But Brett! Why are the Emmys airing on a Monday night in August? Well you see, the broadcast of the awards ceremony rotates amongst the four broadcast networks every year. This year it was NBC's turn. Because the network didn't want to preempt ratings juggernaut Sunday Night Football for one week at the end of September, they moved the awards up to August. They did the same thing the last time they had the awards in 2010. They then got pushed off to a Monday night so they wouldn't air against the MTV Video Music Awards. So they are airing on August 25 - a Monday - which means it likely won't be as highly viewed as it typical is. That's just the hassle that NBC has to accept for putting them on tonight.
Putting those logistics aside, I'm really excited for the Emmys tonight. Here's the links to all my predictions I've been making over the past month. And here's the list of winner's from the Creative Arts Emmy that were announced more than a week ago. I'm eager to see how Seth Meyers does as host. Will he open with some pre-produced bit? Or will he simply walk out on the stage to do a monologue of jokes? You can bet Amy Poehler will do something hilarious. She does it every year. Plus, she's very good pals with Meyers. I'd be surprised if she didn't pop up in the opening bit.
Moving onto the individual categories. The drama races will likely boil down to Breaking Bad vs. True Detective. Will admiration for the farewell season of the AMC series lead to a swell of awards tonight? Or will the HBO anthology with its movie star leads prove to be the big spoil? I can't wait to find out. Over in comedy, it's basically a three-way race between Modern Family, Orange Is the New Black and Veep. Will the voters continue to honor the four-time past champ or will new blood dominate in all the races? As last year proved, literally anything can happen! That's what makes it so exciting - and frustrating too but that's half the fun.
And now, without further ado, let the official live-blog begin! (Please note, that all time stamps will be Central Daylight Time as that is the time zone I currently am in. Also, please excuse any typos as everything is bound to happen rather quickly)
7:00 - And we're off! Seth is walking out on the stage. It's joke time!
7:01 - He welcomes everyone! On Mondays, "it means the Emmys are about to be canceled." The joke about MTV not showing videos anymore wasn't that good. But the latter payoff of handing out all the awards to cable was a great laugh! First Emmys in 38 years! "People don't remember the 1976 Emmys because they were on a Monday." Haha! Dramas submitted as comedies. It was bound to happen. On categorization, "writers seats are too far away to hear me." Kinda true. Tragically.
7:04 - Yes! Tina Fey and Amy Poehler! Oh wait, it's just a tease. Sad. "Dexter lives, Jesse Pinkman lived, but your mother died." Haha! Typical every new show will be canceled this year joke. Eh. NBC is also a network. Eh. On HBO, "on day I'm gonna make a show about dragons. Yeah good luck with that." On streaming services, "no one is more happy that streaming services took nominations away from cable than broadcast." On Game of Thrones, "worst job security. I bet you wait for next weeks script like people wait for biopsy results." Hey, Seth Meyers love TV. Which then leads to a joke about TV can be viewed anywhere. But hey, TV is always up! Rousing applause for just TV in general.
7:08 - First presenter is Amy Poehler who is introduced as Beyonce by Seth. So great. First award is Supporting Actor in a Comedy. Nominees are Fred Armisen, Andre Braugher, Tony Hale, Ty Burrel, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Adam Driver. It will be Tony Hale or Andre Braugher. Happy with either. And the winner is... Ty Burrell for Modern Family (ABC). Shocker!!!!!! That's a huge understatement. He's reading a speech written by the kids of the ABC sitcom. Which is eh. "Just to be clear that was sarcasm." Okay, that line was funny.
7:11 - This is just gonna be another night where every winner is gonna be completely unexpected, isn't it. Ugh! Burrell is great! But I also would have voted for Braugher, Hale or Ferguson before him. But now, he's a two time winner. Congrats!
7:13 - Commercial time! Woo! I'm already exhausted. This is gonna be a long night. An exciting one though. I wonder which fall shows NBC will be promoting the most throughout the night?
7:14 - I thought Seth's opening monologue was just okay. The jokes were somewhat typical. But at least it was short and sweet.
