Period drama Mad Men scooped the top honour at the 60th Emmy Awards on Sunday as politics took centre stage at the US television industry’s annual equivalent of the Oscars.
The critically acclaimed cable series — about the workings of a New York advertising agency in the early 1960s — was named outstanding drama series at a star-studded ceremony at the Nokia Theatre.
“I guess I’m going to have to find something new to complain about,” said Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, who spent eight years trying to get the series made. Mad Men beat out competition from Damages, Dexter, Lost and Boston Legal.
However, the other big winners of the evening were two politically themed productions: the acclaimed historical drama, John Adams, about the second president of the United States and Recount about the contested 2000 election.
Home Box Office’s seven-part John Adams, starring Paul Giamatti in the title role, set a new record after picking up five top awards, including outstanding miniseries and a virtual sweep of the acting prizes.
Giamatti took home the honours for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie, with Laura Linney emulating the honour in the lead actress category. It was the third Emmy of Linney’s career. Britain’s Tom Wilkinson, meanwhile, won best supporting actor.
The dominance of John Adams came after the drama won in eight lesser categories at last week’s Creative Emmys, giving the series a total of 13 awards outright, beating the previous best of 11 set by Angels in America.
“Is that right? I’m astounded and I’m glad to hear it,” Giamatti said when told of John Adams‘s record haul. “Angels in America was amazing, so if this is considered equally amazing I’m glad.
“It was long, hard and I never shut up,” Giamatti added. “It felt like it was never going to end. It was like doing six movies.”
Meanwhile Linney, who played Adams’s wife and confidante Abigail, could not resist a political barb after collecting her prize.
Linney said the miniseries was a tribute to “the great community organisers that helped form our country”, a clear reference to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, a former community organiser.
Later, Linney took aim at Republican critics of Obama who have mocked his former work as a community organiser.
“I just have the most tremendous respect for anyone who serves their community,” Linney said. “Our founding fathers were community organisers. And that is fact to me. And I feel that has been disparaged.
“I don’t think anyone should be disrespected for their service, no matter who they are or no matter what party they’re in.”
Seventh time lucky
Elsewhere on Sunday, Recount, a drama depicting the events following the 2000 election, won in the outstanding made for television movie category.
The film’s director, Jay Roach, said he hoped this November’s presidential poll would follow a different script.
“We don’t want to go somewhere and do Recount 2: The Sequel,” Roach said.
Other acting awards, meanwhile, saw wins for two of Hollywood’s most established names, with Glenn Close scooping the lead drama actress prize for her portrayal of a ruthless litigator in Damages.
It was a case of seventh time lucky for veteran actor and activist Alec Baldwin, who won the first Emmy of his career in the outstanding lead actor in a comedy for 30 Rock, where he plays a television network executive.
Baldwin’s 30 Rock co-star Tina Fey — who has found fame recently with her uncanny impersonation of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin — won the best comedy actress for a second straight year.
Fey later joked that she was hoping to retire from her role as Palin’s doppelganger after the US presidential election.
“I want to be done playing this lady [by] November. That would be great,” Fey quipped. “But she seems like a very nice lady.”
However, there was an upset in the outstanding drama actor category, where Bryan Cranston won for Breaking Bad, in which he plays a terminally ill teacher who turns to a life of crime to support his family.
Cranston pipped Mad Men‘s John Hamm for the prize.
“You don’t know if you’re going to dance with the pretty girl and when she asks you to dance it’s beautiful, such a surprise,” said Cranston. — AFP