‘Breaking Bad’ takes home most wins at Emmy Awards
Comedian Billy Crystal, bottom right, pays tribute to the late Robin Williams during the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, 2014.
On Aug. 25, NBC broadcast the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards hosted by comedian Seth Meyers. For the first time since 1976, the show was held on a Monday to avoid competition with the MTV Video Music Awards.
HBO, which Meyers compared to “the kid you grew up with who ended up doing way better than you expected,” had 99 nominations, the most out of all the networks nominated. HBO’s nominated shows included “True Detective,” “Veep” and “Game of Thrones.”
“When I first met HBO, all he had was ‘Grease 2’ and ‘Fraggle Rock,’” Meyers joked. In a twist that shocked many, “Game of Thrones” failed to bring home any of its 19 nominations during the show.
Netflix received 31 nominations, proving just how much streaming has changed the face of television today.
“Breaking Bad,” which went off the air in 2013, took home five Emmys throughout the evening, including Outstanding Drama Series for the second year in a row. The show dominated the drama genre, taking home Outstanding Actor (Bryan Cranston), Supporting Actor (Aaron Paul), Supporting Actress (Anna Gunn) and writing.
“Modern Family” collected its fifth consecutive win for Outstanding Comedy Series, beating out both “Orange is the New Black” and “The Big Bang Theory.” “Modern Family”‘s Ty Burrell won his second Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series award for his portrayal as the lovable Phil Dunphy. The show also won the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
“The Big Bang Theory” did manage to steal some of the comedy spotlight back when Jim Parsons, who plays Dr. Sheldon Cooper, won his second consecutive and fourth total Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy.
Although Meyers and other presenting guests kept the show lighthearted and joke-fueled for a majority of the evening, the atmosphere changed during the annual “In Memoriam,” dedicated to members of the television community that died in the past year.
Billy Crystal honored his late friend, comedian and actor Robin Williams, with a touching tribute. “It’s very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in all of our lives,” Crystal said. Williams’ death on Aug. 11 took the world by surprise and shattered the hearts of many.
Crystal compared Williams to “the brightest star in the comedy galaxy” whose “beautiful light will continue to shine on us forever.”
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