We all know how the Emmys work by now. Once every half decade it merges around a sitcom and a drama series, and throws everything it has against them at the expense of many much better shows. You’ll remember the Modern Family era of the Emmys and the Veep era. It turns out that, like it or not, we’re now deep into the Ted Lasso era. Just about anything comedy related lassoed last night. Best Comedy, Best Actor in a Comedy, Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy, Best Director. True, Jean Smart won for Hacks and Abbott Elementary won a few awards — but it was another reminder that the Emmys will always play it safe when it comes to comedy. And nothing is safer than Ted Lasso, the comedic equivalent of rice pudding. At least Ted Lasso didn’t beat them all… Quinta Brunson, who won awards for lead actress in a sitcom and wrote for a sitcom about Abbott Elementary. Photo: Bonnie Osborne/ABC/Getty Images Lasso’s dominance meant Barry didn’t win a single thing. Barry, for crying out loud. One of the slickest, darkest, slickest programs of the last 10 years, hot off a season that rivals anything ever made. And he won nothing. What an injustice. Apart from comedy, the big winners were Succession and The White Lotus. There are fewer complaints about these shows, because they are actually pretty good, but beyond that there were some very strange decisions. The Emmys’ inexplicable love of Ozark meant Julia Garner won the supporting actress award when the award really belonged to Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn. But all was not lost. Thanks to the technically split final season, the final episodes of Better Call Saul are eligible for next year’s awards. By rights – given that the show produced one of the most perfect endings to any TV series in history – it should sweep the board. But in reality, next year is a long way off, and even something as amazing as Seehorn’s virtuoso bus breakdown scene can get lost in the mix. It’s sad, but Better Call Saul is shaping up to be the great underrated series of our time. In happier news, Squid Game won two Emmys. Given the pure conservatism at the heart of these awards, this never seemed like something that could ever happen. The Squid Game, while extremely popular, seemed like a work of art compared to most shows. It was too violent, too angular, too foreign. So for him to win best director is a sign that Emmy voters sometimes make bold mistakes. And Lee Jung-jae’s Best Actor win (pushing out titans like Brian Cox, Bob Odenkirk and Jason Bateman) was nothing short of spectacular. This time yesterday, I would have put money on the language barrier preventing him from winning. But I was wrong, and this was a win for the ages. Pure brilliance … Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in the Hulu series The Dropout. Photo: Beth Dubber/AP Plus, any awards show that recognizes Amanda Seyfried’s brilliance in The Dropout can’t be bad. What an amazing show this was. it was as if Seyfried managed to physically change her entire DNA in a few episodes. Her win was totally deserved, especially if it means more people will watch The Dropout. The Emmys clearly disagree, but it might just go down as my favorite show of the year.
