With an audience of more than 6,000 and a broadcast to more than 30 million, the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards delivered. While this year’s awards highlighted the heavy heart of the television industry because of recent deaths, they also provided celebration of several decades of television as well as the talent sprawled across our screens from both dramatic and comedic performances.
The always-charming Neil Patrick Harris polished his hosting skills developed from the Tony Awards and looked dapper while doing it in a maroon suit. His introduction included hilarious banter from Hollywood’s biggest names in television like Kevin Spacey and Jane Lynch. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler also participated in opening the awards and even requested that Harris “work that twerk” on stage. Jimmy Fallon also had a brief tap dancing number. Of course a hosting gig from Harris is not complete without a performance. At the halfway point of the show, Harris showed off his pipes and dance moves alongside Nathan Fillion, Sarah Silverman and the Emmy Gold Dancers. Other highlights from Harris included a segment featuring his co-stars from “How I Met Your Mother” humorously addressing his Excessive Hosting Disorder, or EHD. As always, Harris provided both humor and class in his hosting.
Merritt Wever received the first award of the night for her performance in “Nurse Jackie” while nabbing the unofficial award for best acceptance speech ever. With shock written across her face, Wever simply said, “I gotta go, bye.” Good luck coming up with a better speech than that, future winners. “Modern Family” had 12 nominations this year and took home one of the biggest awards of the night in the Outstanding Comedy Series category. Since its premiere, the show has had 57 nominations. “Breaking Bad” won the same award for drama series and totaled 13 nominations this year making its Emmy nomination total 42 to date. Jeff Daniels of “The Newsroom” won for best actor in a drama series shockingly beating Jon Hamm of “Mad Men” and Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad.” “Well crap,” he said upon accepting his award clearly surprised about his win. Other winners included “The Colbert Report” for the Outstanding Variety Series and Writing for a Variety Series categories and “The Voice” for the Outstanding Reality-Competition Series category.
The tone of the awards ranged from mourning to fascination as tributes for lost actors and actresses were balanced with incredible performances. Edie Falco gave a tearful tribute to James Gandolfini, her co-star from “The Sopranos.” Jane Lynch from Glee also delivered an incredible speech remembering the young Cory Monteith and discussed his “genuine sweetness that made it impossible not to fall in love with him.” Performances from two of the world’s most famous singers spiced up the usual routine of awards and speeches. Elton John performed “Home Again” in honor of the late pianist Liberace, while Carrie Underwood performed “Yesterday” by The Beatles to commemorate television’s impact on news stories of the past, such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
As for fashion, celebrities filled the red carpet with a variety of looks. Claire Danes, winner of the Best Actress in a Drama category for “Homeland,” donned a new hair cut as well as a sequin dress with a plunging neckline. Funny woman Mindy Kaling also looked radiant as she wore a purple dress with jeweled details. Sarah Hyland of “Modern Family” took on a dark look with her makeup, while Lena Dunham of “Girls” made her eyes pop with teal eye shadow. The men of television also looked handsome in classic suits with Aaron Paul from “Breaking Bad” and Jon Hamm from “Mad Men” making women everywhere swoon from the red carpet.
In a time where shows can be viewed on a variety of platforms such as televisions, laptops and iPhones, the 65th Annual Emmy Awards faced many obstacles pleasing all of the fans dedicated to their favorite shows whether that be “Orange Is the New Black” or “Scandal.” With a delicate balance of both remembrance and celebration, this year’s awards delivered a concise view of what it means to love television.