The Crown, Ted Lasso and Mare Of Easttown bagged 10 of the 12 acting awards. RuPaul makes history by becoming the most-awarded person of colour at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards honoured the best in US primetime television programming between June 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The nominations were announced on July 13 this year, by Ron and Jasmine Cephas Jones at a virtual event. After going virtual in 2020, the Emmys were held in-person this year.
The TV Academy has limited the ceremony to about 600 attendees, due to health and safety guidelines as the Delta variant of Covid-19 continues to rage across the US.
The August gathering, on September 20, began with actor Cedric the Entertainer performing a musical number that parodied the rapper Biz Markie hit Just A Friend.
Cedric commenced with the song which changed the lyrics of the beloved rap song to more TV-themed content. He was quickly joined by a number of other stars, including rappers LL Cool J, Lil Dicky Burd, and Rita Wilson.
Held on Sunday night, the 2021 Emmy Awards was celebrating the year’s best TV and a return to live events at LA Live’s Event Deck at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater.
Network Apple TV plus’ Ted Lasso and HBO’s Mare Of Easttown picked up the first awards of the night, each winning the pair of supporting acting awards for a comedy and limited series, respectively.
TV personality, host and producer RuPaul, whose full name is RuPaul Charles, created history by becoming the most-awarded person of colour in the Emmy Awards history with 11 honours. RuPaul broke the record for the most Emmy wins by a person of colour as RuPaul’s Drag Race was named outstanding competition program. The series is the most-awarded reality competition show at event.
Actor Jason Sudeikis was named outstanding lead actor in a comedy for his turn as the soccer coach in Ted Lasso, while Hollywood star Kate Winslet won the lead actress title in a limited series or movie for her role as a detective sergeant in Mare Of Easttown.
During her acceptance speech, Winslet expressed, “I just want to acknowledge my fellow nominees in this decade that has to be about women having each other’s backs. I support you, I salute you. I’m proud of all of you.”
This win marks Winslet’s first win in over 10 years. She last won for 2011’s Mildred Pierce. The Titanic star was also nominated as an executive producer in the outstanding limited or anthology series category.
Stream giant Netflix’s The Crown took over the drama fields. It picked up top honours for supporting actress, which was taken home by Gillian Anderson, supporting actor, won by Tobias Menzies, writing and directing.
The show Hacks dominated the comedy fields. Female directors such as Jessica Hobbs and Lucia Aniello, among many others, bagged the awards for comedy and drama series directing in the same year for the first time, as makers from The Crown and Hacks prevailed against tough competition. Aniello won for directing the pilot episode of the latter and Hobbs won for helming the fourth season finale of the show, the episode War depicting the depth of the dysfunction of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s doomed marriage.
Jean Smart took home her fourth Emmy of her career for her role as stand-up comic Deborah Vance.
Olivia Colman won her first Emmy Award for lead actress in a drama series for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Season 4 of The Crown. The actress said she loved every second of it and cannot wait to see what happens next.
Michael K Williams won the award for outstanding supporting actor in Lovecraft Country posthumously. The posthumous Emmy honour would have marked his first career and individual win, and his fifth overall nomination. Kerry Washington paid tribute to The Wire star while presenting the supporting actor in a drama series category. During her brief tribute, Washington called Williams a “brilliantly talented actor and a generous human being who has left us far too soon.”
“I know you’re here because you wouldn’t miss this. Your excellence, your artistry will endure. We love you,” she added.
Williams, who was found dead on September 6 in his Brooklyn residence, was best known for his beloved and iconic roles as Omar Little on The Wire and Albert ‘Chalky’ White on the series Boardwalk Empire.
Television personalities Lorne Michaels and John Oliver both also paid tributes to late comedian Norm Macdonald, who was a Saturday Night Live alum.
Netflix’s The Crown and Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian led the nominations with 24 each, going into the night, followed by Marvel and Disney Plus’ WandaVision with 23 and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale with 21. HBO and HBO Max topped networks and streamers with 130 total nominations, followed closely behind by Netflix with 129.
Actress Elizabeth Moss starrer The Handmaid’s Tale set a record with most losses at the award function. The dystopian drama lost all of its awards, setting the record for the most losing series of 21 in a single year, topping AMC’s Mad Men for 17 that occurred in 2012.