Los Angeles — The 67th running of the Emmy Awards, kicking off on a steamy late afternoon in Los Angeles, presents all sorts of enticing dramas. Foremost—with Bryan Cranston out of the running, will Mad Men star Jon Hamm finally get best lead actor after a near Lucci-esque run of misses? With Breaking Bad but a memory, who gets best drama? Can AMC’s Mad Men snag yet another trophy in that category—it’s got four for best drama--or will HBO’s Game of Thrones pull it out? (HBO received a whopping 216 nominations this year, yet again the most of any network.)
Of historical significance, will an African-American woman finally win lead actress honors? Two strong performers-- Taraji P. Henson from Fox smash Empire and Viola Davis from ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder are poised to perhaps make history. And what about ABC’s Modern Family, gunning for its sixth straight comedy series win amidst a challenge from Netflix’s socially timely Transparent and flat-out funny Veep on HBO?
And how will Andy Samberg, star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and a decade after his SNL digital short "Lazy Sunday" made him a comedic star, fare on one of television’s largest, and most elegant, stages?
The stars have taken their seats, and the presentations are about to begin.
