The 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards were the usual mix of ignoring anything new with abruptly forgetting old favorites to reward something new. The big winners were Homeland, Modern Family, and Game Change, each winning four awards in the primetime broadcast. (Homeland tied with Game Of Thrones for most awards overall, as both won six awards total. Two of Homeland’s came at last week’s Creative Arts ceremony, while all of Game Of Thrones’ did. Game Change and Modern Family followed up with five awards each.) Modern Family, of course, represents a victory of the status quo, and all four of its victors—Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Eric Stonestreet, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Julie Bowen, Outstanding Director for a Comedy Series Steve Levitan, and the series itself—already had Emmys from earlier seasons of the show. (Levitan’s were for writing and producing.)
Homeland, however, dethroned the mighty Mad Men, winning Outstanding Drama Series and preventing the AMC series from winning five trophies in a row, which would have tied a record for a series. While it was at it, Homeland also dethroned Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad’s streak in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category with Damian Lewis’ win there. (The other four awards the show won—Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Claire Danes; Outstanding Writing of a Drama Series for the pilot by Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, and Gideon Raff; Outstanding Casting of a Drama Series; and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series—were less surprising.) These awards were by far the most high-profile awards ever won by a Showtime drama and the first time any Showtime series had won one of the big two series categories. The flipside of this is that when the Emmys make a break with a series, they really make a break with it. Mad Men won zero awards out of 17 nominations for what was arguably its best season, and it is now zero-for-25 in acting nominations, as all six of its nominated actors were passed over.
Game Change’s dominance of the made-for-TV movie and miniseries categories mostly kept the heavily nominated American Horror Story from winning anything, though Jessica Lange broke through in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category for that show. (More irritatingly, Game Change’s dominance also kept Sherlock from winning anything.) Of course, HBO routinely dominates these categories, so Game Change doing so well was no surprise. And there were the usual cool awards around the edges, provided you could ignore, say, Jon Cryer somehow winning yet another Emmy—this time for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Two And A Half Men—over far worthier competition. Those cool winners included the second award for Aaron Paul’s work on Breaking Bad, as well as Louis C.K. winning writing awards for Louie and his stand-up comedy special that debuted online and later aired on FX. Plus, in a fun bit of Emmy trivia, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series award for her role on Veep, making her the first person to win an Emmy as a regular on three different series since Tyne Daly pulled it off for Cagney & Lacey, Christy, and Judging Amy.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Outstanding Drama Series: Homeland (Showtime)
Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family (ABC)
Outstanding Miniseries or Movie: Game Change (HBO)
Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
Outstanding Reality Competition Program: The Amazing Race (CBS)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Damian Lewis, Homeland (Showtime)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men (CBS)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys (History Channel)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Claire Danes, Homeland (Showtime)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Julianne Moore, Game Change (HBO)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Tom Berenger, Hatfields & McCoys (History Channel)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story (FX)
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Tom Bergeron, Dancing With The Stars (ABC)
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, and Gideon Raff, for the pilot, Homeland (Showtime)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: Louis C.K., for “Pregnant,” Louie (FX)
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie: Danny Strong, Game Change (HBO)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special: Louis C.K., Louis C.K. Live At The Beacon Theatre (Online/FX)
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series: Tim Van Patten, for “To The Lost,” Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Steven Levitan, for “Baby On Board,” Modern Family (ABC)
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Movie: Jay Roach, Game Change (HBO)
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special: Glenn Weiss, The 65th Annual Tony Awards (CBS)