Winter is coming. That’s probably what most Emmy nominees thought at the Creative Arts Awards, which were held on the weekend of September 14-15. Awards for dramas, comedies, movies and limited series were presented on Sunday night, which meant a potentially dominant performance by HBO’s epic fantasy series “Game of Thrones.” But how well did it really do? Find out below in our live blog with all the hottest takes and analysis of the results. Check out the complete list of winners as they’re announced here.
“Game of Thrones” earned an unprecedented 32 Emmy nominations this year, 18 of which were decided at the Creative Arts Awards. And it had opportunities to make history in a few different ways. The episode “The Long Night” had the potential to be the most awarded episode in the history of the Emmys, exceeding the six prizes won by the “Boardwalk Empire” pilot and previous action-packed “Thrones” episode “Battle of the Bastards.”
“Thrones” also held the record for the most awards for a continuing series in a single year (12 in both 2015 and 2016), so it could’ve surpassed that too, or at least gotten close enough to finish the job next Sunday night, September 22, when the top categories are presented. It also had the chance to break the “John Adams” record for the most awards won by any program in one year (13 in 2008).
But it wasn’t the only contender with a chance to clean up. Other shows including “Chernobyl,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Barry,” “Russian Doll,” “Saturday Night Live” and more also came into this event with many nominations. So what happened, and what does it all mean for next week? Find out below starting at 8:00pm (times listed are Eastern).
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8:01pm — Emmy winners should start coming in soon. On Saturday night voters seemed to be in a sweep mindset with “Free Solo” winning all seven of its nominations. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s a similar sweep tonight. Wouldn’t it be interesting if “Free Solo” ended up with more Creative Arts Emmys than “Game of Thrones”?
8:11pm — And the night begins with a victory for “State of the Union” as Best Short Form Drama or Comedy Series. It actually wasn’t even nominated until a “Better Call Saul” short form series was disqualified. That’s the same thing that happened to Peter Scolari, who won Best Comedy Guest Actor for “Girls” after substituting in for disqualified Peter MacNicol for “Veep.” But “State of the Union” had a lot of star appeal with stars Chris O’Dowd and Rosamund Pike, and winning producers Nick Hornby and Stephen Frears.
8:13pm — “Game of Thrones” strikes first blood: Best Picture Editing (Single-Camera Drama) for the episode “The Long Night.” That’s an impressive victory since “Thrones” was nominated three times but managed to avoid a vote-split. And “The Long Night” could be well on its way to making history as the most awarded single episode of all time. The prize for Best Picture Editing (Single-Camera Comedy) went to “Fleabag” for its season two premiere, its first win ever. It was up against two episodes of “Barry” and two episodes of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” so vote-splitting might have contributed there.
8:19pm — Hooray! “Russian Doll” gets on the board with a win for Best Cinematography (Single Camera, Half Hour). That series has 13 nominations overall, and it was one of my favorite shows of the season, so I’m thrilled we can officially call it an Emmy winner. “Chernobyl” gets on the board by winning Best Cinematography (Movie/Mini), its first victory of the night in its first head-to-head against its chief Best Limited Series rival “When They See Us.”
8:23pm — Oscars Schmoscars! Rosamund Pike didn’t win the Academy Award for “Gone Girl,” but she did win Best Short Form Actress for “State of the Union,” the second win for that Sundance series. Could this bode well for Chris O’Dowd? Pike was likely helped by vote-splitting between two nominees from “Special” and two from “Hack Into Broad City,” in addition to Pike’s inherent prestige.
8:24pm — Another win for “Chernobyl” against “When They See Us”: Best Sound Editing (Movie/Mini), but that’s not too surprising since action-packed programs tend to win sound awards. But the HBO limited series is off to a good start, and it has a lot of technical awards it can rack up tonight.
8:27pm — And “Game of Thrones” is two-for-two, winning Best Sound Editing (One-Hour). This was also a victory for “The Long Night,” which is four awards away from tying the all-time record for a single episode.
8:30pm — “Game of Thrones” wins Best Drama Casting! There wasn’t a lot of new casting in that final season of the show, which suggestions we might be in the middle of a massive sweep. “Game of Thrones” hasn’t lost yet. And “Fleabag” wins Best Comedy Casting, which is a big deal given the strong correlation between the casting categories and the program categories in recent years. The fact that the main cast members were already cast by season two makes me think that could be a sign it will win Best Comedy Series next week.
