The Awards Thread: The Golden Throne

[Audreythe2nd]

I like Emilia Clarke too, a lot. Not that I think loads of acting noms and awards should be heaped on her, but I think she brings exactly what needs to be brought to the character of Daenerys, and I can't imagine anyone else in the role. 

 

I would bet money that she and Dinklage were submitted for the same scene, or that their submitted scenes were the ones they had together. Again, not that either of those scenes are awards worthy in terms of acting, but I do remember being insanely excited while watching them because they had great chemistry and they were two important characters coming together after five seasons of never once meeting. Maybe the voters were also fanboying and fangirling all over Tyrion and Daenerys being in the same room as I was... but more likely they were just repeat noms of the principal actors of an insanely popular show who had already been recognized before. An automatic thing. At least Lena Headey deserves it.

 

George RR Martin posted on his livejournal about being really proud and happy for the show, but wishing Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner (among others) would also be recognized one of these days, which I'm sorry to say I don't think will ever, ever happen.

[Bill819]

I totally agree with Avaleigh and ChaseMCP. The writing for Dany hasn't given her much to do as of late. A change of scenery should do wonders for EC. This definitely hasn't been her strongest year.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Bill819

[AshleyN]

I recognize that I am in the minority here, but I actually think Emilia Clarke is one of the best actresses on the show. For me, she is the best at subtlety. She is really good at showing internal conflict, and reflection. I understand that some individuals genuinely don't like her acting. And that's fine. I honestly think that some however, are subconsciously biased against very attractive actresses. We might be telling ourselves "Hey she can't be pretty and be a good actress. She can't have it all." Again this doesn't apply to everyone. To a large degree good acting is subjective. In my opinion she is highly underrated and deserves the nomination .

Funny, my biggest problem with her is that I think she consistently overacts and I rarely see much subtlety or nuance in her performance. To use a very poor metaphor, everything she's thinking is written across her face in GIANT CAPITAL LETTERS even on occasions when a very small font is called for.

 

As for the second part of your post, that's pretty insulting to the other women on the show. Apparently the likes of Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, and Natalie Dormer aren't very attractive, since most all fans seem to consider them good actresses?

Edited July 17, 2015 by AshleyN

[jjjmoss]

Episode submissions aren't done until after noms for most categories. So in theory voters thought Clarke's season-long work was impressive.

 

Yes, Sophie Turner is gorgeous - much prettier than Clarke - and one of the best actors on TV. Now that Mad Men's over, my 2nd favorite dramatic actor on a running show behind Goddess Tatiana Maslany (now an Emmy nominee!).

 

I think a Headey win will be used to partly justify a Series win. I mean, there's a chance that that mess of a finale could win Directing, but Headey's been more praised generally and her category's not very strong.

[Bill819]

Again I understand that her acting style is not for everyone. I want to be perfectly clear though, I meant no disrespect to the other beautiful and extremely talented actresses on the show. I think they are gorgeous. My personal opinion is that Emilia is the most attractive . Many of my friends feel the same. I also think that the media seems to perpetuate this idea. Does that make it true? Of course not. But I do think she is the perceived most beautiful, which carries with It a certain amount of backlash.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Bill819

[sunflower]

 

Why Sapochnik didn't get the nomination for Hardhome is a real headscratcher. Maybe he didn't submit? Or people ignored it because of the big battle sequence? Which I could understand for the writing nomination (not that I'd agree, but I could at least understand it), but we're talking about directing here and that shit is tough to pull off for sure.

 

It's complete bullshit that Hardhome was not nominated for directing.  As you said. it's a classic director's episode.  Unbowed was controversial regarding the rape and had the horrible Dorne scenes.  Mother was the season finale and had the walk and Jon's "death."  Other than Dragons, they're the 3 best known episodes of the season.  But Hardhome was the most beloved with dramatic weight and technical awesomeness.  I don't get it and I don't want to get it.  

 

I also hate the acting nominations, as other than Lena, they don't have episode of Emmy worthiness to submit.  Sophie Turner should've gotten the nomination, and especially S Dillane as Stannis, but cliches exist for a reason--no Stannis love and too much Tyrion/Dany love.  Also, I hate the idea of Lena H winning because I hate Cersei so much.  I know it's wrong, but I don't want her to win and have even more scenes.  

