The first round of Primetime Emmy statuettes were handed out Sept. 14 and 15 to television’s best and brightest. The 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards, presented at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, offered a preview of the big ceremony Sept. 22, awarding artistic as well as technical achievement in the 2018–19 TV season.
As expected, the Creative Arts Emmys gave this year’s nomination leader, HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” a head start of 10 wins going into next weekend’s show. The final season of David Benioff and D. B. Weiss’ fantasy hit extended its own record of most scripted series wins ever, claiming statues for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Special Visual Effects, and more.
Guest actor categories, however, recognized four stars from two different TV shows; Jane Lynch and Luke Kirby earned wins for Amazon Prime Video’s Amy Sherman-Palladino comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Season 2, which won six total, while Cherry Jones and Bradley Whitford took home Emmys for Hulu’s drama “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the third season of which aired those actors’ episodes just prior to the eligibility cut-off. Producer-star Elisabeth Moss and the remainder of “Handmaid’s” Season 3 will be eligible at the 2020 ceremony. Amazon’s other nominated comedy, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag,” won in a typically auspicious category: Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series.
HBO’s limited series “Chernobyl” won an impressive seven Emmys, as did National Geographic’s rock climbing documentary “Free Solo,” sweeping in all seven of its nominated categories after winning this year’s documentary Oscar. Other winners included Rachel Bloom for songwriting on her now-ended CW series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Rosamund Pike and Chris O’Dowd for SundanceTV’s short form series “State of the Union,” and Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” earning its second Outstanding Structured Reality Program win. HBO earned 25 wins (of its 137 nomination total), followed closely by Netflix with 23 wins (of 117 nods).
Who will come out on top during TV’s biggest night? Find out Sept. 22 when the Primetime Emmy Awards airs live on Fox.
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