Kenny Guido
Well-known member
'Sopranos' wins best drama, '30 Rock' best comedy at Emmys
BY VERNE GAY | [email protected] 11:35 PM EDT, September 16, 2007
Well, whadya expect?
The best drama in American TV history was awarded an Emmy for best TV drama for the year 2006-07 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles last night. "The Sopranos" victory at the 59th Emmys was wonderful, joyous, expected and certainly fitting but - because this is the Emmys - hardly a lock. Any of the nominees could have won, and no one would have been particularly surprised if any of the others had.
The full cast and crew gathered on the circular stage at around 11:10 last night, and the stage was indeed packed, with many familiar (and beloved) faces. It was the best moment of the night.
Meanwhile, "30 Rock" - Tina Fey's brilliant satire on 30 Rock won for best comedy.
The night was brisk, but bland. And after 10:30, the surprises - and there actually were a few of those - started piling up.
America Ferrera won as best actress in a comedy - Betty Suarez AKA "Ugly Betty" - in a category stuffed with favorites, of which she was not one. James Spader's best actor/drama victory was hardly a shockeroo (he won in 2004 for "The Practice" and 2005 for "Boston Legal") but last night it sure was with presumptive favorite James Gandolfini sitting a foot away.
Foremost, Sally Field won best actress in a drama series (as Nora Walker in "Brothers & Sisters") in a category where the formidable frontrunners in that category were Edie Falco and Kyra Sedgwick. Field also starred in the greatest technical glitch of the night: In a boisterous and disorganized acceptance speech, she was about to make an anti-war statement - "if the mothers of the world... !" - when, BLIP!, the cameras unexpectedly switched off.
As a result, Field had the oddest and most memorable speech of the entire night, which was something to cheer.
Also, Ricky Gervais won for best actor in a comedy series. But Gervais's win for his role as the luckless Andy Millman was a surprise only to non-fans because the role (and show) is priceless.
And if you were of a mind to look for omens, or fair winds, then those started to blow around 9 p.m., when two key awards were handed out. Veteran "Sopranos" director Alan Taylor got the statue for best directing in a drama, and then just a few minutes after that: David Chase, one of the few if not only household names in the ranks of TV production, won the prestigious best writing in a drama award.
The night began well for "Entourage" and Jeremy Piven, who won his second consecutive award for supporting actor in a comedy series. A short time later, Jaime Pressly - Joy Turner of "My Name is Earl" - gave an emotional and totally out-of-character thank you speech; the Emmy was her first.
Terry O'Quinn - John Locke, "Lost" - nabbed his first award (best supporting actor/drama), while establishing that he even had better material than either Ray Romano, a presenter, or Ryan Seacrest: He explained that when he was out in the Hawaiian jungles, in the mud and filming a show, "I wonder what it would be like to bake up a sheet of cookies on Wisteria Lane and get one of their checks."
That was followed a bit later by the best supporting actress/drama award, and in a field stacked with "Grey's Anatomy" nominees, Katherine Heigl - Isobel 'Izzie' Stevens - was yet another first-timer nominee/and/winner. "My own mother said I didn't have a shot in hell of winning, so I didn't have anything prepared," she said. (Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" - who else and what else? - won yet again for outstanding variety, music or comedy series. "Obviously, any show in that category could win," he said, but obviously that was almost certainly not true. The show won for the sixth time in seven years, making it the "Frasier" of best variety/comedy series.
Oh, and speaking of shows and categories that have become as wacky and improbable as the rising sun: "The Amazing Race" won again for outstanding reality-competition program. That's the fifth win in a row.
Meanwhile, AMC's "Broken Trail," had a good night. It won best miniseries, while Robert Duvall got best miniseries actor in the category and Thomas Haden Church best supporting actor.
Helen Mirren, who has become something of a perennial Emmy fave, won for best actress in a miniseries/movie for "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," the very franchise that has showered so much Emmy largesse on her over the years.
BY VERNE GAY | [email protected] 11:35 PM EDT, September 16, 2007
Well, whadya expect?
The best drama in American TV history was awarded an Emmy for best TV drama for the year 2006-07 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles last night. "The Sopranos" victory at the 59th Emmys was wonderful, joyous, expected and certainly fitting but - because this is the Emmys - hardly a lock. Any of the nominees could have won, and no one would have been particularly surprised if any of the others had.
The full cast and crew gathered on the circular stage at around 11:10 last night, and the stage was indeed packed, with many familiar (and beloved) faces. It was the best moment of the night.
Meanwhile, "30 Rock" - Tina Fey's brilliant satire on 30 Rock won for best comedy.
The night was brisk, but bland. And after 10:30, the surprises - and there actually were a few of those - started piling up.
America Ferrera won as best actress in a comedy - Betty Suarez AKA "Ugly Betty" - in a category stuffed with favorites, of which she was not one. James Spader's best actor/drama victory was hardly a shockeroo (he won in 2004 for "The Practice" and 2005 for "Boston Legal") but last night it sure was with presumptive favorite James Gandolfini sitting a foot away.
Foremost, Sally Field won best actress in a drama series (as Nora Walker in "Brothers & Sisters") in a category where the formidable frontrunners in that category were Edie Falco and Kyra Sedgwick. Field also starred in the greatest technical glitch of the night: In a boisterous and disorganized acceptance speech, she was about to make an anti-war statement - "if the mothers of the world... !" - when, BLIP!, the cameras unexpectedly switched off.
As a result, Field had the oddest and most memorable speech of the entire night, which was something to cheer.
Also, Ricky Gervais won for best actor in a comedy series. But Gervais's win for his role as the luckless Andy Millman was a surprise only to non-fans because the role (and show) is priceless.
And if you were of a mind to look for omens, or fair winds, then those started to blow around 9 p.m., when two key awards were handed out. Veteran "Sopranos" director Alan Taylor got the statue for best directing in a drama, and then just a few minutes after that: David Chase, one of the few if not only household names in the ranks of TV production, won the prestigious best writing in a drama award.
The night began well for "Entourage" and Jeremy Piven, who won his second consecutive award for supporting actor in a comedy series. A short time later, Jaime Pressly - Joy Turner of "My Name is Earl" - gave an emotional and totally out-of-character thank you speech; the Emmy was her first.
Terry O'Quinn - John Locke, "Lost" - nabbed his first award (best supporting actor/drama), while establishing that he even had better material than either Ray Romano, a presenter, or Ryan Seacrest: He explained that when he was out in the Hawaiian jungles, in the mud and filming a show, "I wonder what it would be like to bake up a sheet of cookies on Wisteria Lane and get one of their checks."
That was followed a bit later by the best supporting actress/drama award, and in a field stacked with "Grey's Anatomy" nominees, Katherine Heigl - Isobel 'Izzie' Stevens - was yet another first-timer nominee/and/winner. "My own mother said I didn't have a shot in hell of winning, so I didn't have anything prepared," she said. (Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" - who else and what else? - won yet again for outstanding variety, music or comedy series. "Obviously, any show in that category could win," he said, but obviously that was almost certainly not true. The show won for the sixth time in seven years, making it the "Frasier" of best variety/comedy series.
Oh, and speaking of shows and categories that have become as wacky and improbable as the rising sun: "The Amazing Race" won again for outstanding reality-competition program. That's the fifth win in a row.
Meanwhile, AMC's "Broken Trail," had a good night. It won best miniseries, while Robert Duvall got best miniseries actor in the category and Thomas Haden Church best supporting actor.
Helen Mirren, who has become something of a perennial Emmy fave, won for best actress in a miniseries/movie for "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," the very franchise that has showered so much Emmy largesse on her over the years.
