Sure, “Modern Family” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus could once again waltz out of the Emmy Awards with gilded hardware in their grips, but this is also the year that the Television Academy looked past some old favorites (“The Big Bang Theory” and Jim Parsons, “The Good Wife” and Julianna Margulies, “Girls”) for some fresh prospects.
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One big question on everyone’s minds for this year’s 67th Primetime Emmys, television’s version of the Oscars, is: will Jon Hamm of “Mad Men” finally win on his eighth try for his work as troubled ad man Don Draper?
126: The number of nominations HBO received this year – the most out of any network. “I just pray to God… and it’s not even about me”. If it fails to secure a sixth trophy, it will likely be from voter fatigue than for any slip in quality – the show still fires on all cylinders.
HBO’s hysterical “Veep” should have won easily previous year , but the increasingly boring “Modern Family” beat it out.
“Mad Men” faces stiff competition in the best drama category from “Better Call Saul“, “Downton Abbey“, “Homeland“, “House of Cards“, “Orange is the New Black” and “Game of Thrones“, which earned an impressive 24 nominations. (There were a few years in the Eighties when the Outstanding Drama Series category was nearly nothing but cop shows.) No, we’re talking about science fiction and fantasy, which conventional wisdom would have you believe are less-than-respectable genres in which aliens, vampires, robots and/or dragons supplant more “serious” issues that get explored in mainstream dramas.
“Actor Jeffrey Tambor of “Transparent” delivered a fantastic performance as a transgender woman and really sparked the national conversation long before the name Caitlyn Jenner, so I think he is certainly considered a walk to win in the comedy actor race”, Birnbaum said. This shouldn’t be the year it wins, though.
After seven unsuccessful nominations, will 2015 finally be the year that the “Mad Men” star wins the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series? Based on “House of Cards“‘s third season, fuggedaboutit. Veep more closely adheres to the ethos of, say, The Office and 30 Rock, but it also has to compete against Parks and Recreation, something of a sentimental favorite, in addition to Tina Fey’s buzzy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. But once again, he lost to another worthy opponent, Bradley Whitford (who was great in “Transparent“, though not as great as the good Reverend, in my opinion).
You can see the full list of the Emmy nominations here. Leonard Nimoy, who died February 27 at the age of 83, would be my top contender if not for the September 4 passing of Joan Rivers, which happened a little over a week after the 2014 Emmys telecast.
And while he’s been to the Emmys many times before, having won a statuette in 2007 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (Saturday Night Live), this will mark Andy Samberg’s first time hosting the awards show.
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Whether he gets a make-up Emmy this year or not is far less interesting than what Jon Hamm will go on to do next, and what the legacy of his first major TV character will ultimately become. Let’s hope that the topicality of the former (see: Hillary Clinton) propels it to a victory.