7:16 - Seth's back! To introduce Zooey Deschanel and Allison Williams. They do an awkward bit about what comedy writers look like. Next category is Comedy Writing. Nominees are Episodes, Louie, Orange Is the New Black, Veep, and Silicon Valley. I'm happy if it's Louis C.k. or Jenji Kohan. And the winner is.... Louis C.K. for Louie - "So Did the Fat Lady." Zooey lets out a big scream. So deserving. First thing he does is honor Sarah Baker for the big role in the episode. Class act!
7:18 - Former Emmy host Jimmy Kimmel comes out to make fun of Matthew McConoughy coming to do TV. "How many speeches of yours are we suppose to sit thought." Now he's moving on to Ricky Gervais. "That's a TV face. Not even. It's a Netflix face." Haha! Next category is Supporting Comedy Actress. The nominees are Allison Janney, Mayim Bialik, Julie Bowen, Anna Chlumsky, Kate McKinnon and Kate Mulgrew. It will likely be Janney but I would be so happy if it were Mulgrew. Kimmel gives a shout out to Tracy Morgan before announcing the winner. That was very nice. And the winner is.... Allison Janney for Mom (CBS). That was to be expected but hey she won two Emmys this year. That's very impressive. And she's doing really great work on the CBS sitcom. Different from her work on Masters of Sex but just as deserving. There really wasn't a bad option amongst these nominees.
7:26 - Hayden Panettiere is up now to talk about the Creative arts Emmys and the guest acting awards in a comedy series. The nominees are listed off. But we already know that Jimmy Fallon and Uzo Aduba won for Saturday Night Live and Orange Is the New Black respectively. And now, Uzo is joining Hayden to present the next award. Which is Directing for a Comedy series. The nominees are Episodes, Glee, Louie, Modern Family, Orange Is the New Black and Silicon Valley. The list is accompanied by the series stars saying what was the best piece of direction the directors gave them. All are pretty funny. And the winner is.... Gail Mancuso for Modern Family - "Vegas". She of course thanks the Academy and the fellow nominees. This was a great field. Matthew McConoughy is definitely the major focus of the night and the jokes. I don't mind one bit.
7:32 - Modern Family already has two wins tonight. It could very well win again tonight.
7:33 - And now, Seth and Billy Eichner are doing a segment of Billy on the Street. Which is always hilarious. A man can't name the host of this year's Emmys. Donations for the cast of The Big Bang Theory. Maggie Smith is overrated. The Mindy Project was snubbed, can't believe it. A woman doesn't know what the Emmy trophy looks like. Which is a bit too long. Tatiana Maslany snub! And no one really cares. The Good Wife was snubbed! Name one Emmy nominee while walking backwards. That was lots of fun. Hoping for more pre-produced stuff like that.
7:36 - Woo Emmy winner Bryan Cranston and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss are present Lead Actor in a Comedy. Julia calls him Clarke Gable. Then says how wonderful he is. Can't disagree. Then brings up the fact that they appeared on Seinfeld together. That was great. The nominees are Louis C.K., Don Cheadle, Matt LeBlanc, William H. Macy, Ricky Gervais and Jim Parsons. It should be Louis C.k. but will be Parsons. And the winner is... Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory (CBS). He honors the rest of the category and how they are doing things that are so different from one another. And each one is great. That was a class act. He then talks about his father which is very sweet as well.
7:40 - All repeat winners so far. The only for a show/role they haven't won previously for was Janney but she's already won five times previously. This could be yet another big pattern of the night. Hoping for some pleasant surprises soon.
7:44 - Jimmy Fallon is up now to talk about actors pushing each other to do their best work. Which is then reduced to a joke about Kim Kardashian. Yawn! It's leading into Lead Actress in a Comedy. The nominees are Lena Dunham, Edie Falco, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Melissa McCarty, Amy Poehler and Taylor Schilling. I will hope for Poehler until it happens. But Louis-Dreyfus is a lock. And the winner is... Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep (HBO). Expected. And OMG, Bryan Crantson is making out with her right now. That's just awesome. Afterwards she remembers he was on Seinfeld. Wonderful accompanying speech too.
