Emmy Winners, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 8:40PM Which of the prizes warmed the cockles of your heart? Which caused a blind rage? And which caused you to make these Amy Poehler or Lena Headey faces?
Comedy Series, Comedy Veep (1st win in this category)
Lead Actress, Comedy Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (6th win, 4th consecutive from this series, from 20 nominations from 3 series) which means that two iconic characters Lisa Kudrow's "Valerie Cherish" and Amy Poehler's "Leslie Knope" were never rewarded for their genius
Lead Actor, Comedy Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent (1st win for this role, 7 total nominations from 3 series)
Supporting Actress, Comedy Alison Janney, Mom (6th win, 2nd consecutive for this role, 10 total nominations from 3 series)
Supporting Actor, Comedy Tony Hale, Veep (2nd win for this role from 3 nominations)
Writing, Comedy Veep (1st writing win for this series from 2 nominations)
Director, Comedy Jil Soloway, Transparent (1st directing win for this series)
Drama Series Game of Thrones (1st win in this category)
Lead Actress, Drama Viola Davis How To Get Away With Murder (1st win, also the 1st woman of color to win in this category
Lead Actor, Drama Jon Hamm, Mad Men (1st win in this category)
Supporting Actress, Drama Uzo Aduba Orange is the New Black (2nd consecutive win for this character)
Supporting Actor, Drama Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (2nd win this category)
Writing/Directing Game of Thrones
Limited Series / Movie Olive Kitteridge
Lead Actress Limited Series/Movie Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge (1st win)
Lead Actor Limited Series / Movie Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge (1st win)
Supporting Actress Limited Series/Movie Regina King, American Crime (1st win)
Supporting Actor Limited Series/Movie Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge (1st win)
Director, Limited Series/Movie Lisa Cholodenko, Olive Kitteridge (1st win)
Writer, MiniSeries/Movie Olive Kitteridge
Reality Competition The Voice
Variety Talk Show Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Sketch Show Inside Amy Schumer
Reader Comments (57)
I love Allison Janney more than anyone else in the whole wide world but 7 Emmys are just TOO much.
Not loving these repeat wins. Thank God Transparent added a little variety.
Other than the Tambor win, the best thing so far has been the Kerry Washington Apple Music commercial.
I don't understand why Janney and Louis-Dreyfus have a need to keep submitting themselves for Emmy consideration. They're already incredibly successful - why the need for an umpteenth trophy? Let someone else have a chance.
"which means that two iconic characters Lisa Kudrow's "Valerie Cherish" and Amy Poehler's "Leslie Knope" were never rewarded for their genius"
Amy P got screwed but The Comeback is getting a third season someday! Wikipedia it.
Thank God for all those Transparent wins. And Regina King.
Regina King was such a pleasant surprise.
These excessive repeat wins are enough to make me throw something at the TV screen and makes me respect a whole lot more people like Candice Bergen and John Larroquette who took their names out of contention after multiple victories for a single role.
I LOVE that Regina King win, however. She's been long overdue for that type of industry recognition.
Troy -- totally agree. Regina King really took her work up a notch on SOUTHLAND but she's a showbiz trouper. nice to see. even though i was rooting for Sarah Paulson's best work yet on AHS.
YES!!!! AN EMMY FOR BILL MURRAY!!!!
FRANCES HA!
Richard Jenkins, Jill Soloway, Lisa Cholodenko... it's a Six Feet Under reunion!
Really annoyed by Allison Janney just in general. And those wins for Olive Kitteridge ... totally suspect. But the JLD and TH wins ... my God ... both were subpar on this season of Veep (and I love Veep!). Such lazy voting all around. Just lazy.
Thank ya sweet baby Jesus for Regina King.
Does anyone else hate when awards shows don't show performance clips?
Is anyone else really nervous for Jon Hamm's category?
In other news, Frances McDormand is now an acting triple crown inductee.
