Critic’s Notebook: Few Surprises at the 2021 Emmys

Matt Roush
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The 73rd Emmy Awards
Review
Cliff Lipson/CBS

With only a few exceptions, the 2021 Emmys went pretty much as expected, with the top prizes going to Ted Lasso (comedy), The Crown (drama) and The Queen’s Gambit (limited series). Netflix nabbed the big wins the Goliath streamer has long desired while Apple’s Ted Lasso completed the streaming hat trick.

For anyone who still doubts streaming is TV’s future (and present), this year’s awards show proved otherwise. And yet the Emmys will continue to air on good old broadcast TV for the foreseeable future, and the Emmy show itself reflected that old-school mentality, with bleeps whenever a winner swore and painful shtick slowing down a typically bloated ceremony.

Cedric the Entertainer affably established a party atmosphere early on, and with the audience sitting (and drinking) at tables under a tent, the vibe felt more like the Golden Globes — albeit with less sketchy personnel. As the night wore on, Cedric unfortunately wore out his welcome, and nothing is more aggravating on this sort of show than watching sketches fall flat and eating up time, then watching deserving winners fight back against being played off the stage.

Inevitably, a presenter mocked the drawn-out proceedings, that honor falling to Amy Poehler, announcing the suspenseful (I’m kidding) pre-recorded variety special category (a Hamilton slam-dunk), adding to her rhetorical questions: “What time is it? And how do we get out of here?” This came just before the three-hour mark, with the “In Memoriam” segment and top series prizes yet to come. (The “In Memoriam” segment was marred by producers’ choice to put the musicians in the foreground too often, making it hard to see who some of the TV personalities being memorialized even were.)

At least the contingent gathered in London to celebrate The Crown and its many wins seemed to be having a ball in their swank lounge. (Josh O’Connor, the series’ young Prince Charles, was the designated player accepting in person in Los Angeles.) Olivia Colman’s win as the Queen over Emma Corrin’s Princess Diana was a mild upset, but Tobias Menzies was truly a surprise winner as Prince Philip over Lovecraft Country’s late and revered Michael K. Williams. Menzies was also a no-show on either continent, echoing the stunner at the Oscars when an absent Anthony Hopkins beat the late Chadwick Boseman for Best Actor. (Presenter Kerry Washington paid touching tribute to Williams, and there were also poignant moments when John Oliver and Saturday Night Live’s Lorne Michaels saluted the late Norm Macdonald.)

See the Stars on the Emmys Red Carpet
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See the Stars on the Emmys Red Carpet

Bringing some much-needed absurdist cheer was Conan O’Brien, who milked his also-ran status for all it was worth, most memorably when he crashed the winners’ circle during Stephen Colbert’s acceptance speech—not for The Late Show (as usual, the variety-talk award went to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), but for the live variety special category with his election-night special on Showtime.

Probably the night’s biggest surprise was the strong showing by HBO’s Mare of Easttown, which many thought might be entirely eclipsed by The Queen’s Gambit. While the Netflix series won the limited-series and directing prize, its glamorous star Anya Taylor-Joy took a back seat to Kate Winslet’s powerful title performance as the deeply damaged Mare. Julianne Nicholson and Evan Peters won in supporting categories, a near-sweep of acting honors.

Kate Winslet at The 73rd Emmy Awards

Kate Winslet  (Cliff Lipson/CBS)

And while Ted Lasso cleaned up in comedy as expected with wins for the show, star/co-creator Jason Sudeikis, and Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein in supporting categories, HBO Max’s Hacks managed to upstage its rival with directing and writing wins joining the all-but-certain coronation of Jean Smart for her career-high role as a Las Vegas comic.

Overall, it was a strong year for women: with directing Emmys in comedy and drama, Michaela Coel’s well-deserved writing Emmy for I May Destroy You, and especially Debbie Allen’s resplendent moment in the spotlight as she accepted the Governor’s Award. She exhorted a new generation to “claim your power, claim your voice, say your song, tell your stories. It will make us a better place. Your turn.”

Finally, an Emmy moment worthy of an ovation.

EmmysHacksMare of EasttownTed LassoThe CrownThe Queen's GambitCedric the EntertainerConan O'BrienDebbie Allen



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  1. O

    OliveBandAid

    We need two award shows. It seems that we have too many shows across two relatively distinct formats for one awards show to handle fairly. I'm a tail end Boomer, so I can still recall the days when we had just the three major networks. Used an antenna on the roof. Then came cable. And premium channels. You had to pay extra for those, so if a show like the Soprano's won an award, you may not have seen it if you just had a basic cable package. And now we have streaming services. They cost extra, too. The networks have limitations on skin and language that the premium cable and streaming service do not. I recall watching Designated Survivor, newly picked up by Netflix and hearing Kal Penn drop an F-bomb within the first 2 minutes. We're not on a network anymore, Toto. Not saying it was gratuitous. Just an example of how the story can be told differently when barriers are removed. And who is going to watch an award show if they haven't seen more than half the shows?

    So let the Networks have their Emmy's. Let there by Streaming Emmy's. Let there be Streamys!

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    1. G

      GreenBee

      Totally agree. Ever since I retired recently I had to give up cable, basic and some premiums. At least my internet is still the same, speed and cost. Considering streaming services but they are good for one or two shows each and the number of streamers are growing by the hour.

      Half the time I don't know what is on steamers and cable anymore unless I hear good/bad things and have to look up the shows.

      Split the award shows.

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    2. C

      CyanMagnet

      That’s never going to happen. The point of the Emmy awards is to celebrate the best in the tv industry as a whole, not the best in the high end and then the best in the low end gets a second tier award, where’s the prestige in being second tier?

      Shows don’t get awards because they show skin and have foul language, they get the awards for being high quality and prestigious. For the most part the broadcast networks don’t want to compete at that level anymore, and most high end talent doesn’t want to work for broadcast TV any longer, especially if they were competing for “little league” Emmys.

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      1. P

        PurpleTrumpet

        We have "Daytime Emmy's" But I digress

        Part of it is in the way network shows have to be made. 22 minutes of program for every 30 minute time slot. Editing can be cumbersome. If an episode of The Crown is 50 minutes and the next 54, no one really pays attention.

        There is freedom to tell the story organically. Language does play a factor. Listening to Veronica Mars say "Cussin Mother Cusser" is cheeky, but that and the scene editing suggest they wanted to be able to bring it to the network at some point.

        I expect the Orville and Manifest to drop a few colorful f-bombs when they make their streaming debuts. Because every once in a while in life you have to say "what the ...."

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