7:47 - Next up are Mindy Kaling and John Mulaney. Epic music cue! The category is Reality-Competition Program. Sex joke by Mindy and putting writers out of work joke by John. Nice. The nominees are The Amazing Race, The Voice, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway, Top Chef and So You Think You Can Dance. And the winner is.... The Amazing Race (CBS). And we're right back to this category selecting the same show ever year and the two years it doesn't triumph just be flukes. A crowd then "runs" up to the stage. "I can assure you we did not expect this," says the winner in this category 10 of the last 12 years.
7:50 - Clip from Julia Roberts in The Normal Heart for some weird reason. That was awkward. Even Julia was confused as to why that was happening.
7:52 - You can't exactly complain about the winners so far but they are also very typical. Where's the surprising and welcome moments of excitement? The embracing new blood? And why are they just so star-struck by all the "movie stars" in attendance?
7:55 - Welcome back Seth! Questions about the Emmys. So segment about answering those questions from the audience. Jon Hamm! "Is the show televised?" Melissa McCarthy! "I have a parking question." Will she be towed? And now, she's throwing Edie Falco under the bus and it came out of nowhere. Andre Braugher! "Can I go to the bathroom?" Love that deadpan humor. Even if it's potty humor. Julianna Margulies wondering if she can have Maggie Smith's Emmy if she wins tonight? She can't cuz Jon Hamm called dibs. Genius! Fred Armisen in some kind of character and he's later joined by Carrie Brownstein.
7:47 - Woo! Allison Janney and Octavia Spencer! Genre change indeed! No it's not a sequel to The Help. Instead it's for Writing in a Miniseries or Movie. The nominees are American Horror Story: Coven, Treme, The Normal Heart, Sherlock, Luther and Fargo. And the winner is... Steven Moffat for Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS). Wow, Sherlock is on a winning streak. Could it beat The Normal Heart later? He apologizes for not preparing a speech like PBS suggested. "It's utterly thrilling."
8:00 - Janny and Spencer continue with Supporitng Miniseries Actress. The nominees are Julia Roberts, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Frances Conroy, Julia Roberts and Allison Tolman. It should be Tolman. No contest. And the winner is.... Kathy Bates for American Horror Story: Coven (FX). Okay, I'm mad about this one. Yes, Bates deserves an Emmy for something other than Two and a Half Men. But what Tolman did on Fargo was so great and specific. She was a breath of fresh air in a category filled with acclaimed actors. Instead we got Bates who is yet another former winner winning tonight. I don't like this trend.
8:07 - Stephen Colbert is up next as presenter who Seth feels sorry for. He goes on about the President of TV. He's here to present Supporting Miniseries/Movie Actor and he calls himself the great supporting actor of our generation. Which is somewhat awkward as soon as it turns to a conversation about his imaginary friend. But Colbert yelling at the empty space next to him is so very committed and just generally awesome now. He's heartbroken as Roscoe the friend walks away. The nominees are Matt Bomer, Martin Freeman, Colin Hanks, Joe Mantello, Alfred Molina and Jim Parson. Bomer should be a lock to win. It was such a great and transformative performance. And the winner is.... Martin Freeman for Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS). Wow! Upset. Sherlock is on a big roll. He's not here to accept the award. Sherlock is best The Normal Heart all over the place tonight. It very well could win the top prize.
8:08 - Scott Bakula and Kate Walsh have no clue where the camera is. The nominees are Fargo x2, American Horror Story: Coven, Sherlock, The Normal Heart and Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight. It's gonna be Ryan Murphy. But I really don't want it to be. It should be the Fargo white-out. Actors are telling stories about the directors. Allison Tolman appearance. Still not over that snub. And the winner is... Colin Bucksey for Fargo (FX). Finally! Fargo wins and that score starts playing. It's so good. The White out actually won! That was amazing. His speech is short and sweet.