@steve - yes, I'm definitely missing the acting clips.
Aduba is good but Hendricks was robbed. Ugh.
WTF!! No Valerie Cherish or Leslie Knope?! I like Julia-Louis Dreyfus but COME ON!
How did Soderbergh NOT win for direction? His work on The Knick is so innovative. I've never seen a period piece presented in a way that feels so modern before. And I know they're nominated for one episode, but it's extraordinary that he directed the entire season. That should have been a slam-dunk.
Suzanne -- Totally agree
Emmy winner Jon Hamm!!!
Viva Viola Davis!
VIOLAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Frances McDormand now has an Emmy, an Oscar, and a Tony. Go get that Grammy, girl!
HBO won best comedy, best drama, best movie, and best miniseries. It also swept the supporting actor categories and the writing categories.
weird that it took the least acclaimed season of Game of Thrones for Emmys to finally go hog wild for it.
Eh, they changed the rules so that watching the shows became optional. I'm only slightly kidding.
Nathaniel - I think both GoT and Veep won for their worst seasons. But I guess I'm happy they both have series wins now. Sad for Mad Men because I wanted it to break the record, but it's been amply rewarded for its brilliance.
Worst win of the night? Uzo Aduba
Viola seems one step closer to her Oscar with this Emmy win. Remember our hopelessness concerning Julianne Moore? There is a Blue Sky / Still Alice weak year for Best Actress just waiting for Viola to sweep.
It's embarrassing that Thrones won so hard tonight. Their last season was wildly uneven, with excellent action scenes that failed to balance out multiple character assassinations (from a writing point of view!), breathtaking misogyny, and cringe-y dialogue. The most lauded scenes, as usual, were taken straight from the books, and the most hated scenes were original add-ons, as usual, so it's extra awful that they won for writing. It beat one of the greatest and most forcefully original tv finales in history. MY GOD.
Trying to alleviate my total resentment of Thrones by thinking of how strong the actor wins were tonight (with the sad exception of Poehler losing again). So happy for Hamm!
Eh, this night would've been awesome if Hamm joined Poehler.
Hey now! Lisa Kudrow is gonna have another shot at this! The creator said HBO was down with a third season whenever they were ready, didn't he??
I spent the evening being annoyed with the Emmys that Titus didn't win and annoyed with myself that I didn't have a bottle of pinot noir in the house. I cried for Leonard Nimoy and Viola Davis.
Giving Thrones writing for Mother's Mercy is the most shameful thing I've ever seen Emmys do and we are talking about people who never awarded Michael Scott
a good night for arrested development: george sr, buster, maggie lizer grabbing prizes
THE BEST EMMY EVER! at least according to me.
after that bore fest last year with breaking bad domination, this year's winners are on fire!
fuck yes Game of Thrones and Veep!
Jon and Viola make me go to heaven.
Frances McDormand has triple crown, all for leading roles, which is miraculous.
Amy Schumer rules the Earth.
and the industry finally honor Richard Jenkins.
Supporting actresses are surprisingly lame.
No reason to hate all of them, but their awards belong someone else,
Chlumsky, Paulson and Headey...
I am pummelled that JLD won again, come on Lisa Kudrow was brilliant and Amy Poehler...gosh I its like raining in my dripping heart. Freaking annoyed that Anna didn't win for that sheer brilliance in Veep season 4, OMG she was more deserving of an emmy than Tony Hale and JLD (yes she is excellent but Valerie Cherish and Leslie Knope deserved thier time too!)
Very happy for Regina King, Viola Davis ( I was rooting for Taraji but hey), Jeffery Tambor and JON HAMM!!!!!
Relieved that there were no wins for AHS:Freakshow(Worst season thus far) except for Finn Wittrock cuz he was really amazing. Bill Murray really? Sarah Paulson should have won for Asylum back then.
I think the Emmys is the worst Awards show of them all. They're so boring with their choices.
