Cult TV drama series Breaking Bad and comedy hit Modern Family were the big winners on Monday at the annual Emmys, which paid a moving tribute to late Hollywood icon Robin Williams.
Royal feud saga Game of Thrones, which had garnered the most nominations, went home with none of the big prizes from the 66th Primetime Emmys, television’s equivalent of the Oscars.
“This is ... a wonderful time to be working in television,” Breaking Bad director Vince Gilligan said as he accepted the top prize of best drama at the climax of the three-hour show in Los Angeles.
Breaking Bad, about high-school chemistry teacher-turned-drugs-kingpin Walter White, also took the best drama actor award for Bryan Cranston, and the best supporting prizes for Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn, who played his partner and wife respectively.
Modern Family won best comedy series for the fifth year in a row, equaling a record set by Frasier between 1994 and 1998.
Julianna Margulies won the best drama actress for The Good Wife, while best television movie went to The Normal Heart.
The evening’s big loser was Game of Thrones, which was shortlisted in 19 categories and has already been renewed for a fifth and sixth season.
In the end, Game left with only relatively minor prizes — joining a list of snubbed shows also including True Detective, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards.
On the comedy front, Jim Parsons won best comedy actor for The Big Bang Theory, Julia Louis-Dreyfus best comedy actress for Veep, Ty Burrell for Modern Family and Louis C.K. for Louie.
There were giggles — and cheers — when Breaking Bad star Cranston planted a prolonged kiss on the lips of Louis-Dreyfus as she went up to collect her prize, in one of the more outrageous segments of the evening.
Funnyman Jimmy Kimmel also drew laughs, joking that Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey — nominated for bleak cop drama True Detective — was too handsome for television.
“That’s not a television face, that’s a movie-star face,” Kimmel joked.
However, the ceremony took a serious turn when honoring Hollywood great Williams, who died in an apparent suicide on Aug. 11 at age 63, rocking the entertainment world.
With emotions still raw, his friend and fellow actor-comedian Billy Crystal paid tribute to the Oscar winner during the “in memoriam” part of the primetime program.
“He made us laugh. I spent many happy hours on stage with Robin. His brilliance was stunning, the relentless energy breathtaking,” Crystal said, adding that Williams’ star remained undimmed. “The glow will be so bright, it will warm your heart and make your eyes glisten, and you’ll think to yourselves, Robin Williams. What a concept.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was