Finally: TV’s biggest night! The one time of the year when everybody takes a moment to recognize that, yes, TV is often better than movies. Last week saw the annual celebration of the non-famous people who do good work in the TV industry at the Creative Arts Emmys, with most of those awards going to Game Of Thrones, but the regular Emmys are where the real TV magic happens. Of course, Game Of Thrones was up for a lot of these awards, and it had that special “final season prestige” going into tonight’s ceremony even if said final season wasn’t great, so there always seemed like a good chance that a lot of these awards would end up going to Thrones as well.
Most of the statues at the beginning of the show went to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag (with Phoebe Waller-Bridge even cutting off Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Best Actress streak one win before setting a record), but then the Game Of Thrones cast (minus John Bradley, who had to stay in the audience for some presumably stupid reason) came out to present the award for Lead Actress In A Limited Series and got a standing ovation simply for being there. It was a powerful moment, if only because it felt like everyone involved was constantly on the verge of making a joke about how divisive the final season of the show was.
It was also, as viewers later found out, a bizarre thing that the Emmys were doing for a few of the big, popular shows that came to an end in the past year (like Veep), but letting Thrones do it first sure made it seem like nothing but a tribute to that specific show. Producers of award shows often seem to forget that the average viewer is not actually in the meetings where things like that are actually explained, but maybe the Emmys show itself was confused by this since it also did an “in memoriam”-style segment that paid tribute to other beloved shows that recently ended like Big Bang Theory, Broad City, and, uh, Gotham. (The ceremony was on Fox, let them have one thing.)
Chernobyl tore up a few of the Limited Series categories, Michelle Williams made a passionate speech that referenced the gender pay gap (a real-life subtweet to Mark Wahlberg), and Jharrel Jerome got a well-deserved Lead Actor In A Limited Series win for When They See Us. Eventually, though, the Game Of Thrones categories had to come up, with Peter Dinklage quickly landing another Supporting Actor In A Drama win before Ozark’s Julia Garner managed to land a dunk on four Game Of Thrones stars (plus Fiona Shaw from Killing Eve) to take home the Supporting Actress In A Drama trophy—threatening to shatter the “this is all about Game Of Thrones” premise of this very write-up.
After that, Billy Porter won for Lead Actor In A Drama (the first openly gay Black man to do so), Jason Bateman won Directing For A Drama, and Jodie Comer won Lead Actress, revealing that tonight wasn’t really all about Game Of Thrones—it was just about how great TV is in general, like Bryan Cranston somewhat emotionlessly said in the opening segment. In the end, Thrones was just another show, and the TV world is already moving on to new things like Fleabag.
But then Game Of Thrones won for Outstanding Drama, the biggest and most prestigious award of the night, because maybe it really was all about Game Of Thrones.
The full list of winners is below, and we’ll update this post throughout the night as more are announced.
Outstanding Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Bodyguard
Game Of Thrones
Killing Eve
Ozark
Pose
Succession
This Is Us
Outstanding Comedy Series
Barry
Fleabag
The Good Place
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Russian Doll
Schitt’s Creek
Veep
Outstanding Limited Series
Chernobyl
Escape At Dannemora
Fosse/Verdon
Sharp Objects
When They See Us
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
At Home With Amy Sedaris
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
I Love You, America With Sarah Silverman
Saturday Night Live
Who Is America?