 

Anyway, GOT winning for its worst season?  Priceless.  Better Call Saul, Mad Men , or Orange, please!!

[Conan Troutman]

But Hardhome was the most beloved with dramatic weight and technical awesomeness.

 

It also had dramatic wight. No, I'm not sorry for that pun.

 

and especially S Dillane as Stannis

 

Dillane strikes me as the type who couldn't care less about the Emmys. Stannis also wonders if the proper plural shouldn't be "the Emmies"?

[SeanC]

Dillane didn't submit for consideration, so he couldn't be nominated.

[AshleyN]

I will say though that I have no problem with David Nutter's nomination for the finale. The episode was a little overstuffed, but that's on the showrunners more than him, and along with the Hardome fight, Cersei's walk might have been the trickiest sequence of the season from a director standpoint. I spent most of the season kind of dreading that scene, since anything less than perfect execution could have been a disaster, but I thought he nailed it and got the tone exactly right.

Edited July 19, 2015 by AshleyN

[Avaleigh]

I thought Hardhome was by far the best episode of the season but I'm still pulling for Mother's Mercy because I thought it was a great episode and I'm fine seeing the show pull off some wins this year even if I had problems with some aspects of the show this season.

[Bill1978]

I'm disappointed that Shireen (Sorry forgotten the actresses name) didn't get a nom (assuming she submitted). Her final episode was incredible acting, and I'm still haunted by her final screams. For me that was the best acting of the television season.

 

I'm also surprised Hardhome didn't get a director's nod. I admit I'm a late casual viewer of GoT, I watch cause I want to know the end point but I often sit there thinking what is all the fuss about. But Hardhome really showed me why people praise this show so much. That battle was incredible.

[Conan Troutman]

I'm disappointed that Shireen (Sorry forgotten the actresses name) didn't get a nom (assuming she submitted). Her final episode was incredible acting, and I'm still haunted by her final screams. For me that was the best acting of the television season.

 

That's Kerry Ingram. And while she did deliver fantastic work throughout the show and especially in her last episode, she did have five appearances this season and would've had to compete in the supporting category, but her role was too small for that. Let alone the whole lobbying part, great acting alone doesn't get you a nomination. If they had a best child actor category, now that would be different - she'd almost be a lock to be nominated.

[Congo]

Also, I hate the idea of Lena H winning because I hate Cersei so much.  I know it's wrong, but I don't want her to win and have even more scenes.

 

Ouch. Doesn't this mean that Lena is just nailing it then, if her performance can provoke such passion in you? It's far better to inspire love or hatred than apathy.

 

I really hope Lena wins. She's been incredible as Cersei for five seasons and can't wait to see what she does next season now that she has some of her power restored. You know that Shame Nun is first on her hit list!

[jjjmoss]

I wonder if Emilia Clarke's episode submission will affect Headey's chances, given that in theory people are supposed to watch all the episodes submitted to make a vote.

 

The popular choices online seem to be Dance of Dragons or Kill the Boy, the two episodes that don't have Headey.

She could also do Hardhome cuz of the scenes with Dinklage, and that episode has some scenes of Cersei suffering in her cell.

[benteen]

Mother's Mercy did have the Walk so the direction nomination is a worthy one.  The nomination for the script though, that's another matter.  The episode was a mess and that awful Sand Snake line alone should have sank it...

[penelope79]

Since I'm such a huge, huge fan of this show and I liked season 5 too (though, apparently, I'm in the minorty), I'm extremely happy that GoT had 24 nominations, even though I'm sure it will win very few of them, if anything.

Over the years, the Emmys gave me the impression that they simply don't want to give an award to amazing shows (or actors) because they're too popular to be awarded. At the same time, there are shows that for some reason, even though popular with the audience and critics and whose quality is not (most of the times)  in question, get nominated/awarded because they're "used to". I have many, many examples in my mind to list, but I'd probably be off topic.

But that's why, if GoT wins as best series for THIS season, I'd be more than happy. Because I think it's unbelievable it didn't win yet. I feel like it pays the popularity a little bit but, most of all, the fact it's a fantasy.

At the same time, I agree that's unbelievable that Peter Dinklage (as much as I adore him) is the only male actor they find worthy of a nomination, so far. Alfie Allen, Sean Bean, Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, Jack Gleeson, Stephen Dillane, Charles Dance, now Johnathan Pryce (just to name the first who come to my mind)... they have NEVER been worthy? Seriously? The same goes for GoT actresses. If Lena Heady wins (and I really, really wish she does) it will be refreshing. See? Even women are good in GoT!

