Emmys 2019 – A Brief Review and Top Highlights of the Event

See all who took home an Emmy

Emmys 2019 was one of the biggest events of the year for the TV industry that surprised many people and didn’t impress some. Though the event was not as big as the Oscars, it had some interesting moments. Surprisingly, Game of Thrones didn’t do well when it comes to winning awards, and there were some surprises like Fleabag bagging awesome attention and several awards. Here’s what happened at 71^st Emmy Awards that was worthy of attention.

The Comedic Surprise

At Emmys 2019, Fleabag was a major upset winner for Best Comedy. It picked four awards in total, and two of them were for acting and writing by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She was so surprised that she said “Well this is just getting ridiculous” and garnered laughs. The four awards won by Fleabag at Emmys 2019 were Best Comedy, Best Actress in A Comedy, Best Direction and Best Writing.

Game of Thrones Disappointments

As most fans expected, Game of Thrones did a splendid job at sweeping awards and brought its all-time total to 59, which is a record for any program. But the Emmys 2019 wasn’t successful for the show. Peter Dinklage aka Tyrion Lannister won his fourth supporting actor Emmy for the show, and no one can deny it was well deserved. But as the fans didn’t like the Game of Thrones Season 8 or the Game of Thrones finale, it didn’t sweep many awards despite impressive 32 Emmy Nominations.

Before Sunday’s Emmys 2019 event, Game of Thrones had already won 10 creative Emmys. It needed three more wins to beat its own record of 12 Emmys. It won two. First was won by Dinklage and the second was for the show as Outstanding Drama series.

The shocker for the fans was the moment in Emmys 2019 when talented actresses like Masie Williams, Sophie Turner, Lena Headey, and Gwendoline Christie lost an Emmy to an equally shocked Julia Garner from Ozark.

Amazon’s Victory

Amazon won 5 early prizes for Fleabag and The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel. Alex Borstein won an Emmy for Supporting Actress- Comedy series at Emmys 2019.

Creating History

Pose Star, Billy Porter, was the one to create history at Emmys 2019 as he became the first openly gay black man who won a trophy in the Lead Actor in a Drama category. The star won the trophy for portraying the role of ballroom emcee Pray Tell in Pose that revolves around underground balls in the New York in 1980s and 1990s that celebrated the LGBTQ community.

Porter expressed his happiness by dancing his way to accept the award at Emmys 2019 and rejoiced the special moment by stretching out his arms. He said, “The category is love. I am so overwhelmed, and I am so overjoyed to have lived long enough to see this day.” As expected, the whole cast of Pose was cheering for him!

The Familiar Winner

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver made people think of The Daily Show during Emmys 2019 as it became a four-peat winner. The Daily Show had owned that category for a decade.

First Time Nominees

First-time nominees also got recognition. Ozark’s Julia Garner, BBC America’s Killing Eve and Jharrel Jerome for When They See Us got some much-deserved highlight. Jerome is a relative newcomer and still triumphed over many veteran actors and Oscar winners. He dedicated the award to the writer-director of the show, Ava DuVernay, and his parents during his acceptance speech at Emmys 2019.

Chernobyl as the Champion

To no one’s surprise, Chernobyl became the best limited series and garnered extra honours for writing and directing. Craig Mazin stressed that the show would remind people “of the value of the truth, and the danger of a lie” while accepting the award. Though US President Donald Trump wasn’t overtly mentioned, most people understood who was Mazin targeting at during Emmys 2019.

The Jeering Moment

Kim Kardashian and Kendall Jenner presented the award to Drag Race for Best Reality Series at Emmys 2019. The duo had to suffer an embarrassing moment during their intro. Kim announced, “Our family knows first-hand how truly compelling television comes from just being themselves” and a roar of mocking laughter followed her statement.

Prison Watcher

Felicity Huffman, a former Emmy-winner probably watched the show from the prison. She was sentenced to two weeks in jail after she confessed her role in the college admissions scandal. This was highlighted by Comedian Thomas Lennon during Emmys 2019 who worked as an offstage commentator during Emmys 2019 and said, “The producers have asked me to give a special shout-out to any of our previous lead actress winners who are watching tonight from prison. Hopefully, those two weeks are gonna right fly by.”

The Memorable Speeches

Emmys 2019 was filled with a few memorable speeches. The first one was from Fosse/Verdon star Michelle Williams who thanked the Fox 21 and FX for paying her equally as her male counterparts. She also made a plea for pay equity across the entertainment industry and demanded that female employees should be given an equal and fair wage.

Patricia Arquette talked about the death of her sister Alexis Arquette, an actress and a transgender activist and stressed on the importance of accepting transgender people and giving them the rights, they deserve.

Standing Ovations

The casts of Game of Thrones and Veep got standing ovations at Emmys 2019 as both the long-running and popular series ended their runs in the spring. The highlight was the red-cloaked Gwendoline Christie, who was nearly drowned out by cheers.

Best TV Movie

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch by Netflix was honoured as the Best TV movie at Emmys 2019.

The Moving Moments

Halsey’s live performance of “Time After Time” was quite moving too as she looked like a real-life princess. The performance soundtracked the show’s in memoriam segment.

The Overall Haul

HBO’s overall haul at Emmys 2019 was 34 Emmys, 9 of which were won on Sunday night. Netflix was second with 27 Emmys while Amazon got 15. Chernobyl won 10 wins while Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag won 8 and 6 respectively.

Exciting Ads

New ads for new streaming giants Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus were also shared.

No Host Experience

Following the footsteps of the Oscars, Emmys 2019 were presented without a host. In the introduction of the show, Bryan Cranston said, “Television has never been this damn good.” The ceremony was televised by Fox which isn’t good news for people who are worried about ratings as ratings usually dip when awards are played on Fox.

Here’s a quick rundown of the nominees and winners in the major categories of the Emmys 2019: