Although HBO juggernaut series “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” both came to an end this year and therefore were seeing their final chances to be celebrated at the Emmys, the voting members of the Television Academy did not just tick all of the boxes for those two behemoths and call it a night. In fact, far from it.
At Sundays ceremony, “Game of Thrones” won the drama series trophy and supporting drama actor for Peter Dinklage, while “Veep” was shut out.
There were some other repeat names called this year, including lead comedy actor winner Bill Hader (“Barry”) and supporting comedy actress winner Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), but the 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were chock-full of new names accepting onstage at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live — including first-ever Emmy winners Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”), Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”), triple-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”) and Jharrel Jerome (“When They See Us”).
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See the full list of winners here.
Here are the biggest snubs and surprises of the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards.
SNUB: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and “Veep”
The titular star of HBOs “Veep” who beat cancer last year was a frontrunner going into nominations at this years Emmys — but at the end of the day she didnt get enough votes to win her seventh statue for the role. If she had won she also would have become the most-decorated performer by the Television Academy. The final season of the political comedy itself also lost all of its major races, from comedy series to supporting comedy actor and actress.
SURPRISE: Jodie Comer
The “Killing Eve” star topped some tough competition in the lead drama actress category, including her own costar Sandra Oh, who had been nominated last year and was seen as a frontrunner this year. But Comers seductive assassin Villanelle proved too good to pass up for Academy members, giving Jodie Comer her first-ever Emmy.
SNUB: Ava DuVernay
The Oscar nominee and previous Emmy winner (“13th”) wrote and directed all four episodes of “When They See Us,” the dramatized telling of the real-life 1989 Central Park jogger case that saw five teenage boys wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for an assault. It was an emotional tale that had everyone talking when it dropped on Netflix, but ultimately she lost the limited series/TV movie writing and directing awards to players from HBOs limited series, “Chernobyl.”
SURPRISE: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and “Fleabag”
Many pundits were anticipating the “Fleabag” auteur would take the comedy writing trophy (and she did), but she also won the lead comedy actress Emmy — over long-time favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who was nominated for the last time for her titular role on HBOs “Veep”), as well as last years incumbent winner Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), to name a few — and the coveted comedy series trophy.
SNUB: “Schitts Creek”
The little Canadian comedy that could pushed onto the Emmy ballot with four total noms this year, including comedy series and lead comedy actor and actress, proving the voters didnt mind being a little late to celebrate a long-running series. But not evenOriginal Article