PS. So glad Jon Hamm won.
JON HAMM JON HAMM JON HAMM
I liked the show, surprisingly. I'm not always on Andy Samburg's wavelength, but I thought he was very funny last night. Opening song and all. Loved the wins for Jon Hamm(!!!) the Transparent crew (that Solloway win suggests Transparent came closer to the comedy series Emmy than OITNB did last year), Regina King, Viola Davis (because it meant we got that speech) and most of the Olive Kitteridge crew. Sadly, I don't think Bill Murray is anywhere near one of the best/most memorable elements of that most excellent film.
Disappointed about Janney and Dreyfus' wins for the same reasons everyone else has said. Just unnecessary. Especially so in Janney's case, considering the show she's on.
The absolute highlight for the show was actually the unity. The LGBT unity and the African American unity. Seeing Taraji being one of the only people standing for Viola before her speech and the hugging for each one whenever they won. The speeches by the Transparent crew as well as seeing Lisa Cholodenko and the Olive Kitterage writer thanking their partners. Wonderful stuff.
love that Viola Davis takes giving a speech so seriously. She's always aware of the context and history, which leads to a great moment in the culture.
Murtada -- yeah that SAG speech was out of this world too. Imagine what the oscar moment would have been like *sniffle*
Generally happier with the Emmys than in previous years, with the GLARING exception of Amy Poehler, forever Emmy-less. I love me some JLD, but she doesn't need any more Emmys.
Can we just imagine for a second what the lead acting Emmys could have looked like?
Hamm. Davis. Tambor. Poehler. McDormand. Oyelowo.
Dammit Emmys, you were so close.
Jonny -- yeah. i'll never figure out the allure of handing the same person the same prize each year. I can understand twice for something really phenomenal or if the actor changes their approach or the show transforms into something that's a new challenge. but every year is so... i just don't understand it. If I were a voter I would always be like "nah, i already gave her an emmy for doing this" which... i'm a little surprised that more voters don't feel that way. I guess I'm missing that ALL for this person NONE for the others gene.
I can't imagine HBO would be very pleased with JLD if she decided not to submit for VEEP one year, awards are a marketing tool and I am sure even if the actor really wanted to not submit one year they would be highly discouraged from it. Plus I think her performance this year with the storyline on VEEP was phenomenal. I love Kudrow and would have given it to her, but I can't begrudge this win.
I'm happy Maggie Gyllenhaal won SOMETHING for An Honourable Woman, even if it was the Globe.
Jon Hamm won. That's all that matters.
On other websites, I criticize the emmys. But the spectrum here is so astringent that I ended up defending them. Heh.
a) It's not unheard for modern performers to not submit themselves. Terry O'Quinn and Katherine Heigl both did it after they won.
b) I think you'd be surprised at how few people know who's won as many times as they have. Viola Davis was identified as a two time oscar winner. When Julianne Moore went on the Graham Norton show, he said he thought she already had an oscar. This is exacerbated by seeing so many awards shows, I'd assert - the echo chamber. If you've seen a person give a speech a few times, it's rather surprising that they haven't won the big one (Oscar/Emmy).
c) But consistent excellence is pretty awesome. I think we tend to diminish work that is still very strong because it's not new. Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep is one of the finest comic television performances of all time, frankly, and it's a privilege to watch her at work (full disclosure: I thought the first season of The Comeback was so bad that if it was the first thing I'd seen on television, I'd never watch the medium again. The televisual equivalent of "Two girls, one cup.")
d) Suzanne, I hugely disagree with your take on GoT's fifth season, actually. I have not read the books, so I can only comment on what I saw, but what I saw was very involving, gripping and, at times, utterly masterful. No, it wasn't the best drama of the year (The Americans was, by far), but it's victory is well earned in this field.
Arkaan, I don't know what you're referring to as I've never seen Game of Thrones. I'm allergic to dragons.
Sorry, that was a response to caroline.