Nothing on Earth resists change quite like the Emmys. The seas can rise, the mountains can fall, the sun can expand and swallow us whole, but the Emmys will still be there, doing its absolute best to do the exact same thing as it did last year.
We all know how the Emmys work by now. Once every half decade it coalesces around one comedy series and one drama series, and hurls everything it has at them at the expense of several far better shows. You will remember the Modern Family era of the Emmys, and the Veep era. It turns out that, like it or not, we are now deep in the Ted Lasso era.
Almost anything even remotely comedy-related went Lasso’s way last night. Best comedy, best comedy actor, best comedy supporting actor, best director. True, Jean Smart won for Hacks, and Abbott Elementary picked up a couple of awards – but it was yet another reminder that the Emmys will always play it safe when it comes to comedy. And nothing is safer than Ted Lasso, the comedy equivalent of rice pudding.
Lasso’s dominance meant that Barry didn’t win a single thing. Barry, for crying out loud. One of the knottiest, darkest, most stylish programmes of the last 10 years, hot off a season that rivals anything that has ever been made. And it won nothing. What an injustice.
Other than comedy, the big winners were Succession and The White Lotus. There are fewer complaints about these shows, because they are actually very good, but outside of those were some very weird decisions. The Emmys’ inexplicable fondness for Ozark meant that Julia Garner won best supporting actress, when the award really belonged to Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn.
But all is not lost. Thanks to its technically bisected final season, Better Call Saul’s final few episodes are eligible for next year’s awards. By rights – given that the show crafted one of the most perfect endings to any TV series in history – it should wipe the board. In truth, though, next year is a long time away, and even something as astounding as Seehorn’s virtuoso bus breakdown scene might get lost in the mix. It’s sad, but Better Call Saul is shaping up to be the great underappreciated series of our time.
In happier news, Squid Game won two Emmys. Given the sheer conservatism at the heart of these awards, this never seemed like something that could ever happen. Squid Game, though wildly popular, seemed like an art piece compared to most shows. It was too violent, too angular, too foreign. So for it to win best directing is a sign that Emmy voters do sometimes take a punt on boldness. And Lee Jung-jae’s win for best actor (pushing out titans like Brian Cox, Bob Odenkirk and Jason Bateman) was little short of spectacular. This time yesterday, I would have put money on the language barrier blocking him from victory. But I was wrong, and this was a victory for the ages.
Plus, any award show that recognises the brilliance of Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout can’t be all bad. What a stunning performance that was; it was as if Seyfried managed to physically alter her entire DNA a few episodes in. Her win was entirely deserved, especially if it means that more people will watch The Dropout. The Emmys clearly don’t agree, but it might just qualify as my favourite show of the year.
