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Monday, September 18, 2017

Getting Social at the Emmy Awards

Past Media Guy Emmy Columns: 2016 - 2015 - 2014

Okay, so where am I? 

I'm at the Microsoft Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles taking in the 69th Emmy Awards and trying to get one of those drinks loaded with bitters that Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel are sharing.

No luck.

Speaking of luck...last year I waxed poetic (very much tongue-in-cheek) about flirting with the Emmy statuette and her going with a hundred or so other writers, producers, actors, and actresses. This year was different. Sometimes you get lucky a second time.


Flirt no more...
This year also saw my return to the red carpet, and honestly the two best parts of my night was watching Lena Headey and Sophie Turner (both of Game of Thrones) scarf McDonald's fries and milk shakes on their way to the red carpet. At the end of the entertainment debauchery, it was a fantastic night for Hulu, which proved to be a late bloomer to the original scripted series game. Sunday, it became the first streaming service to win an Emmy for Best Series for The Handmaid's Tale, leapfrogging Netflix and Amazon.

Hat's off to the marketing folks at Hulu. Seriously, how much of the public do you think has seen The Handmaid’s Tale? Certainly the voters have (again a credit to Hulu marketers), but it goes into the category of the things that make you go "hmmmmmmmm." Does this show have 1/100th the audience penetration of This Is Us? At the end, it was a triumph for not-widely-viewed series, led by The Handmaid’s Tale and Black Mirror (Netflix). It was also a big night for Big Little Lies and Veep which held onto the best comedy series and best lead actress in a comedy series titles. Women broke that glass ceiling through with wins for Lena Waithe and Reed Morano (you'll have to look them up to know more, sorry. I didn't know who they were before last night). 

Back to the red carpet...whatever you think the carpet is like, think again. Here's a taste:


During the show, I decided to troll celebrity and celebrity-ish Twitter accounts looking for behind the scenes tidbits. I mean celebrities are people too. Right? Let's see:











Red Carpet Gallery
Maybe because there's no McDonald's north of the wall...
Nice that Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman stopped their PDAs long enough for a few pictures. 
Anna Chlumsky, robbed again.
Poor Justin Timberlake...
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys of The Americans. In my world, these two would win every year.
Yeah, I don't get this guy either.
Alec Baldwin. Genius. Pure.
Another win for Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
The new Dream Team (if you don't know who these ladies are, watch more movies)
Just some serious eye contact with Reese Witherspoon is all...
This streak you have going is pretty, pretty, good!