'Game of Thrones' wins big at Emmy Awards

"Game of Thrones" had the biggest haul, with nine awards, at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards here. It also won the best drama Emmy for the third time in the past four years.

For Netflix, the 2018 Emmys represented a triumph. But the result came as a relief to HBO, which can now say that it has technically finished in first place among all broadcast and cable networks for 17 years running, reports nytimes.com.

The rest of HBO's awards were spread among several shows in acting categories, including wins for Henry Winkler ("Barry"), Bill Hader ("Barry"), Thandie Newton ("Westworld") and Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones").

In his acceptance speech at the ceremony here on Monday, Dinklage called out the show's creators, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, saying: "Thank you Dave and Dan for changing my life. I cannot walk down the street anymore."

The spy drama "The Americans" won two awards, including best actor in a drama for Matthew Rhys.

Claire Foy, who played Queen Elizabeth in "The Crown", won for best lead actress in a drama. Earlier this month, "The Crown" won best cast in a drama at the Creative Arts Emmys.

Lorne Michaels, the 73-year-old behind "Saturday Night Live", not only left the Microsoft Theatre with the Emmy for best variety sketch series, he also produced the broadcast for NBC.

NBC hoped that the hosts, Colin Jost and Michael Che, the anchors of Weekend Update on "S.N.L.", would help reverse a trend of plummeting awards show ratings, reports nytimes.com.

In addition to giving the hosting job to Jost and Che, Michaels recruited a number of current and former "S.N.L." cast members. The show began with a satirical musical number on Hollywood's diversity problem, led by two stalwarts -- Kenan Thompson and Kate McKinnon.

In their opening remarks, Che and Jost made only veiled references to the Trump presidency, which had been a staple of onstage remarks at the last Emmys ceremony, and to the #MeToo movement.

In a taped segment midway through the broadcast, the show returned to diversity as a theme, with Che handing out "reparations Emmys" to black actors from past shows, including Jimmie Walker and John Witherspoon.

The focus on diversity became ironic as the night wore on, with one white person after another delivering acceptance speeches.

Before the ceremony was done, there were victories for African-American actors and performers - Regina King, for "Seven Seconds"; Thandie Newton for her work in "Westworld"; and an Emmy for RuPaul, of "RuPaul's Drag Race" - but the great majority of winners did not reflect the night's theme.

"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," a series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino about a housewife who tries her luck as a comedian in 1950s New York, had a big night, taking five awards, including best comedy series.

Rachel Brosnahan, who plays the show's title character, won for best actress in a comedy, the first new winner in that category in seven years. Sherman-Palladino won for directing and writing, in addition to the best comedy series award. And Alex Borstein, who plays Mrs. Maisel's manager, took the award for best supporting actress.

The triumph of "...Mrs. Maisel" was a blow to the comedy "Atlanta," a critical favourite. Donald Glover, the show's star and creator, took the prize for best actor in a comedy last year. This time, he lost out to Hader, who plays a hit man trying to make it as an actor in "Barry."

In another win for "Barry," Henry Winkler, 72, took hold of his first Emmy, for his role as a well-intentioned but cheesy acting coach.

John Oliver's weekly show, "Last Week Tonight," took the best variety talk category for the third year in a row.

--IANS

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