Game of Thrones has set a new Emmy record by becoming the most awarded primetime show in the history, winning in 12 categories at Emmy Awards 2016
HBO’s fantasy hit “Game of Thrones” conquered the Emmy kingdom Sunday night, as it was honoured with 12 awards including best drama for the second consecutive year.
“Game of Thrones” entered 68th annual Emmy Awards with a leading 23 nominations, won a total of 12 Emmys, including for directing and writing.
The Battle of the Bastards episode was singled out for praise and won awards for best drama writing (David Benioff and DB Weiss) and directing (Miguel Sapotchnik).
When accepting their Emmy for best writing, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss thanked HBO for giving them enough support to “keep this giant lizard flying.” Game of Thrones costs a staggering $10 million per episode and, reportedly, a dragon-sized portion of that budget was poured into the visually arresting episode “Battle of the Bastards.”
FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson – a 10-hour dramatization of the former American football star’s 1995 double murder trial – went into the evening with 13 nominations, and hauled in five awards.
For the second year in a row Julia Louis-Dreyfus won two Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, for her role as the vainglorious US president Selina Meyer in Veep, as well as the best producer award for a comedy series. Veep, which has been nominated 42 times at the Emmys, won the best comedy category.
In one of the big surprises of the evening, “Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek beat out the likes of Kevin Spacey and Liev Schreiber in the best actor, drama, category. Tatiana Maslany of “Orphan Black” won best actress in a drama.
Sarah Paulson has won her first Emmy, for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie.
After the win, Paulson told press that she felt a tremendous sense of “self-inflicted responsibility” in taking on the role. The American Crime Story actress has been nominated five years in a row, but never won—until now.
John Oliver won best variety talk series for his HBO series Last Week Tonight, beating fellow British nominee James Corden, who was nominated for The Late Late Show.
BBC One’s Sherlock was named best made for TV movie for its special episode The Abominable Bride.
Emmy Awards 2016 Winners
Here is the list of winners:
Outstanding Drama Series — “Game of Thrones”
Outstanding Comedy Series — “Veep”
Outstanding Lead Actress, Drama Series — Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”
Outstanding Lead Actor, Drama Series — Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series — Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series — Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline”
Outstanding Directing, Drama Series — Miguel Sapochnik, “Game of Thrones”
Outstanding Writing, Drama Series — David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, “Game of Thrones”
Outstanding Lead Actress, Comedy Series — Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Outstanding Lead Actor, Comedy Series — Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy Series — Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy Series — Louie Anderson, “Baskets”
Outstanding Writing, Comedy Series — Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, “Master of None”
Outstanding Directing, Comedy Series — Jill Soloway, “Transparent”
Outstanding Limited Series — “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Outstanding Television Movie — “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride”
Outstanding Lead Actress, Limited Series or Movie — Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Outstanding Lead Actor, Limited Series or Movie — Courtney B. Vance, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie — Regina King, “American Crime”
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie — Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Outstanding Directing, Limited Series or Movie — Susanne Bier, “The Night Manager”
Outstanding Writing, Limited Series or Movie — D.V. DeVincentis, “The People v. O.J. Simpson”
Outstanding Reality Competition Program — “The Voice”
Outstanding Writing, Variety Special — Patton Oswalt, “Talking for Clapping”
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series — “Key and Peele”
Outstanding Variety Talk Series — “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
Outstanding Directing, Variety Special — “Grease Live”