Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” dominated the comedy categories at tonight’s Primetime Emmy Awards, winning for outstanding comedy series, supporting actress in a comedy series (Alex Borstein), lead actress in a comedy series (Rachel Brosnahan), writing in a drama series (Amy Sherman-Palladino) and directing in a comedy series (Amy Sherman-Palladino).
It’s an impressive showing for a freshman show, but long overdue recognition for Sherman-Palladino — who somehow was never nominated for “Gilmore Girls.” As of tonight, she’s the first woman to win the combination of best comedy writing and directing.
It’s also amusing to see Amazon do so well at the awards after CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly decreed that the streaming service shift its focus from critically acclaimed shows with a niche audience to big budget blockbusters like its “Lord of the Rings” prequel.
(And yes, it’s embarrassing that I co-host a podcast that’s all about streaming shows and movies and yet we’ve never reviewed “Mrs. Maisel” — we will absolutely have to rectify that.)
Netflix, meanwhile, came in with the most nominations (beating HBO for the first time), and its shows took home plenty of awards, too. The streamer’s winners include “The Crown” (lead actress in a drama series, directing for a drama series) “Godless” (supporting actress and supporting actor in a limited series or movie), “Black Mirror” (writing in a limited series or movie), “Seven Seconds” (lead actress in a limited series or movie) and “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City” (writing for a variety special).
And while it’s not a streaming show, the wins for “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (including outstanding limited series) probably make Netflix feel good, since executive producer Ryan Murphy recently signed a $300 million exclusive deal with the service.
Beyond the individual awards, streaming was a big theme throughout the ceremony, including a monologue that saw co-host Michael Che wondering where the heck Netflix gets so much money to spend on original content, and concluding, “I think we can keep television going for another five, six years tops.”
