Cable Wins (Again) At Emmys

Medium Claims 17 Primetime Statuettes, Most Top Honors

By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 9/6/2010 12:01:00 AM

The kudos and the statuettes keep coming for cable.

The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards marked another strong showing for cable. Not only did the medium tally 17 wins — almost double the Big Four’s total of nine during the ceremony from the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Aug. 29 — but cable snared most of the top awards.

Counted in cable’s column: Outstanding drama series; three of the lead acting roles; a first-ever win in the reality competition category; and HBO setting the pace that night with eight wins.

Adding in the Creative Arts Primetime Emmys that were handed out on Aug. 21, cable earned 100 statuettes overall, one-quarter of which went to HBO, compared with 47 for ABC (18), Fox (11), CBS (10) and NBC (eight). PBS garnered seven.

HBO now has taken home the most Emmys for an eighth consecutive TV season.

AMC HITS TRIPLE
For AMC, good things came in threes, with the Rainbow Media Holdings service garnering a third consecutive outstanding drama Emmy for Matt Weiner’s Mad Men. The retro advertising series topped network stablemate Breaking Bad, whose star, Bryan Cranston, earned his thirdstraight best actor Emmy for his portrayal of Walt White.

Cranston’s Breaking Bad costar Aaron Paul broke through, grabbing the best supporting actress laurels for his role of Jess Pinkman.

Mad Men also got the best drama call over Showtime’s serial- killer series Dexter, HBO’s vampire skein True Blood, ABC’s outgoing Lost and CBS’s rookie entry The Good Wife. And it took home an Emmy for best drama writing for Weiner and Erin Levy’s work on the installment dubbed, “Shut the Door. Have a Seat.”

Joining Cranston for outstanding actress in a drama was Kyra Sedgwick, who finally locked down the Emmy in her fifth nomination for her portrayal of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in TNT’s The Closer. Sedgwick’s work in the episode titled “Maternal Instincts” gave her the win for what has been the most-watched original series in cable history.

Now in its sixth campaign, the show is enjoying its biggest numbers ever, with more than 8.4 million viewers when gauged on a live-plus-seven-days Nielsen basis.

“We’ve had the privilege of working with Kyra for many years, and we couldn’t be happier that she has received this much-deserved honor,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. “The Closer’s success is no accident. The creative team behind the show, including James Duff , Greer Shephard, Michael M. Robin and many others, are some of the smartest, hardest-working and most inventive people I’ve ever worked with. Every day, they give us all a lesson on how to make great television.”

Sedgwick’s triumph denied Glenn Close a threepeat of her own as outstanding drama actress award for FX’s, now Direc- TV’s, Damages. Segdwick topped Connie Britton on DirecTV/NBC’s Friday Night Lights; Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife; Mariska Hargitay in NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; and January Jones in Mad Men.

FALCO COPS FOR ‘JACKIE’
Showtime kept the outstanding lead actress in a comedy accolades on its mantle for a second straight year, as Edie Falco earned the statuette for her portrayal of the titular character Jackie Peyton in Nurse Jackie. Falco, who won three Emmys as the lead actress in a drama category for her portrayal of Carmela Soprano in HBO’s mob series The Sopranos, thus joined Carroll O’Connor in winning Emmys as the lead actor for comedy (All in the Family) and drama (In the Heat of the Night).

SHOWTIME’S BEST HAUL
Falco’s triumph, coupled with Steve Shill earning the outstanding director for a drama series award, gave Showtime, which tallied five Creative Arts wins (John Lithgow as guest actor as the Trinity Killer on Dexter; two for outgoing period drama The Tudors; and one each for Weeds and Nurse Jackie), its top primetime Emmy haul ever with seven.

“It’s incredibly gratifying that along with our subscribers, the Television Academy has embraced our original programming in such a major way,” said Matt Blank, chairman and CEO, Showtime Networks. “We congratulate our talent both in front and behind the camera, and are particularly thrilled to be recognized as the cable leader with the most series wins.”

Falco succeeded last year’s winner Toni Collette, who was nominated again for Showtime’s The United States of Tara; Lea Michele from Fox’s Glee; Julia Louis- Dreyfus from CBS’s The New Adventures of Old Christine; Amy Poehler for NBC’s Parks and Recreation; and Tina Fey for NBC’s 30 Rock.

Cranston’s third consecutive best-actor Emmy came over Michael C. Hall for the latter’s work as the lead character on Dexter; Kyle Chandler as Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights; Hugh Laurie as the lead character on Fox’s acerbic medical series House; Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard on Lost and Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men.

In another streak, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show With Jon Stewart pushed its Emmy run to eight in the outstanding comedy/ variety show category.

Top Chef, though, heated up enough to ensure that The Amazing Race failed to match that mark. Bravo’s cooking-competition series dethroned CBS’s stalwart, which had earned the Emmy in each of the seven years since the category’s inception in 2003.

Top Chef, which also beat Fox’s American Idol , ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and Lifetime’s Project Runway, had previously won an Emmy for outstanding editing in a reality series in 2008.

HBO swept the movie and miniseries categories. Autism film Temple Grandin netted five Emmys on Aug. 29, highlighted by the trophy for outstanding made-for-TV-movie. Claire Danes (lead actress), David Strathairn (supporting actor) and Julia Ormond (supporting actress) took home the attendant acting honors, while Mick Jackson triumphed for best director.

Al Pacino was Emmy’s outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie for his take on controversial physician Jack Kevorkian in the premium network’s You Don’t Know Jack, with Adam Mazer scoring another win for the telefilm as outstanding writer in the category.

Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s 10-part World War II miniseries The Pacific won the outstanding miniseries award beating out category challenger, PBS’s Return to Cranford. Tacking on its Creative Arts wins, The Pacific was the mostlauded program in the 2009-10 TV season with eight Emmys overall.

On the broadcast side, ABC’s Modern Family was the big winner there on Aug. 29, scoring statuettes for outstanding comedy series, as it denied 30 Rock a fourth straight win. Modern Family also notched Emmys for supporting actor for Eric Stonestreet and writing for series cocreators and executive producers Steve Levitan and Chris Lloyd.

Another pair of broadcast rookies, Glee and The Good Wife, netted outstanding supporting actress trophies for comedy and drama for Jane Lynch and Archie Panjabi, respectively.

And the geek quotient was high: Jim Parsons took home the statue in his second nomination as outstanding actor for CBS’s The Big Bang Theory.

CABLE’S WINNERS AT 62ND PRIMETIME EMMYS

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Nurse Jackie, Showtime

Outstanding Reality–Competition Program
Top Chef, Bravo

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Matthew Weiner, Erin Levy, Mad Men, “Shut The Door. Have A Seat,” AMC

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad, AMC

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston as Walter White, Breaking Bad, AMC

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Steve Hill, Dexter, “The Getaway,” Showtime

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Kyra Sedwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, The Closer, TNT

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Comedy Central

Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Miniseries or Movie
Julia Ormond as Eustacia, Temple Grandin, HBO

Outstanding Support Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
David Strathairn as Dr. Carlock, Temple Grandin, HBO

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
Adam Mazer, You Don’t Know Jack, HBO

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, Temple Grandin, HBO

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin, HBO

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian, You Don’t Know Jack, HBO

Outstanding Miniseries
The Pacific, HBO

Outstanding Made for Television Movie
Temple Grandin, HBO

Outstanding Drama Series
Mad Men, AMC