8:33pm — “When They See Us” won the key prize for Best Movie/Mini Casting, which I was definitely rooting for given the show’s remarkably great casting of roles from top to bottom, from big names to lesser known actors. It has eight individual acting nominations, so that’s certainly a testament to the show’s casting. And that’s a big victory in the show’s battle against “Chernobyl.” But the casting awards don’t always got hand-in-hand with top program awards. “Stranger Things” and “The Crown” won Best Drama Casting in recent years, but didn’t take the top prize for Best Drama Series.
8:35pm — Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino win another Emmy for Best Music Supervision. They also won it last year. Sherman-Palladino has now won five Emmys in two years. And “Chernobyl” wins its third award of the night: Best Music Composition (Movie/Mini), another victory against “When They See Us,” so it feels like Best Limited Series is still a close call. Best Music Composition (Series) goes to — surprise surprise — “Game of Thrones” for “The Long Night.” That’s four wins for “Thrones” and three for “The Long Night,” which is now three wins away from tying the all-time single episode record.
8:46pm — NASA wins another interactive award, taking Best Interactive Program for “Insights Mars Landing.” NASA also won an interactive award on Saturday night. And look at that! “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” wins Best Creative Achievement in Interactive Media against “Game of Thrones.” Not necessarily surprising given the interactive nature of “Bandersnatch,” but the way things have been going, that could have been easily been another “Thrones” victory.
8:51pm — Clean sweep for “State of the Union”! Chris O’Dowd wins Best Short Form Actor for the Sundance series. So “State” is currently one of the biggest winners of the night, going three-for-three.
8:53pm — And “Succession” gets on the board with its win for Best Main Title Theme Music for Nicholas Britell. Kudos to Britell, who is also a two-time Oscar nominee for composing “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could talk.” But Best Main Title Design goes to … drum roll please … “Game of Thrones”! That’s five wins for HBO’s fantasy epic. To date, the show has won 52 awards, which extends its record for the most awarded narrative series of all time.
8:59pm — Jane Lynch wins Best Comedy Guest Actress for “Mrs. Maisel.” That’s the show’s second win of the night. Lynch was nominated for this award last year but lost. Overall, though, Lynch is an Emmy darling with five Emmy wins to date.
9:00pm — “Fosse/Verdon” wins Best Hairstyling (Movie/Mini), the second win for that series after it won for its music direction on Saturday night. Welcome to the party, “Fosse/Verdon”!
9:03pm — Another show manages to hand a loss to “Game of Thrones”! “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” wins Best Hairstyling (Single-Camera Series) for “We’re Going to the Catskills!” against “Thrones” for “The Long Night.” Hairstyling isn’t necessarily the first thing you think of when you think about “Game of Thrones,” but the way the night has been going, it’s somewhat noteworthy. “Maisel” is now up to three wins for the night.
9:06pm — Best Stunt Coordination (Comedy/Variety) goes to “GLOW,” which is no surprise really given the show’s victory for its stunt ensemble at the SAG Awards earlier this year, even though the show was snubbed from Best Comedy Series this year. And that’s six for “Game of Thrones” as it unsurprisingly wins Best Stunt Coordination (Drama/Movie/Mini). “Thrones” has won the SAG Award for stunt ensembles every year it was eligible (it wasn’t on the air in 2018, hence “GLOW’s” win there).
9:12pm — Another “Game of Thrones” defeat as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” wins Best Cinematography (Single Camera, One Hour) for “Simone.” This is the fourth victory for “Maisel.” I was a little worried about predicting “Maisel” for Best Comedy Series this year, and I’m still a little worried, but I’m feeling a little better, though that “Fleabag” win for its casting gives me pause. “The Ranch” wins Best Cinematography (Multi-Camera).
9:18pm — “The Handmaid’s Tale” prevails! Bradley Whitford wins Best Drama Guest Actor, which makes him the first man ever to win for guest acting in both a comedy and a drama series. He also won for his supporting performance in “The West Wing.”
9:22pm — Yet another win for “Game of Thrones” and “The Long Night”: Best Makeup (Single-Camera, Non Prosthetic). That’s the seventh win for the show as a whole, and the fourth for “The Long Night.” The episode is two away from tying the all-time record. Best Makeup (Movie/Mini, Non-Prosthetic) goes to “Fosse/Verdon,” the third win for that FX program.
9:27pm — Wowzers, “Mrs. Maisel” wins Best Costumes (Period)! It doesn’t match “Game of Thrones,” but it’s now not far behind. It now has five Emmy wins. So I wonder if Best Comedy Series might be a battle between “Maisel” and “Fleabag.”
