What Did the 71st Emmys Say About Television Today?
Last night, TV celebrated its crowning achievements for the year- in theory, at least. The 7st Primetime Emmy Awards were held recognizing the best television of the 2018–19 season in the genres of comedy, drama, miniseries, and more. People tune in to the Emmys for many reasons- the pageantry of the ceremony itself, the suspense of watching for upset winners, the (usually) misplaced hope that one’s unlikely favorite show or performer will take home a long overdue trophy. All of these things have drawn this writer’s interest at various points as well. But the Emmys are also interesting as a snapshot of the television industry itself- where it stands at this point in time, who the key players are, and what are the emerging trends. And this year’s ceremony felt like it was more significant on this score than usual. Between the swan song of HBO’s Game of Thrones on the drama side, the triumph of Amazon’s Fleabag on the comedy side, and more, this feels like a point of transition in the TV landscape, as streaming reaches new heights and the future of everyone else feels ever more in question.
The Emmys usually generate a flurry of speculation and hotly debated predictions online, from a host of websites such as Gold Derby and Awards Watch who have made their names catering to a large audience of would-be entertainment pundits. And yet, one thing was a given among all observers- this would be Game of Thrones’ night. In spite of a polarizing final season, HBO’s flagship drama series took home the Outstanding Drama Series trophy for the fourth time, tying an Emmy record. More than the quality of the show itself, the win felt more like a recognition of it’s status as perhaps the last great water-cooler TV series.
In a world of absolutely endless sources for content, each more specialized to a more specific target audience than the last, it feels as if there is no television that everyone, whether they watch it or not, has an opinion about. While there will surely be other epic fantasy series coming to various streaming platforms (Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel and Wheel of Time adaptations come to mind as major upcoming series), it feels as if nothing will loom so large over popular culture again- in this sense, Thrones’ win marked the end of an era.
The end of any era necessarily must also mark the beginning of another- and for that we can look to the Comedy categories. If the night belonged to any one person, it was Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who cemented her place as TV’s top dual threat auteur. The creator and star of Amazon’s comedy Fleabag was awarded three times, for Comedy Series, Writing, and most impressively of all, Comedy Lead Actress, beating out the heavily favored Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Veep. As an added bonus, her dramatic series in contention, Killing Eve (which Waller-Bridge only wrote as opposed to writing/starring as with Fleabag) took home a major trophy in Best Actress, although not the top Series prize.
Over the past decade or more, we have seen the rise of the so called “tv comedy auteur”- a television series that is distinctly the product of one person’s singular creative voice, who usually stars in front of the camera and is, if not the sole writer, certainly the most important by far. FX’s Louie, created by and starring Louis CK (pre-#MeToo) was the first in this genre, and has been followed by the likes of Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, Donald Glover’s Atlanta, Bill Hader’s Barry, and others. But none had taken home TV comedy’s top honor, Comedy Series- until now. Many have written about how Game of Thrones brought blockbuster film to TV, that it did for the medium what Jaws did for movies in 1975.
But over the past twenty years, another key figure from the film medium has been migrating to TV as well- the auteur. In another era, someone like Phoebe Waller-Bridge would be making arthouse films, playing the festival circuit and racking up critics awards. But in an age where film lives and dies by its franchises, someone like her is increasingly only able to practice her craft in television. Well, until now- after tonight, she should be able to do whatever she wants in any medium. But her ascent marks the industry’s first major recognition (in their awards, at least) that arthouse voices will increasingly be more at home there than in film. This is a trend that Amazon has been at the forefront of- for their first major original series they recruited Sundance regular Jill Soloway for Transparent. This trend will only continue as Amazon, Netflix and other streamers seek to cement their hold on the television landscape.
One final trend of interest is the Emmys’ historic willingness to recognize young actors in the performance categories. This trend was already evident in the nominations- as a record number of actors under age thirty-five were nominated in the acting categories. In contrast to the Oscars, always eager to annoint the next big superstar, the Emmys historically have gravitated towards older, more seasoned performers. Not so last night- for the first time ever, the Emmys awarded three performers under the age of thirty- Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer (26), Ozark’s Julia Garner (25), and When They See Us’ Jharrel Jerome (21). While not as significant to broader industry trends, this is still notable in that it is a further indication that long-held preconceptions and biases about what television is and what a TV star is are breaking down.
More than anything else, the Emmys highlighted the transitions that the medium is undergoing. The passing of TV’s top flagship blockbuster combined with the rise of a new top creative voice in both comedy and drama. Amazon showed that its first Series victory was not a fluke, while top honors continue to elude its rival Netflix. Next year there will be a major void to fill in both categories- Thrones’ run is over, and Fleabag’s will likely be as well, with Waller-Bridge saying she has no active plans for a third season. Next year there will be two new champions crowned, and we will all get to once again analyze and read into what new trends they signify, or which old ones they reinforced. Until then, there will be nothing except a whole lot of television to watch.