 

Of the acting nominees, Lena has the best chance, though I’m not sure I’d call her the favoured candidate. Baranski and Froggatt are perennial nominees, but I don’t think there’s any reason for them to suddenly win this year. Hendricks is also a perennial nominee, but I suppose one must at least consider/hope that Mad Men‘s end has made the voters realize it’s ridiculous she hasn’t won already. Aduba is a bit of a wildcard, since she won Guest Actress for this part last year, in the Comedy category; while the transition to the Drama categories clearly hurt Orange is the New Black on the whole, it may actually benefit Aduba in some ways, since her arc in season 2 was not remotely funny. So I’d put Headey, Aduba, and Hendricks as the potential winners in the category.

 

Yes, I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think Lena's chances are stronger this year. If they're going to give an award to a Mad Men actor who never won, then I think Jon Hamm deserves the Emmy much, much more than Christina Hendricks. (A bit OT, IIRC he's been always nominated, but he never won, which is beyond me. I mean, I think Bryan Cranston is a faboulous actor and his work has always been nothing less than stellar in Breaking Bad, but it would've been nice to give the Emmy to someone else, even just a couple of times to see how it is :D... and I don't care what people say, I still feel Matthew Fox deserved to win for Lost finale /OT).

I love Joanne Froggatt, but last year was her best chance, with the rape storyline and all (she did win the Golden Globe, after all), so I doubt she'll win this year.

I'm just curious, though: if Emilia and Lena are both supporting actresses (as well as Peter is a supporting actor), who IS a leading actor/actress in GoT? Do they have the same agreement Friends actors used to have (all in supporting category, at least until Jennifer Aniston won)?

Edited July 22, 2015 by penelope79

[Avaleigh]

Charles Dance never getting a nod is a huge gripe for me. Sean Bean too. I feel like this show is absolutely penalized for being both popular and for being part of the fantasy genre. 

 

I had no idea how much industry snobbishness there is against fantasy until I saw articles in GoT's first season out about how the show was lucky to even be nominated and what a longshot it would be to have a fantasy series win for show whether it's the Emmys or the GGs. 

 

I am in total agreement about Jon Hamm deserving a win over Christina Hendricks if we're talking about somebody getting a last chance win.  

Edited July 22, 2015 by Avaleigh

[AshleyN]

I'm just curious, though: if Emilia and Lena are both supporting actresses (as well as Peter is a supporting actor), who IS a leading actor/actress in GoT? Do they have the same agreement Friends actors used to have (all in supporting category, at least until Jennifer Aniston won)?

Just my personal opinion, but due to the nature of the show I really don't think any of the GoT actors have enough screen time to really be classifies as "lead" (I know that screen time isn't the only way to classify a character as a lead, but it's certainly a big part of it). Dinklage is clearly the most prominent actor/character, but if you compare him to the actors who do get nominated in the leading categories, he's really not even close.

[SeanC]

Over the years, the Emmys gave me the impression that they simply don't want to give an award to amazing shows (or actors) because they're too popular to be awarded. At the same time, there are shows that for some reason, even though popular with the audience and critics and whose quality is not (most of the times)  in question, get nominated/awarded because they're "used to". I have many, many examples in my mind to list, but I'd probably be off topic.

But that's why, if GoT wins as best series for THIS season, I'd be more than happy. Because I think it's unbelievable it didn't win yet. I feel like it pays the popularity a little bit but, most of all, the fact it's a fantasy.

At the same time, I agree that's unbelievable that Peter Dinklage (as much as I adore him) is the only male actor they find worthy of a nomination, so far. Alfie Allen, Sean Bean, Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, Jack Gleeson, Stephen Dillane, Charles Dance, now Johnathan Pryce (just to name the first who come to my mind)... they have NEVER been worthy? Seriously? The same goes for GoT actresses. If Lena Heady wins (and I really, really wish she does) it will be refreshing. See? Even women are good in GoT!

Charles Dance never getting a nod is a huge gripe for me. Sean Bean too. I feel like this show is absolutely penalized for being both popular and for being part of the fantasy genre. 

