The Emmys: The Winners

What a weird night. That's pretty much all I can say about the Emmy Awards tonight. It felt like there was no overwhelming theme. Jane Lynch did an okay job hosting, but some of the technical aspects and skits of the show fell flat or were too clunky. The awards themselves went to a mix of expected and shocking winners, mostly deserved.

The big winner of the night has got to be Friday Night Lights which won two surprise awards in Writing and for its lead actor Kyle Chandler in its farewell season. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose indeed! Julianna Margulies, Margo Martindale, and Peter Dinklage took home the other Drama acting awards. All four winners made me smile. The supposed front-runners, Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men, had to settle for Directing (Martin Scorcese!) and Drama Series respectively.

In the Comedy side, Modern Family ruled with five wins including book-ending the show with two acting awards for TV married couple Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen at the beginning of the show and Comedy Series for the final award. Jim Parsons and Melissa McCarthy won in an upset in their lead categories with Steve Carell and Laura Linney largely expected to win. In one of the best moments of the show though Amy Poehler (who should've won) led McCarthy, Linney, and the other lead actress nominees on stage when their names were called up. Brilliant! The other winners are...

DRAMA
SERIES: Mad Men (AMC)
ACTOR: Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
ACTRESS: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
SUPP. ACTOR: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HCO)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Margo Martindale, Justified (FX)
DIRECTING: Martin Scorcese, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
WRITING: Jason Katims, Friday Night Lights (Direct TV)
GUEST ACTOR: Paul McCrane, Harry's Law (NBC)
GUEST ACTRESS: Loretta Devine, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

COMEDY
SERIES: Modern Family (ABC)
ACTOR: Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory (CBS)
ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
SUPP. ACTOR: Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
DIRECTING: Michael Spiller, Modern Family (ABC)
WRITING: Steve Levitan & Jeffrey Richmond, Modern Family (ABC)
GUEST ACTOR: Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live (NBC)
GUEST ACTRESS: Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee (FOX)

In the other side of things, Downton Abbey ruled with four wins including Best Miniseries over Mildred Pierce, which still saw two of its actor win in Guy Pearce and Kate Winslet. Winslet is now a Tony Award away from full EGOT status. The Amazing Race and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart also walked away with Emmy trophies once again.

MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIALS
MINISERIES OR MOVIE: Downton Abbey (PBS)
ACTOR: Barry Pepper, The Kennedys (Starz)
ACTRESS: Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce (HBO)
SUPP. ACTOR: Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce (HBO)
SUPP. ACTRESS: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
DIRECTING: Brian Percival, Downton Abbey (PBS)
WRITING: Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey (PBS)

VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY PROGRAM
SERIES: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
DIRECTING: Saturday Night Live (NBC)
WRITING: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

REALITY
COMPETITION PROGRAM: The Amazing Race (CBS)
PROGRAM: Deadliest Catch (Discovery)
HOST: Jeff Probst, Survivor (CBS)

In terms of my predictions, I went a dismal 7 for 19. And really the less said about that bit of statistic, the better.