Women Won Big at the 2017 Emmys
This year’s top awards went to Big Little Lies, Veep, and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Women were the big winners at the Emmys Sunday night—with major trophies in every category going to shows centered on female characters, from established hits like Veep to critically acclaimed new series like The Handmaid’s Tale. In many categories, the Television Academy largely ignored old favorites and didn’t play it safe, mostly snubbing HBO’s prestige dramas (like Westworld) and Netflix’s period piece The Crown, considered a solid frontrunner for Outstanding Drama Series.
Instead, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale ran the table, winning for Drama Series, Lead Actress (Elisabeth Moss), Supporting Actress (Ann Dowd), Writing, and Directing (along with a previously won Guest Actress trophy for Alexis Bledel). A dystopian drama set in a totalitarian society that brutally subjugates women, the series resonated with critics and voters in this politically charged moment, jumping ahead of works from more established networks. Sterling K. Brown was named Best Actor for This Is Us, a rare network-TV hit airing on NBC, while Best Supporting Actor went to John Lithgow for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in The Crown.
On the comedy side, HBO’s old favorite Veep won its third consecutive award for Comedy Series, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus winning her sixth Lead Actress trophy for the show. But other than that, the Emmys spread the love around, with Donald Glover’s acclaimed new FX series Atlanta winning Best Actor and Best Writing (both going to Glover), the Supporting Actor awards going to Saturday Night Live (Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon), and Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe taking Best Writing for their outstanding “Thanksgiving” episode of Master of None.
The miniseries categories, more star-studded than ever, were completely dominated by HBO’s Big Little Lies, which won Best Miniseries, Best Director, Best Actress (for Nicole Kidman), Best Supporting Actor (Alexander Skarsgard) and Best Supporting Actress (Laura Dern). Best Actor was Riz Ahmed for The Night Of, while the Best Made for TV Movie and Best Writing trophies went to Charlie Brooker for his Black Mirror opus “San Junipero.”
In taking the stage for their final award of the night, Big Little Lies stars Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon said they had moved into TV because of the lackluster parts being offered in the cinema world, and urged the industry to keep writing more dynamic roles for women. The host Stephen Colbert championed the increased diversity of the nominees, and with this 2017 slate of winners (where, among other things, every Lead Actor award went to a man of color), the Emmys remain far ahead of the Academy Awards on the issue, reflecting encouraging progress in the ever-changing medium.
