch: “Emmys Can Kill” killed. Samberg made a couple of nicely wicked True Detective jokes, and also tossed off some terrific, written-on-the-fly jokes, such as pretending disappointment when Jon Hamm won Best Drama Actor: “I was pullin’ [Kyle] Chandler—[I] dig that dude.”
My own awards follow.
• Best Presenter: A tie: Tracy Morgan, at once moving and funny (”I was just ecstatic to learn I wasn’t the one who messed up”), and John Oliver, for reducing the entire history of television to the everlasting importance of Alex Trebek and Jeopardy!.
• Best Speech: Viola Davis, who devoted her Best Actress time to a stirring argument about diversity, preceded by a wonderful, heartfelt embrace between Davis and Taraji P. Henson.
• Best Audience Member: Amy Poehler, going out gangsta as she watched her last chance to win for Parks and Recreation fade away.
• Best Music: Any awards show that includes Parliament-Funkadelic songs is a fine endeavor in my estimation.
