LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Game of Thrones” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the top prizes at the Emmy awards on Monday on a night of upsets for the highest honors in television.
70th Primetime Emmy Awards – Photo Room – Los Angeles, California, U.S., 17/09/2018 – The cast poses backstage with their Outstanding Comedy Series award for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” REUTERS/Mike Blake
HBO’s (T.N) “Game of Thrones” was named best drama series, beating last year’s champion “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Amazon’s (AMZN.O) “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” about a 1950s housewife who turns to standup comedy, took home the Emmy for best comedy series. “Mrs. Maisel” also won four other awards, including a best actress for Rachel Brosnahan.
Claire Foy beat presumed front runner Elisabeth Moss, star of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to win for her quiet but formidable portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Netflix (NFLX.O) drama “The Crown.””This wasn’t supposed to happen,” said a surprised Foy.
Matthew Rhys took his first best drama actor Emmy for playing a conflicted Russian spy in the final season of the FX (FOXA.O) Cold War series “The Americans.”
“Saturday Night Live” won, as expected, for variety sketch series, taking its lifetime Emmy total to a record-setting 72 wins.
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” took the Emmy for best limited series and brought an acting trophy for Darren Criss, who played the gay serial killer who murdered the Italian designer in Miami in 1997.
One of the biggest shocks of the night came when presumed front runner Donald Glover, the star and creator of the surreal hip-hop-inspired FX (FOXA.O) show “Atlanta,” lost out in the comedy acting category to Bill Hader’s hitman-turned-struggling actor in HBO’s (T.N) showbusiness satire “Barry.”
Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Jill Serjeant; Writing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Leslie Adler