Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

The Emmy Awards 2013

(main text written by ChrisB, fashion snark by sunbunny)

What a night of television! Dexter came to an end and Breaking Bad aired its penultimate episode. Up against these powerhouses was the 65th Emmy Awards. While I am sure it was not as exciting as either of the other two, as award shows go, it was one of the better ones with quite a few surprises as the evening went on.

The opening was not the greatest I have ever seen and felt a tad forced, until Kevin Spacey turned to camera and pulled off a House of Cards homage that was simply hilarious. It put me in the right mood for the show.

There were the usual montages and musical numbers. Elton John sang a new song dedicated to Liberace that got an enormous amount of Twitter scorn (scwitter?), but I loved it. Carrie Underwood, on the other hand, covered “Yesterday” by the Beatles. While she has a gorgeous voice, more obvious filler it is difficult to imagine.

Then, there was the extremely odd number towards the end in which the nominees for the Choreography award all joined forces to create a dance number that represented some of the nominated shows. It was fun, but again, filler. And, to put it into the show, they had to bump some announcements that, I would argue, should have been part of the show. Not being able to watch Bob Newhart win his first Emmy so that we can see Derek Hough win one is a travesty.

The highlight was the “Song in the Middle of the Show.” NPH broke into song when, all of a sudden, out on stage came Nathan Fillion. Well, that just made my whole night. The man is not only easy on the eyes, he can sing and dance.

The show decided to shake up the usual In Memoriam segment. Throughout the show, five actors were singled out for special memorials from people with whom they worked. While they were moving (especially Edie Falco talking about James Gandolfini), it all felt a bit weird at the end and there were several who, I would argue, deserved homages that did not get one.

The awards were a series of surprises this year. As these are what mattered, here we go. I have listed them in the order they aired.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series: Merritt Wever as Zoey Barkow (Nurse Jackie)

Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series: Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield (30 Rock, "Last Lunch")

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series: Tony Hale as Gary Walsh (Veep)

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer (Veep)
-- I think I need to watch some of this show.

Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series: Gail Mancuso (Modern Family, "Arrested")

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series: Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)
-- I love him and I love this show. He brought his co-stars to tears with his speech.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie: Laura Linney as Cathy Jamison (The Big C: Hereafter)

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series: Henry Bromell (Homeland, "Q&A")

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series: Anna Gunn as Skyler White (Breaking Bad)

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program: The Voice
-- Seriously?

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series: Bobby Cannavale as Gyp Rosetti (Boardwalk Empire)

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series: Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy (The Newsroom)
-- Even he was shocked.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series: Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison (Homeland)
-- OK, enough already. Yes, she is very good in the role, but she has won enough Emmys for this particular part. Kerry Washington, you won in my heart.

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series: David Fincher (House of Cards, Chapter 1)

Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series:
The Colbert Report

Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series:
Don Roy King for Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Choreography:
Derek Hough, Dancing With The Stars

Outstanding Variety Series: The Colbert Report

Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special: Abi Morgan (The Hour)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie: James Cromwell as Dr. Arthur Arden (American Horror Story: Asylum)

Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special: Steven Soderbergh (Behind The Candelabra)
-- I don’t get it. One of the worst movies I have seen on HBO -- ever.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie: Ellen Burstyn as Margaret Barrish Worthington (Political Animals)

Outstanding Lead Actor In a Miniseries or a Movie: Michael Douglas as Liberace (Behind the Candelabra)
-- How good am I? I predicted this win back when I reviewed the movie for my New Shows article. And, his acceptance speech made me laugh.

Outstanding Miniseries Or Movie: Behind The Candelabra
-- Too bad. The movie itself was a crashing bore.

Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family
-- Boring win. Seriously, it’s time for another show to get some love. Interesting that the show won, but that none of the actors did.

Outstanding Drama Series: Breaking Bad
-- Did anyone seriously think any other show was going to win? I don’t watch it, but even I think it deserves this win. I’ve been a fan of Vince Gill’s since he wrote for The X-Files.

Several awards were given prior to the broadcast, which I now think the producers realized was a mistake. Each of these winner played a role in the show tonight.

Outstanding Guest Actor In a Comedy Series: Bob Newhart as Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton (The Big Bang Theory)

Outstanding Guest Actress In a Comedy Series: Melissa Leo as Laurie (Louie)

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series: Dan Bucatinsky as James Novack (Scandal)

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series: Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni (The Good Wife)

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program: Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn (Project Runway)

So, there you have it. Now, I hand over to my partner-in-crime, sunbunny, who will talk about the fashions. Even I watched all the red carpet stuff this time around. I think I’m growing as a person!

sunbunny speaks...Awards shows are great venues for designers and stylists to display their talent and their creativity. This year, that creativity was out in full force. Why wear a dress, designers argued, when you could wear something far more interesting? Let’s check out what fantastic ideas they came up with.

Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) wore a curtain.
Game of Thrones’s khaleesi, Emilia Clarke, donned a wrinkled bed sheet.

Here we see Girls creator and star Lena Dunham in a faux vintage tablecloth,
and Mad Men’s January Jones in an actual vintage tablecloth.
Julianne Hough, who is famous for...something...chose to wear a 1950s bathing suit underneath a sparkly shower curtain,

while nominee Kerry Washington wore half the inventory of a craft store.
Finally, The Good Wife nominee Julianna Margulies wowed in this embroidered guest bathroom towel.














Sarcasm accomplished. Fashion disasters aside (boy, there were a lot of them this year; I didn’t even bring up Julie Bowen or Connie Britton), there were a few worthy standouts.




Anna Gunn, who won tonight for Breaking Bad looked beautiful and simple in Romona Keveza.












Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won (again) for Veep stunned in a Monique Lhuillier sparkler.



And presenter Maria Hill Robin Scherbatsky Cobie Smulders was a vision in a pale pink J. Mendel gown, complete with train.










What did you guys think of the show? Of the winners? Of the dresses? Let us know in the comments!

4 comments:

  1. Great rundown, sunbunny and Chris! And I needed to catch up, because I spent tonight with Dexter and Breaking Bad, followed by Talking Bad.

    I can't believe Dexter is over. Eight seasons. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so happy Breaking Bad won Best Drama! I actually had no idea it would win. It's been nominated for Best Drama series in the past, but always lost out, and season 5 part 1 wasn't their strongest stretch of episodes in my opinion (still amazing of course, just not their best).

    I'm really happy Anna Gunn won, simply for the fact that both Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston have both won theirs in the past and it was obvious she was not expecting it.

    I also agree with you Chris on "Behind the Candelabra" -- I just don't get what all the fuss was about. Yes, both actors gave good performances, but the movie itself was such a drag. And not anything special.

    And a shout out to Sunbunny for her fashion snark! I don't know anything about fashion, but reading your comments on some of the dresses made me laugh. Too funny.

    Now it's time for me to go watch the second to last episode of Breaking Bad! I'm a little scared, but I can do it. Deep breaths.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My three favorite moments of the night were: Kevin Spacey's aside to the camera (did you guys notice his flag pin was upside down like his show's logo?), Amy and Tina attempting to gracefully ascend the stairs to the stage, and Bob Newhart's standing ovation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely rundown. Anna Gunn winning was good, it might in some way send a message to the haters that she's good--umm hoping too much here maybe.
    Bobby Cannavale winning was great. Claire Danes already has enough awards, yes. Her husband-Hugh Dancy should have been nominated for Hannibal. Still bitter about that.
    Anna

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.