The 70th Primetime Emmy Award Ceremony took place this weekend. It's a television show dedicated to awarding television shows. It was hosted by two Saturday Night Live cast members that you can't name, but do recognize. I don't know what happened because I'm currently writing this last week. The big show has a little sister ceremony. It's where they hand out the less important awards, like Best Structured Reality Show. They're called the Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards. They're quietly handed out the week before the real thing, off the air. This year, however, the Creative Arts Awards were more newsworthy than their counterpart.[1] Black actors won every major acting award in both comedy and drama. 3 new artists joined the 'EGOT' club, achieved by winning a Primetime Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. Ru Paul's Drag Race and Queer Eye were both awarded multiple times. But who wants to see a white, 70-year-old institution recognize a diverse field of artistic talent on television? Look, it's Jon Snow!
BLACK EXCELLENCE
Eric Degguns, NPR TV critic, called the list of winners "a testament to the increasing diversity in television." Comedian, Katt Williams, won the award of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy for his role as Alligator Man on Atlanta.[2] Samira Wiley, Ron Cephas Jones, Tiffany Haddish, Dave Chappelle, and W. Kamau Bell were among other black performers receiving awards.
CHRIST YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU
John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Tim Rice completed career 'EGOTs' with NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar: Live. John Legend was pretty good as Jesus in the live television performance of Andrew Lloyd Weber and Time Rice's 1970 rock opera. Brandon Victor Dixon, known for a turn as Hamilton's Aaron Burr, deserves something for what he did to that musical. Can we put Superstar on TV every year?
LGBQTIA+ REPRESENTATION
The community is simply not getting enough credit for singlehandedly dragging reality television away from the ledge. Queer Eye is the antithesis of everything that made Jersey Shore nauseating. It took home 3 awards, including the aforementioned Best Structured Reality Show. RuPaul's Drag Race was an even bigger winner. The search for America's next drag superstar bagged 4 Emmys, including RuPaul himself for Outstanding Host in a Reality Show.
PARTS UNKNOWN
Anthony Bourdain – chef, author, and host of CNN's Parts Unknown – killed himself in June while filming an episode of the show in France. The show's 5 awards aren't enough to take away the tragedy but are a testament to the meaningful and unique work that Bourdain created with his life.
COPYWRITER ALMOST DOES IT
An Emmy for Megan is a comedy web series with a mission statement. Copywriter, Megan Amram, created the series to fulfill the minimum requirements to be nominated for the Outstanding Actress in a Short Series award. She was successfully nominated. The series features appearances by Ted Danson, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Rogan, and RuPaul. Unfortunately, Megan failed to snag either of the two awards for which she was nominated. Despite the ultimate failure, the story of An Emmy for Megan remains as inspiration for copywriters everywhere.
[1] Take this out if Alec Baldwin presents his award as Donald Trump and calls Atlanta a failing news program.
[2] "Weird Things That Happened in 2018"