8:16 - Seth and Amy!!!!! They are here to present the True Detective leading men. They try to give them the best introduction. "Please welcome two men who also don't know what happened at the end of True Detective." They argue about the use of the phrase "making love." "Please welcome the past version of their future selves." "Two gentlemen who'll be chatty in the sack." That was a good one, Amy. "The only actors not rumored to be starring in True Detective season two." Yep, that's the winner.
8:18 - Yeah, McConoughly says "Alright, alright, alright." The best piece of advice Harrelson ever gave to Matthew was "Just forget about." They have fun and playful banter. Inside joke about plagiarism which audience didn't know how to react to. Benedict Cumberbatch, Idris Elba, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Mark Ruffalo and Chiwetel Ejiofer. And the winner is.... Benedict Cumberbatch for Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS). Another surprise win. Sherlock is definitely going to beat The Normal Heart tonight. Voters must have really responded to it this year. It still irks me that they submit an episode as a movie. Cumberbatch isn't here. So we just cut to a commercial.
8:24 - Kerry Washington and Liev Schreiber are present the next category. It's Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. The nominees are Kristen Wiig, Cicely Tyson, Helena Bonham Carter, Minnie Driver, Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson. I have no real opinion about this race. I'm guessing Tyson And the winner is... Jessica Lange for American Horror Story: Coven (FX). You all know my unfavorable opinion about the last season of that show. She is "profoundly surprised but very grateful." She's speechless.
8:27 - Seth is joined by Andy Samberg now who thinks he's co-hosting the Emmys. They are talking about show theme songs. Andy is singing the theme to The Brady Brunch which is funny. They are revamp some modern theme songs. They are joined by Weird Al Yankovic. Jokes about Jon Hamm in the Mad Men segment. Reminder that Tony Goldwyn was in Ghost during Scandal part. Ugly crying for Homeland. Exciting dance for Modern Family about gay guys. Dragons and boobs for Game of Thrones. Andy is dressed up now and it's great. Spoiler about poison wine. And GRRM needs to write faster. And he's given a typewriter in the audience. This segment is much longer than any other one. It's rightfully the end. That was pretty freaking great.
8:32 - Lena Headey is presenting and Andy decides to join in as well with some Game of Thrones awkwardness. Then he just leaves. The category is Outstanding Miniseries. Interesting that they didn't save this until the very end like Drama and Comedy Series. The nominees are American Horror Story: Coven, Fargo, Bonnie & Clyde Luther, Treme and The White Queen. It better be Fargo. And the winner is.... Fargo (FX). YES!!!!!!!!!!! This win makes me so happy. Noah Hawley thanks Joel and Ethan Coen "who of course don't watch the Emmys." He finishes with "Let's do it again!" Yes, please!
8:39 - Seth introduces Julianna Margulies by saying "she's the only person from ER to ever amount to anything." The category is Outstanding TV Movie. The nominees are Killing Kennedy, Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, The Normal Heart, Sherlock and The Trip to Bountiful. Before tonight, I would say The Normal Heart was a lock. But Sherlock may be a spoiler. And the winner is... The Normal Heart (HBO). Upset averted! Standing ovation. He thanks HBO and most importantly Larry Kramer. Jokes it took Erin Brokovich and the Incredible Hulk to get this movie made. That was funny. But then he got heartfelt and that was well deserved. Why did The Normal Heart cast get to go up on the stage but the Fargo cast didn't?
8:43 - Ricky Gervais is up next to present. He just talks about being nominated 21 times. Then, he says it's unfair that Jim Parsons won four years in a row. Which he didn't. But fact-checking be damned! Now, he's giving his acceptance speech! Why is any of this necessary? Just present the award! Which is Variety Special Writing. And the winner is.... Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles (HBO). I had no clue who would win here. But I'm happy for Sarah. It's a genuine surprise. She'll give a good speech. Which she does because she's surprised. "We all just made of molecules and we're just hurling through space right now." Great way to end.
