
Providing talented television makers well-deserved Emmy statues, as well as a possible preview of results to come, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards announced their winners Sept. 8 and 9 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Although major categories won’t be revealed until the Sept. 17 ceremony, the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards’ two-night precursor ceremony included winners for technical disciplines and behind-the-camera crafts, including design, editing, casting, and more, and were presented by the likes of Bryan Cranston, Justina Machado, Molly Shannon, and Neil Patrick Harris. Taking home the honors for guest acting in comedy and drama were Tiffany Haddish for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” Katt Williams for FX’s “Atlanta,” Samira Wiley for Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and Ron Cephas Jones for NBC’s “This Is Us.” This marks the first time in Television Academy history that African-American performers have swept all four guest actor categories.
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Winning in the Emmys’ prestigious casting categories were Amazon’s comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Netflix’s “The Crown,” and FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.” The latter is nominated for an overall 18 awards, and if the trend of the last five years continues, the casting win could translate into Emmy gold for Ryan Murphy’s anthology series. Amy Sherman-Palladino’s first season of “Maisel,” nominated in 14 total categories, goes into this year’s Emmys with two Golden Globe wins under its belt; Peter Morgan’s “The Crown” earned the casting honor for its second season, suggesting auspicious results for the Queen Elizabeth II drama with 13 nominations. Taking the second ever reality casting Emmy was Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” which also won Best Structured Reality Program.
James Corden for CBS’ “James Corden’s Next James Corden” and Christina Pickles for Vimeo’s “Break a Hip” took home the short form acting statues, while Alex Borstein of Fox’s “Family Guy” became the winner of Best Character Voice-Over Performance. Stunt coordination Emmys went to Netflix’s wrestling comedy “GLOW” and HBO’s fantasy hit “Game of Thrones.” The latter, which holds and has now extended the record for most Emmys ever for a scripted series, has claimed seven statues so far this year out of 22 total nods, tying with “Saturday Night Live” before next week’s big ceremony. After both nights of Creative Arts Emmys, HBO has 17 wins, Netflix 16, and NBC 15.
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“Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert” earned the Outstanding Live Variety Special award. The Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie went, for the second time in a row, to Netflix’s Charlie Brooker anthology series “Black Mirror,” this year for the episode “U.S.S. Callister.” Its win was fitting on a night celebrating the cultural juggernaut that inspired the episode; Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” received the Television Academy’s prestigious Governors Award. William Shatner and dozens of cast and crew members from the many “Star Trek” franchises took the stage to accept the honor, 52 years to the day after the original series’ NBC premiere.
Who will take home the top prizes on the small screen’s biggest night? Tune into the Sept. 17 ceremony, broadcast on NBC and hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost, to find out. And keep checking in at backstage.com/awards-season for more coverage.
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