Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were basking in victory Sunday after being among the winners at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater.
The Saturday night awards — the first of two nights of award-giving in the Creative Arts — mainly consists of obscure technical categories, such as picture editing, costuming, hairstyling, makeup and sound, but also includes awards for guest acting.
While the second night of Crative Arts awards is Sunday, the full prime-time Emmy awards show will be aired live Sept. 18.
In Saturday night’s awards, Fey and Poehler won for outstanding guest actress in a comedy for co- hosting the Dec. 19 episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Two other nominations also went to “Saturday Night Live” hosts, Melissa McCarthy and Amy Schumer.
Although “Saturday Night Live” does not air in prime time, it is eligible for the Primetime Emmys, which covers programs that initially aired between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m.
The category’s other nominees were Laurie Metcalf for her recurring role as the mother of Sheldon (Jim Parsons) on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” and Melora Hardin for her recurring role as the wife of Sarah Pfefferman (Amy Landecker) on Amazon Prime Video’s “Transparent.”
Peter Scolari won for best guest actor in a comedy for his role as the father of Lena Dunham’s character on HBO’s “Girls” after not being initially among the nominees. Scolari was added to the category following the disqualification of Peter MacNicol from HBO’s “Veep” after it was discovered he appeared in more than half of its episodes.
The field also included Bob Newhart, nominated for the third time in four years for his portrayal of Arthur Jeffries, the host of the favorite childhood TV show of Sheldon and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) on “The Big Bang Theory,” which in 2013 brought him the first Emmy of his illustrious career; Larry David, for hosting “Saturday Night Live”; Bradley Whitford, the winner in the category last year for his portrayal of the best friend of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) on “Transparent”; and Martin Mull, who played a veteran political strategist with dementia on “Veep.”
Margo Martindale became the first back-to-back winner for outstanding guest actress in a drama for playing a KGB handler on FX Network’s “The Americans.” The award has been presented annually since 1993 and on an on- again/off-again basis from 1975-91.
Two other past winners were also nominated, Allison Janney (“Masters Of Sex”) and Carrie Preston (“The Good Wife”), along with Metcalf, who portrayed Horace’s (Louis C.K.) ex-wife on “Horace and Pete”; and two actresses from Netflix’s “House of Cards,” Ellen Burstyn and Molly Parker.
Hank Azaria won for outstanding guest actor in a drama series for portraying a corrupt high-ranking FBI agent on Showtime’s “Ray Donovan.” “House Of Cards” produced three of the nominees, last year’s winner, Reg E. Cathey, Mahershala Ali and Paul Sparks.
The other nominees were Michael J. Fox, who was nominated for the fifth time for his portrayal of a ruthless attorney diagnosed with tardive dyskinesia, a condition which causes erratic body movements, on “The Good Wife”; and Max von Sydow, for playing the Three-eyed Raven on “Game Of Thrones.”
Composer Alan Menken had the opportunity to become the 13th person to win a Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competition as a nominee for outstanding original music and lyrics for writing the music for “A New Season aka Suck It Cancellation Bear” for the canceled ABC medieval musical comedy “Galavant.”
The Emmy went to Diane Warren for writing the music and lyrics for “‘Til It Happens To You” from the documentary on sexual assault on college campuses, “The Hunting Ground” that aired on CNN.
Menken won a non-competitive Emmy in 1990 for joining Howard Ashman in writing the song “Wonderful Ways to Say No” for the Television Academy’s anti- drug special for children, “Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.”
This was the second Emmy nomination for Menken, who has won eight Oscars, 11 Grammys and a Tony.
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” led the field with nine Emmys, while “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” won four and “American Horror Story: Hotel,” “Fargo,” “Downton Abbey,” and “The Man in the High Castle” two each.
“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “American Horror Story: Hotel,” and “Fargo” all aired on FX Networks, “Downton Abbey” on the Public Broadcasting Service and Amazon Prime Video’s “The Man in the High Castle” two.
HBO led the network race with 11 Emmys, one more than FX Networks. PBS received five, Amazon Prime Video four and CBS and Showtime two each.
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be presented over two days. Categories primarily related to scripted programming were presented today. Sunday’s awards include those for reality, variety, short form and animation.
The Television Academy’s Board of Governors voted to expand the Creative Arts Emmy Awards to two nights following the creation of categories honoring short form variety series and actors and actress in short form comedy or drama series.
“Our academy has a legacy of adjusting and expanding our awards to reflect the changing nature of members’ Emmy-worthy work,” said academy Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum.
“The industry is growing and we now have more than enough wonderful creativity to enjoy a second creative arts show where we can celebrate the excellence and achievement of this year’s work.”
The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards honor programming that initially aired between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. from June 1, 2015, to May 31, 2016.
CNS-09-10-2016 20:22