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