8:47 - Saturday Night Live clip about Kim Jong Un for some reason. It's awkward just like the Julia Roberts one.
8:51 - Key & Peele are presenting! Their banter better be good! They are turning off the prompter which sounds like a very good idea. They stumble over who speaks first and the banter is awesome! They argue over "who gots it." Hilarious. "Blowing it at the Emmys." They are so in sync. It's wonderful. And then, the accountants show up.
8:53 - Chris Hardwick is presenting not hosting his own talk show. He's talking about trolls which is pretty amusing as he's talking about grammar. The category is Variety Special Directing. I'm hoping it's The Sound of Music Live just to see what happens. And the winner is.... Glenn Weiss for The Tony Awards (CBS). He's back stage directing the current stage. And he's very technical about it. He can go as long as he wants. He's in charge.
8:56 - Gwen Stefani and Adam Levin are up. Probably to pimp the new season of The Voice. Nope, they're talking about famous people and scandals. The category is Variety Series. The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Real Time, Saturday Night LIve, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show. And the winner is... The Colbert Report (Comedy Central). Gwen messes up saying the name of the show. And Jimmy Fallon walks up to the stage as well to give the thank you speech. And now, Colbert is just speaking in his ear. Which is pretty awesome as he tells people to IMDB all the people who needed to be thanked. It's great. Uh oh, he gets bleeped! In all seriousness, Colbert does an actual speech too.
8:59 - Brief clip of Josh Charles on The Good Wife. Oh Emmys, don't try making up for snubbing the show like that. Just no. You should have nominated the series as one of the Best Dramas.
9:03 - Sofia Vergara talks about having a big dream: To be on a stage... to introduce the President of TV Academy. That was funny. And now, she's standing on a spinning platform. It's a little objectifying of Sofia while Bruce Rosenblum talks about the great storytelling of television. It's dry. And very awkward. I'm not sure exactly what I'm watching and who thought this was a great idea.
9:06 - Lucy Liu is now announcing Supporting Drama Actor. The nominees are Peter Dinklage, Aaron Paul, Mandy Patinkin, Jim Carter, Jon Voight and Josh Charles. Actual clips are playing. That's a first for the night. The show must be running ahead of schedule somehow. I'm happy if the winner is either Dinklage, Paul or Charles. And the winner is.... Aaron Paul for Breaking Bad (AMC). Third win for Paul. What a way to go out for the series. Like I said I'm really happy. He asks for another round of applause for his fellow nominees. He's speechless about the win and the legacy of the series. Vince Gilligan is the only man he truly needs to thank. And Bryan Cranston. This is just amazing. He ends with a message for Kind Campaign. How wonderful was that?
9:11 - Lights are out. Violins are playing. I guess it's In Memoriam time. And that it is. Ralph Waite starts the list with Robin Wiliams at the very end. So many great names are on the list this year. So much great talent lost. So many great performances and great work behind the scenes. I have chills. Brief clips for several names. They are all wonderful. Confusing that the clip for Elaine Stritch was from 30 Rock. But otherwise, very great. They cut to Sara Bareilles twice and it was not necessary at all.
9:15 - And now, Billy Crystal is here to explicitly talk about the legacy of Robin Williams. "He made us laugh." It's incredibly heartfelt - but also very funny. Very true to the spirit of the great comic. This is a very moving tribute. The exact way one should honor Robin. He was a genius on stage and off. Wonderful analogy about the stars. "Robin Williams, what a concept." Oh, now we get clips. This is all so great. We see his stand up and some of his great talk show appearances. That was wonderful and beautiful. Bravo Emmys for doing something so incredibly right.
9:24 - Debra Messing and Jim Parsons are being introduced as the star's of all time great sitcoms. A David Caruso joke for some reason. That was very weird. The category is Directing for a Drama. The nominees are Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, True Detective, House of Cards. And the winner is Cary Joji Fukunaga for True Detective (HBO). That was expected. Oh boy, he just got bleeped at the start of his speech. But he's just at a loss for words. He thanks a lot of problem. But notably, he forgets to thank series creator Nic Pizzolatto. How scandalous!?!?!?!
