NEW YORK (AP) — Ten Emmy nominations offered sweet vindication to makers of “The Kennedys,” the miniseries that was abruptly dropped last winter by the History channel before eventually being aired on the little-known ReelzChannel network.
“It’s a big vindication. Huge,” said Joel Surnow, producer of the eight-part series that aired in the U.S. this spring.
Surnow said he believed industry insiders who vote on Emmy nominations were sending a message on artistic freedom with the nominations, “in conjunction with the fact that they actually think the show is good.”
Along with a nomination for best TV movie or miniseries, three stars of the production were singled out for their work: Greg Kinnear, who played President John F. Kennedy, and Barry Pepper, who portrayed Robert Kennedy, were both nominated for best actor; Tom Wilkinson, who portrayed family patriarch Joseph Kennedy, received a supporting actor nomination.
History made the series, which also starred Katie Holmes as the first lady, and it was the cable network’s most expensive production ever. But in January, the network said after seeing the completed work that it was “not a fit.”
Reaction from some of Thursday’s Primetime Emmy nominees:
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“I was like, ‘I hope I don’t wet my pants.’” — Melissa McCarthy, who helped announce the Emmy nominations, on learning during the early-morning live telecast that she was nominated for lead actress in a comedy series for “Mike & Molly.”
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“I hope we decide who gets the Emmy by a series of high-pressure penalty kicks, just like the World Cup.” — Amy Poehler, nominated for lead actress in a comedy series for “Parks and Recreation.”
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“Is it weird that I’m having champagne and eggs right now?” — Walton Goggins, nominated for supporting actor in a drama series for FX’s “Justified.”
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“This is my first time to hear it from New York, and I have to tell you, what a civilized way to hear about the nominations, after 8 a.m. I was showered already. It was incredible.” — Jim Parsons, nominated for a third time for lead actor in a comedy series for “The Big Bang Theory,” commenting on the nominations announced before dawn on the West Coast.
Jon Hamm portrays Don Draper in the AMC series, 'Mad Men.'
“Mad Men,” the sharply observed drama of a changing 1960s America, captured 19 Emmy nominations Thursday morning to lead the series pack, with the melodramatic miniseries “Mildred Pierce” starring Kate Winslet grabbing a top 21 bids.
“Mad Men” has a chance to repeat for a fourth consecutive year as best drama. “Modern Family,” last year’s top comedy series, was the most-nominated sitcom with 17 bids.
Other leading nominees include the Prohibition-era drama “Boardwalk Empire” with 18 nominations, “Saturday Night Live” with 16 and 13 bids each for the sex-and-swords fantasy “Game of Thrones” and the sitcom “30 Rock.”
“OK, keep it together,” a surprised nominations co-announcer Melissa McCarthy said when she realized she was a nominee for her sitcom “Mike & Molly.”
The controversial miniseries “The Kennedys,” which was dropped by the History channel and given a second chance by the lesser-known ReelzChannel, received 10 nominations, including best miniseries.
Get out the megaphone: “Glee” star Jane Lynch will be hosting the Emmy Awards.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Thursday that Lynch will host “The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards” honoring excellence in prime-time TV. The ceremony will be held at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre and will air Sept. 18 on Fox.
Lynch stars as a megaphone-wielding cheerleading coach who bullies students on the hit Fox series about a high school glee club.
The actress says she’s “tickled pink” to be chosen as Emmy host. The awards show will be executive produced by Mark Burnett of “Survivor” and “Celebrity Apprentice” fame.
The 50-year-old Lynch has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as Sue Sylvester on “Glee.”
There was a lot to like about the Emmy Awards, but one of the more possibly under-noticed was Infiniti’s ads using the cast of Community who were on their way to an Emmy watch party:
A late-summer sunset with vibrant purple, red and blue gowns dominated the horizon at the 62nd Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. One-shoulder silhouettes, updos and bold jewelry also were big trends.
Lea Michele, a fairly new player to the red-carpet frenzy, nailed it in a very grown-up navy Oscar de la Renta gown with a strapless neckline and ruffled mermaid bottom.
“I wanted to do blue – I’ve done black and green,” Michele said. “I was ready for blue to be the color, and I love Oscar de la Renta so when I saw this, it was like he read my mind.” Read the full story
Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of a meth dealer in “Breaking Bad” and Kyra Sedgwick’s role as a brassy deputy police chief in “The Closer” earned the pair top drama series acting Emmy Awards on Sunday.
Cranston’s honor was his third trophy for playing a high school math teacher gone wrong, while his co-star, Aaron Paul, earned his first award as best supporting actor for playing his partner-in-crime.
“During the time it took me to walk up here, I venture there were 200 text messages to the other nominees saying, ‘You were robbed.’ I cannot argue with that,” Cranston said.
Move over, “Glee.” It was a “Modern Family” night at the Emmys.
The ABC comedy series about a disarmingly disfunctional family won the top comedy series honor as well as in the writing and supporting actor categories. Fox’s cult phenomenon “Glee” — nominated for 19 Emmys going into the awards season — earned just two Sunday night, in the supporting actress and directing categories.
On the drama side, AMC’s “Mad Men” took top honors: The dark period drama set in the 1960s on Madison Avenue won its third consecutive Emmy for drama series. “I can’t believe we’re here,” said creater-producer-writer Matthew Weiner, noting that the show was considered a gamble from the start. “We’re now in our fourth seasion — I didn’t think we’d get through half of one.” It was the second award of the night for the series; earlier, Weiner and Erin Levy won for dramatic writing.
But the 62nd prime-time Emmy Awards were an especially good night for first-timers.
Kyra Sedgwick won her first Emmy, for actress in a drama series, playing the sweet-as-sugar and hard-as-nails L.A. cop in TNT’s “The Closer,” while Bravo’s “Top Chef” put a stunning end to the reign of CBS’ “The Amazing Race,” which had won for competitive reality series seven years in a row, ever since the category was created by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Read the full story
Leslie Gray Streeter and Jonathan Tully are hosting a live Emmy party right here beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday. They’ll bring the snark, all you have to bring are questions and reactions to the awards, the fashions and more.
So check back here at 6 p.m. for the live Emmy blog:
“Bones” star Emily Deschanel was one of many actress who wore purple on the red carpet at the Emmys, but her choice was especially striking: a floor-length, one-shouldered gown in a bold, deep purple with tiered ruffles from Max Azria Atelier.
“I just put it on and loved it. I love this color, this particular shade of purple,” Deschanel said. “It was just one of those things where you try on a couple dresses, and they’re nice, but then you try this on and it’s, ‘This is the one.’ … And then, of course, you have to try on about 20 other ones just to make sure this is the one. And then … you go with this one!”
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Get out the megaphone: “Glee” star Jane Lynch will be hosting the Emmy Awards.
Leslie Gray Streeter and Jonathan Tully are hosting a live Emmy party right here beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday. They’ll bring the snark, all you have to bring are questions and reactions to the awards, the fashions and more.