Gleeson, Dillane, Dance and Pryce never submitted, so they weren't eligible to be nominated.  Now, in most cases it's unlikely they would have been nominated (I think Dance could maybe have gotten in if he had pushed for it), but when you don't show up to the game, you can't play.  But in general, there's nothing unusual about the Emmys latching onto one person as the default nominee, in preference to any other contender (for instance, none of the supporting men on Mad Men ever leapfrogged ahead of John Slattery).  Shows with rotating or even multiple nominations in a single category are much rare (for instance, The West Wing or Cheers).

 

I don't think popularity has anything to do with it.  The Emmys have nothing against popular shows.  But much like the Oscars, the general trends in cutting edge drama have veered strongly away from the top-rated shows.  Game of Thrones is unusual in the modern TV environment that it's both very highly-rated and receives a lot of awards attention, compared to its peers on mostly cable, which tend to receive much lower ratings.

Edited July 22, 2015 by SeanC

[benteen]

Yeah, I can't imagine any of the actors or actresses submitting for the Lead category.  Even having the most screen time on Thrones (often Peter Dinklage) only adds up to a little over an hour.

[jjjmoss]

Well, Jared Harris got in over Slattery, but there were reasons.

 

Game of Thrones has basically won nothing important from anyone aside from Dinklage in S1.

Globes - 1, for Dinklage.

Primetime Emmys - 1, for Dinklage.

Sag - Well, aside from the stunt people, 0. Directors Guild - 0. Producers Guild - 0. Writers Guild - 0. 

If you want to stretch 'important' a bit to casting/editing, it has not won an Emmy or a guild award for them either. 

It's bizarre how overwhelmingly reluctant the industry is to choose it as the best of anything notable minus Dinklage.

 

Aside from Drama Series winners, shows during GoT's run which have won an award in Casting: Boardwalk Empire/Good Wife/House of Cards/True Detective.

Editing - Boardwalk Empire/Newsroom/True Detective...all HBO shows.

SAG - Boardwalk Empire/Downton Abbey. DGA - The Killing. PGA - Boardwalk Empire. WGA - True Detective/Good Wife/House of Cards. 

Directing & Writing Emmys - Boardwalk Empire/House of Cards/True Detective & Friday Night Lights.

Boardwalk winning in 5 areas, True Detective 4, House of Cards 3, Good Wife 2. Weird how GoT despite winning almost nothing is now the one considered due for the biggest TV prize because for years it's been considered the best in nothing but has sustained being thought of as being near the top in several areas. Hmm.

[penelope79]

I am aware the quality of tv shows increased tremendously in the last 15 years, to the point it now attracts almost equally movie stars, hence I can unerstand it's not very easy to pick a winner, but... I don't know, I just wish there was enough room for everybody!

Ok probably the issue is not popularity itself. However, though, my personal impression is that, out of all the most popular tv shows, there are shows/actors they almost feel obliged to nominate/award each year and others that, for some reason, they feel some kind of aversion for. And I think GoT belongs to the latter. It's like Peter Dinklage won everything for s1 and they thought: "Jeez, we understimated this show, let's avoid it wins something else, in the future!" :D

 

Again, I don't want to go OT, but for instance Friends won its first and only Emmy as best comedy series for season 8... 8 (for those who don't know, the show ended at season 10)! It's not like it didn't prove to be brilliant before. I can't remember what Mad Men won, if it won anything in the first place (I already mentioned Jon Hamm, previously). Lost only won for s1, then got the Peter Dinklage treatment, so I guess I should say thank you to the Emmys anyway! :) At the same time, Modern Family and its cast keeps winning year after year (with few interruptions thanks to The Big Bang Theory), which is ok, but there are really no other comedies? I love Homeland, is one of my favourite shows at the moment, but it looks like is another Emmy favourite which is going to get nominated/awarded no matter what. The same goes for another show I love, House of Cards. So, I'm not criticizing the fact that several shows I like actually get nominated/awarded, but I feel bad that lots of shows/actors I like seems to be volutarily snubbed for reasons I personally don't udnerstand. I mean, I don't know what happened this year for Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany to finally have a long-overdue nomination: her show is already at its third season, is it really possible Emmy voters think TM's work was less worthy two years ago? And don't even let me start on Hannibal.

I can make more examples, but I think you guys get my point. 