9:26 - Messing and Parsons continue with Supporting Drama Actress. The nominees are Lena Headey, Joanne Froggatt, Christina Hendricks, Christine Baranski, Maggie Smith and Anna Gunn. Gunn should be a lock here. "Ozymandias" was amazing. And the winner is... Anna Gunn for Breaking Bad (AMC). Woo! Why has the band added chimes to the Breaking Bad theme? Strange. She gets kisses from Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul as she walks up to the stage. So far, Breaking Bad has two and True Detective has one. She talks about her journey from the pilot to the end. And ends with "the best human being and partner I could ask for in Bryan."
9:32 - The winners are still just largely the people who've won before.
9:33 - Emmy winner Katherine Heigl is now announcing the Guest categories for dramas. We know that Joe Morton and Allison Janney won for Scandal and Masters of Sex respectively. Morton is now going to present the next award. He talks about beautiful monologues. Because of course. The category is Drama Writing. The nominees are Breaking Bad x2. Game of Thrones, House of Cards and True Detective. It should be Moira Walley-Beckett because "Ozymandias" is the best written script in this field. And the winner is.... Moira Walley-Beckett for Breaking Bad (AMC). She thanks the cast, most importantly Vince Gilligan and snubbed director Rian Johnson. She gets played off the stage!
9:37 - Viola Davis in blue! She's announcing Lead Actress in a Drama. The nominees are Lizzy Caplan, Julianna Margulies, Claire Danes, Robin Wright, Michelle Dockery and Kerry Washington. This race is up for grabs. I'll be happy with Caplan, Margulies or Washington. And the winner is.... Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife (CBS). She stars with "what a wonderful year for women on television." Amen! She notes that her show does 22 episodes a year. And singles out Christine Baranski and Josh Charles. But questions Charles' decision to leave. Spoilers are abundant this year! And also Jim McKay who directed her submission episode. At least The Good Wife won something this year. That somewhat makes up for the snubs elsewhere. Not completely but somewhat.
9:45 - Julia Roberts is onstage after Seth recognizes Sara Barreilles for her song earlier. She's presenting for Lead Actor in a Drama. The nominees are Bryan Cranston, Matthew McConoughey, Woody Harrelson, Jon Hamm, Jeff Daniels and Kevin Spacey. Cranston has the tape that should win but McConoughey has the Oscar. And the winner is... Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad (AMC). Dang that's the surprise of the night because I believe McConoughey was a lock here. This is his fourth time winning. And yet, that doesn't seem like enough awards for his portrayal of Walter White. "Acting is a passion of mine, I will do it until my last breath." He delivers such an awesome speech that thanks everyone he needs to. He then singles out Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn - his fellow winners tonight. "Especially those scenes in bed." He closes with saying to take a risk and find your passion.
9:50 - Now, Jay Leno is back at NBC to present Outstanding Comedy Series. The nominees are The Big Bang Theory, Louie, Modern Family, OITNB, Silicon Valley and Veep. It should be Orange Is the New Black or Veep. And the winner is... Modern Family (ABC). UGH! Talk about complacency. At least Steve Levitan is getting played off. Five wins is impressive and ties the show with Frasier for the most wins in this category. But the fifth season of Modern Family did not deserve to win over Orange Is the New Black or Veep.
9:55 - Just one more category!
9:56 - Halle Berry is present the top prize for Drama Series. Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Mad Men and True Detective. It should be Breaking Bad and I have a strong feeling that it will. And the winner is..... Breaking Bad (AMC). Yes! Berry seemed to just rush through that announcement and the horrible chimes start playing again. "Holy cow" Vince Gilligan proclaims. It's such a wonderful farewell to such a great show. Vince seems so humble by this win. They start playing him off! How dare they!
9:58 - Seth Meyers closes the show on time by saying only four more days to the weekend.
10:00 - Well that was quite an eventful night of live-blogging. I'm exhausted but I still will post some of the best parts of the broadcast - and the most confusing.