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Anthony Carrigan, Barry
Tony Hale, Veep
Stephen Root, Barry
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Henry Winkler, Barry
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Sian Clifford, Fleabag
Olivia Colman, Fleabag
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Sarah Goldberg, Barry
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
“Ron/Lily,” Barry
“Episode 1,” Fleabag
“Anna Ishii-Peters,” Pen15
“Nothing In This World Is Easy,” Russian Doll
“A Warm Body,” Russian Doll
“Janet(s),” The Good Place
“Veep,” Veep
Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series
Alec Berg, Barry, “The Audition”
Bill Hader, Barry, “Ronny/Lily”
Mark Cendrowski, The Big Bang Theory, “The Stockholm Syndrome”
Harry Bradbeer, Fleabag, “Episode 1”
Amy Sherman-Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “All Alone”
Daniel Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “We’re Going To The Catskills!”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Bill Hader, Barry
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead To Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Julie Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Directing For A Limited Series Or TV Movie
A Very English Scandal, Stephen Frears
Chernobyl, Johan Renck
Escape At Dannemora, Ben Stiller
Fosse/Verdon, “Glory,” Jessica Yu
Fosse/Verdon, “Who’s Got the Pain,” Thomas Kail
When They See Us, Ava DuVernay
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Asante Blackk, When They See Us
Paul Dano, Escape At Dannemora
John Leguizamo, When They See Us
Stellan Skarsgård, Chernobyl
Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal
Michael K. Williams, When They See Us
Outstanding Writing For A Limited Series, Movie Or Dramatic Special
A Very English Scandal
Chernobyl
“Episode 6,” Escape At Dannemora
“Episode 7,” Escape At Dannemora
“Providence,” Fosse/Verdon
“Part Four,” When They See Us
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Mahershala Ali, True Detective
Benicio Del Toro, Escape To Dannemora
Jared Harris, Chernobyl
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Hugh Grant, A Very English Scandal
Outstanding TV Movie
Bandersnatch (Black Mirror)
Brexit
Deadwood
King Lear
My Dinner With Hervé
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Amy Adams, Sharp Objects
Patricia Arquette, Escape To Dannemora
Aunjanue Ellis, When They See Us
Joey King, The Act
Niecy Nash, When They See Us
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie
Patricia Arquette, The Act
Marsha Stephanie Blake, When They See Us
Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects
Vera Farmiga, When They See Us
Margaret Qualley, Fosse/Verdon
Emily Watson, Chernobyl
Writing For A Variety Series
Documentary Now!
Full Frontal With Sam Bee
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Late Night With Seth Meyers,
Saturday Night Live
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Directing For A Variety Series
Documentary Now!, “Waiting for the Artist,” (Alex Buono, Rhys Thomas)
Drunk History, “Are You Afraid of the Drunk?” (Derek Waters)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, “Psychics,” (Paul Pennolino)
Saturday Night Live, “Host: Adam Sandler,” (Don Roy King)
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “Live Midterm Election Show,” Jim Hoskinson
Who Is America?, “Episode 102,” Showtime (Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino, Dan Mazer)
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
Full Frontal
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight
The Late Late Show
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Alfie Allen, Game Of Thrones
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game Of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, Game Of Thrones
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Michael Kelly, House Of Cards
Chris Sullivan, This Is Us
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
“Winner,” Better Call Saul
“Episode 1,” Bodyguard
“The Iron Throne,” Game Of Thrones
“Nice And Neat,” Killing Eve
“Nobody Is Ever Missing,” Succession
“Holly,” The Handmaid’s Tale
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Gwendoline Christie, Game Of Thrones
Julia Garner, Ozark
Lena Headey, Game Of Thrones
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Sophie Turner, Game Of Thrones
Maisie Williams, Game Of Thrones
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Kit Harington, Game Of Thrones
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Billy Porter, Pose
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Directing For A Drama Series
Game of Thrones, “The Iron Throne,” HBO (David Benioff, D.B. Weiss)
Game of Thrones, “The Last of the Starks,” HBO (David Nutter)
Game of Thrones, “The Long Night,” HBO (Miguel Sapochnik)
The Handmaid’s Tale, “Holly,” Hulu (Daina Reid)
Killing Eve, “Desperate Times,” BBC America (Lisa Bruhlmann)
Ozark, “Reparations,” Netflix (Jason Bateman)
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Emilia Clarke, Game Of Thrones
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Viola Davis, How To Get Away With Murder
Laura Linney, Ozark
Mandy Moore, This Is Us
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Robin Wright, House Of Cards