 

I agree with jjjmoss, GoT won very few so far. I strongly believe some big award, other than PD's Emmy and GG, is long-overdue, too.

[AshleyN]

To the surprise of no one, it looks like Lena Headey submitted "Mother's Mercy". Emilia Clarke submitted "The Dance of Dragons", while Peter Dinklage's episode is "Hardhome". No word yet on what episodes the show is submitted for best series.

[jjjmoss]

Some people are wondering if Headey could have had more of an edge if Clarke submitted an episode that helped showcase Headey too, rather than one without Headey at all.

 

However, I'm predicting the show for Series and that it'll drag another major win along, and Headey definitely is the strongest possibility, even if I'd personally vote for Hendricks.

[Happy Harpy]

GoT is critically acclaimed. But it's still a genre show, worse, a fantasy show, and even worse, it's actually hugely popular. Which, if I understood correctly, is the equivalent of "poo-poo" for the Academy of people who judge scripted TV but mostly don't watch it (the only way to explain why T.Maslany wasn't nominated immediately imo: most of the voters didn't even know her). If not for the hype, the production values and the "creds" (icons like D.Rigg etc.) imo GoT would get as many nominations as TWD.

 

If it has to sweep awards, I think it will be like The Return of the King, also a fantasy movie, critically acclaimed and hugely popular. IIRC, the trilogy got tons of nominations but few awards before the last one. I think it could be the same for GoT, they'll grant more awards for the series as a whole. Providing that the last seasons give the feeling of reading the last chapters of a book, and to progress toward an ending, which will create a dynamic and give it another boost as a pop culture phenomenom.

Even then, I wouldn't be so sure about the acting categories. Of course, I wish I'm wrong (and I probably am).

Edited July 24, 2015 by Happy Harpy

[jjjmoss]

Similarly to LotR, the awards shows decided on the first go-around who the standout actor was (with McKellen having been an Oscar nominee and Dinklage having been a Sag nominee), and have refused to acknowledge the existence of any of the others since then. 

 

Poor Walking Dead. I wonder how the popularity and awards levels would be if Game of Thrones and Walking Dead had aired on each others' networks. 

[SeanC]

Which, if I understood correctly, is the equivalent of "poo-poo" for the Academy of people who judge scripted TV but mostly don't watch it (the only way to explain why T.Maslany wasn't nominated immediately imo: most of the voters didn't even know her).

Orphan Black isn't exactly setting the world on fire in ratings, and Maslany is the only part of it that consistently attracts critical buzz, so it's far from surprising if it's low on the totem of shows for people to check out.  Nobody has time to watch every show that has some acclaimed element.

[penelope79]

Orphan Black isn't exactly setting the world on fire in ratings, and Maslany is the only part of it that consistently attracts critical buzz, so it's far from surprising if it's low on the totem of shows for people to check out.  Nobody has time to watch every show that has some acclaimed element.

 

True, I didn't like Orphan Black's s3 either, but Tatiana Maslany's work has been beyond stellar since moment #1 and, as far as I know, TPTB submitted her performances past years, too. So sure, probably they don't watch Orphan Black, but the Academy had to watch some episode in order to judge TM's work. In fact, ironically, she's been nominated for the worst OB's season so far. :)

 

Similarly to LotR, the awards shows decided on the first go-around who the standout actor was (with McKellen having been an Oscar nominee and Dinklage having been a Sag nominee), and have refused to acknowledge the existence of any of the others since then. 

 

Poor Walking Dead. I wonder how the popularity and awards levels would be if Game of Thrones and Walking Dead had aired on each others' networks. 

 

ITA. TWD is another show Emmy keeps ignoring (well, except for some minor category).

Personally, I'm also very sad that both Bates Motel's Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore have been snubbed too, but I digress.

[Avaleigh]

So much word about the snubs on Bates Motel. It makes no sense to me.

[jjjmoss]

Looking strong for a Drama win, after taking Casting and Editing at the Creative Arts Emmys tonight, each for the first time.

 

Also Makeup, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, VFX, and Stunts, but those are more of the "looks/sounds good and expensive" awards.

[jjjmoss]

The Emmys are a mess for deciding that the episode that GoT finally deserved big awards for is that random, haphazard, bloated finale.

 

And for deciding that when it's finally time to give the show a 2nd acting Emmy, it's for...Peter Dinklage again, for a season for which many felt he didn't even deserve a nom.

