The Emmys are streaming ahead into a new and uncertain era.
Fleabag (Amazon Prime Video) and Game of Thrones (HBO) took home top honors at Sunday's 71st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, in a night that seemed to bring as many shocks as it did shrugs. HBO was also the ceremony's winningest network, with 32 trophies compared to Netflix's 27 — taking back the mantle after the streamer made history in 2018 with its most wins ever.
Most audiences tuned in expecting a pair of swan songs for Game of Thrones and Veep, which both wrapped up their highly-acclaimed runs this year and seemed destined to be sent off in style and with plenty of statues. But that was only the case for one of the two series. While Thrones won 12 Emmys on Sunday, more than any other nominated show, Veep won zero. The political satire had become as reliable of a perennial Emmy nominee as any show in Emmy history — winning Outstanding Comedy Series for three years in a row, making Julia Louis-Dreyfus seemingly all but guaranteed for what would be her record-breaking seventh Emmy. But it was not in the cards, as Veep was bested again and again by Amazon's Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel throughout the night's comedy honors.
And don't let the Game of Thrones Outstanding Drama Series win fool you — outside of that, the drama categories did not stick to the script. Jason Bateman seemed genuinely shocked after he was awarded Outstanding Drama Directing for his work on Ozark. Billy Porter became the first openly gay African American performer to win Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a drama series, as Best Actress went to the lesser-known of Killing Eve's two stars, Jodie Comer.
The limited series honors were mostly split between HBO's Chernobyl and Netflix's When They See Us. Both historical docudramas put events of the recent past in the spotlight, each with their own political and social ties to today's cultural landscape. In the end, Chernobyl was named Outstanding Limited Series, while 21-year-old Jharrel Jerome was named Outstanding Lead Actor for his portrayal of Korey Wise, of the "Exonerated Five."
The 2019 Emmys were the second major awards show in the past year to go hostless. Sunday's telecast was lacking a traditional emcee, meaning the show's comedic bits shifted to the presenters, announcer (played masterfully by Reno 911's Thomas Lennon) and a cavalcade of stars including Homer Simpson and Bryan Cranston.
Sunday's show aired as the TV industry finds itself in a calm before the storm. In the coming weeks, Apple and Disney will launch their hotly-anticipated and very expensive streaming services, Apple TV+ and Disney+. After that, AT&T will expand its streaming offerings with HBO MAX, as the arms race intensifies elsewhere with new projects from NBCUniversal and Viacom. For any viewers who did not fast forward through the commercials, Sunday's ad-breaks served as an eerie glimpse into the Emmys' near future, with plenty of promos for the dozens of new shows about to hit the nascent platforms.
The hostless opening number wasn't the only sign this year's ceremony was different. The first commercial to air after the Emmys entered its first commercial break on Sunday? Disney+. Fleabag may find itself on the top of the TV world today, but it's sure to face a whole new world of competition if it ever returns for season three.
