Instead of going over each and every one of my mistakes in embarrassing detail, I'm breaking this down to the Good, the Bad, and the Meh.
The Good
The second this won for writing (Mad Men's bread and butter. See three nominations) I knew it was time to corronate a new king. This was not my pick to win, but not far off. Part of me questions if the material was good enough to match the performances. Beyond that, no issue here. Cranston can't win every year (I'm told) and Lewis did a great job keeping us guessing. Claire Danes' win is the biggest no-brainer in recent Emmy history. She put on one of the great dramatic performances in television history. She was just that good in this. I have no faith that the show will maintain this quality for season 2 or beyond (please, prove me wrong). For this moment in time though, I have no qualms with seeing this atop the mountain.
Louie CK
An acting win would've been nice, and I wish that "Pregnant" didn't earn him an Emmy over "Duckling", but two wins is two wins. He's almost unquestionably the best comedian out there right now (just ask any comedian for christ's sake), so it's nice to see his writing getting awards. "Live at the Beacon Theater" is a pretty great comedy special, especially considering he is using material that was not used in his show at all. That is an insane amount of new material. Absolutely insane. Speaking of his show, it has a win on the books now. Completely deserving even if not for that episode. I know CK has his detractors. I ask any of them to watch the show and tell me that it isn't a quality project.
The Daily Show
A boring win is not an undeserved win. I feel a little bad that The Colbert Report will never get out of it's shadow, but The Daily Show really is excellence in it's form. No show should be this funny doing this many episodes a year. It is really something special that we won't fully appreciate until it's not around anymore.
The Bad
Modern Family
I don't get it. This, simply is not the best comedy on TV. The actors are not the best. The writing is not the best. The directing is too hampered by the other weak elements. I was completely on board with the first season win. Only Parks and Rec. put together a better season that year. Ever since, it has gotten broader, destroyed characters by turning them into cartoons, and repeatedly written episodes that sacrifice a character for an easy joke. Sadly, Eric Stonestreet did not put together one episode worthy of beating numerous of his other nominees, not to mention a long list of those not nominated (See the casts of Community, Parks and Rec, Happy Endings, It's Always Sunny...). The same goes for Julie Bowen. Neither of them are bad actors. Stonestreet totally deserved it two years ago and I've been a Bowen fan for years. The material they have to work with is frustratingly bad and getting lazier and worse. almost with each new episode.
Jon Cryer
This is bad for who he had to be to win this. Louie CK completely anchors his show almost single-handedly. Alec Baldwin has won enough, sure, but there's a reason for all the wins and nominations. Jim Parsons gives a committed and nuanced performance every time the camera is turned on. Even Larry David is doing something impressive on a show that, truth be told, I'm not the biggest fan of. Jon Cryer doesn't have any business winning here. Granted, his reaction reflected sincere bewilderment. I'll credit him for that.
Game Change
Full disclosure, I haven't seen this. Part of that is intentional. The phrase "low hanging fruit" comes to mind. Sarah Palin was a punchline virtually the second she was announced as McCain's running mate in 2008. She was a gimmick pulled by the campaign of a man who was never going to beat Obama (NEVER). Perhaps I'll be proven wrong by the finished product, but, you know how they always talk about how liberal Hollywood is, right now, that's all this seems to be.
The Meh
Breaking Bad
Aaron Paul, as the co-lead of the show, certainly deserved the Supporting Actor win. Gunn and Esposito were justly nominated, which I never thought would happen. Cranston has a trophy collection at home, so I can forgive him losing this year even if it was, in my opinion, hands down, his best season. I'm torn, because this was Breaking Bad's best chance to win. Season 4 was a high point that the show probably won't be able to return to. Mad Men fatigue was kicking in to allow a new winner and another show capitalized on it. Good for it. Like season 4 of Dexter though, it's a shame that when young TV junkies like myself look back on the awards in 25 years, there will be nothing to point to the greatness that was.
Downton Abbey
With so many nominations, it had to win at least one. I disagree with the one though. All this is coming for having not seen any of it, but I'm having a hard time not viewing the Maggie Smith win from the perspective of who she got in the way of.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
I literally just watched Veep. JLD is fantastic in it. She's good in everything she does. I've referred to her in the past as the Meryl Streep of the Emmys. Living legend is not far off from where she is now. This was Amy Poehler's though. It was last year too. It physically pains me to see a role like Leslie Knope to be one-upped by something new year after year. I happened to Jane Kazmerek, Hugh Laurie, Steve Carrell, and so many others. Also, watching Veep, I was really reminded of Gary Shandling in The Larry Sanders Show. As good as both were in their respective shows, so much of the shows were about the other actors playing around the lead. A great Lead performance should be the actor taking control of the scenes. In Veep, she is handed them. That isn't a knock, per se. It's the intended style of the show. However, I have a hard time coming to terms with that being Emmy worthy individually when it's the work of the ensemble.
There you have it, my thoughts on the night. Like every year, it's left me a little cold inside, with hope that they can make a better decision next year, but mostly just happy to take that last look at the past year and excited to see what great shows and seasons will come by the next one of these.
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