30 Rock and John Adams pick up plenty of Emmys; Telecast itself a huge disappointment

Posted by: Paul Little  •  September 22, 2008 @ 2:40am

The Emmy Awards have come and gone, and with the exception of a few surprises (Bryan Cranston stealing Best Actor in a Drama away from pretty much every other nominated actor), most of the favourites went home with the little golden statuette. 30 Rock's Tina Fey personally took home 3 Emmys -- for Writing in a Comedy, Lead Actress in a Comedy, and Best Comedy (she's a producer of the show) -- and while John Hamm didn't win for Best Actor, favourite Mad Men took home the trophy for Best Drama. In fact, the Emmys were so predictable, I even went 5 for 6 in predicting the main categories (let's just ignore those supporting acting awards).

Less predictable were some of the antics with the hosts and presenters -- and they weren't all noteworthy for good reasons. When ABC decided that this would be the Emmys of Reality TV by dividing the hosting duties between the 5 nominees for Best Reality Host, they took a big gamble. And when the nominees came out and had to actually entertain an audience, only Deal or No Deal host and long-time stand-up comedian Howie Mandell had anything funny or entertaining to say. There's a big difference between hosting shows lots of people watch but nobody admits to liking, and entertaining a room full of industry heavyweights and millions of viewers around the world. And those millions were less than ever -- it was the lowest-rated Emmy telecast in the 60-year history of the awards.

Luckily, some of the presenters were a lot more entertaining than the hosts, and thus it wasn't all bad: Conan O'Brien had a couple funny quips, including a shot at Katherine Heigl's comments about taking herself out of Emmy contention; Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were hilarious presenting an award together for the third straight year (prunes, anyone?); and Ricky Gervais did a hilarious bit with Steve Carell revolving around last year's Best Actor in a Comedy award (Gervais wasn't there last year to accept it, Carell hilariously accepted it on his behalf, and this year he wanted it back).

So with all that said, here is a list of all the winners at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards.

Complete List of Winners

Comedy Series: 30 Rock (NBC)

Drama Series: Mad Men (AMC)

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)

Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Glenn Close, Damages (FX)

Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart, Samantha Who? (ABC)

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven, Entourage (HBO)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Dianne Wiest, In Treatment (HBO)

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Zeljko Ivanek, Damages (FX)

Reality-Competition Program: The Amazing Race (CBS)

Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst, Survivor (CBS)

Miniseries: John Adams (HBO)

Made-for-TV Movie: Recount (HBO)

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, John Adams (HBO)

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giamatti, John Adams (HBO)

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Eileen Atkins, Cranford (Masterpiece Theatre) (PBS)

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, John Adams (HBO)

Directing for a Comedy Series: Barry Sonnenfeld, Pushing Daisies - "Pie-Lette" (ABC)

Writing for a Comedy Series: Tina Fey, 30 Rock - "Cooter" (NBC)

Directing for a Drama Series: Greg Yaitanes, House - "House's Head" (FOX)

Writing for a Drama Series: Matthew Weiner, Mad Men - "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (AMC)

Variety, Music or Comedy Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program: Don Rickles, Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (HBO)

Directing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program: Louis J. Horvitz, The 80th Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program: The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Jay Roach, Recount (HBO)

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: Kirk Ellis, John Adams (HBO)

Tags: Awards Shows, Emmys, 30 Rock, John Adams, Tina Fey, awards

Related Posts

• Just for Laughs Interview: Stand-up comic Hannibal Buress (the 2012 edition)
• TV Rants & Raves: Comedy Round-Up 2012
• Oscar Talk: Artistic Triumph (Mike Walkey's 84th Academy Award Highlights)
• 84th Academy Awards: A complete list of Oscar winners, plus our live tweets from the show
• 2012 Oscar nominations: Hollywood looks back in time as Hugo and The Artist lead the way

Paul Little is the founder and Managing Editor of ShowbizMonkeys.com. When not interviewing his favourite musicians and comedians, he can also be found putting on and promoting music and comedy events with The Purple Room in Winnipeg, or co-producing the live comedy game shows Pants on Fire and The Great Patio Showdown. (@comedygeek)

Original Comments Posted (1)

Sarahm says...

Whoa, I did not think Howie Mandel was funny AT ALL. More like obnoxious and trying to hard. Thank goodness for Ricky Gervais and Stewart/Colbert. And also Jimmy Kimmel saving the day! Next year instead of reality hosts they should go with Late Night talk show hosts.

Sep 24, 2008 6:19pm

Comments Posted ()