From this thread alone: "Same with Dinklage, he was good as usual, but that was just not Tyrion's season."

"Disappointed, but not surprised, by the Dinklage...There's nothing about this season that tells me that either of them deserved to be nominated."

"Dinklage is a great actor who deserved his past wins/nominations but he was literally given nothing to do.  He had no centerpiece scene this year until previous ones...PD had no standout moments this season yet is penciled in every year by lazy Emmy voters."

Edited September 21, 2015 by jjjmoss

[thuganomics85]

Whelp, it did it.  It actually won Best Drama finally.  Wish I could be more happy, but since this was it's weakest season yet, I feel a bit more mixed about it.

 

On the other hand, I'm actually extremely annoyed that Dinklage won.  Mainly because I was pulling for Jonathan Banks, but I just thought Dinklage didn't really shine this season.  The first half, Tyrion was mainly just an annoying drunk and I actually thought Conleth Hill was the stand-out in those scenes.  The final parts were a bit better, due to him getting to interact with Emilia Clarke, but I still wasn't too impressed.  I almost wonder if this was a make-up from last year, when he lost and had better material (Tyrion's Trial, etc.)

 

Meanwhile, the person I was actually rooting for, Lena Headey, didn't win, but hopefully she'll get more chances later.  Amusingly, Emilia Clarke didn't even bother showing up for the telecast.

[jjjmoss]

Ugh I am so annoyed that it looks like the Emmy rule change seems to so strongly benefit the network that has the most money to spend on awareness/campaigning - which is why HBO basically always has the most nominations.

Last year the network only had 3 major wins (TV Movie, Drama Directing, Comedy Actress); this year? 15. It won most of the comedy awards, most of the drama awards, and most of the longform awards. 

 

Damn the year of Sansa Rape and Daughter Burning and You Need a Bad Pussy.

[SeanC]

Weirdly, Lena was the win I thought they'd get even if they didn't win anything else.

[benteen]

I love Game of Thrones but it won for its most undeserving season.  Dinklage is great but literally had no award-worthy scenes and won on the basis of being a past winner.  Nothing he did this season came close to matching Jonathan Banks's performance in the 5-0 episode of Better Call Saul.

 

No one is more undeserving than D&D with some of the shit they wrote this season and their shock value for the sake of shock value moments.

 

I'll chalk this up to being a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award for Game of Thrones.

Edited September 21, 2015 by benteen

[AshleyN]

Holy HBO domination tonight.

 

Anyways, I know people will complain about the show finally winning for it's consensus weakest season, but I think that's more a matter of timing than anything. I think it took a couple of seasons for it to achieve the cultural cache to overcome the fantasy stigma, and by the time it did Breaking Bad had turned into an unstoppable juggernaut. Drama Series was wide open this year though, with no obvious frontrunner, giving voters the perfect opportunity to award a show that at this point has become a full-blown phenomenon. And while it would have been nice if its win could have come for Season 3*, overall I'd say I'm happy that the show has a Best Series Emmy to its name. My only quibble, like most, is that while I love Peter Dinklage and am generally fine with any praise anyone wants to throw at him, if one of the actors was going to win tonight it should have been Lena Headey.

 

Also, I'm not sure that it's been mentioned yet but not only did GoT win best drama, thanks to the way that it cleaned up at the Creative Arts awards last week it actually broke the record of The West Wing Season 1 for most wins by any show for one season, with twelve.

 

*Not that I would have necessarily given it the win over Breaking Bad 5a (and certainly not over 5b), just in the sense that it would have been nice if it had come for the show's strongest season.

Edited September 21, 2015 by AshleyN

[magdalene]

Oh the irony, to win Best Drama for its most uneven season.  Those awards are such a joke.

 

And now Benioff and Weiss will get even more full of themselves.

Edited September 21, 2015 by magdalene

[Happy Harpy]

I'll be the Pollyanna of the unpopular opinion, then.

 

I'm so happy I was wrong/pessimistic and so, so happy for the wins, especially the best drama one. Sorry for badmouthing you, Emmies!

A genre show winning an Emmy is always a victory for me, and I'm glad that it happened this particular season for GoT.

The cast and crew accomplish a phenomenal work, tirelessly, on a crazy scale and I'm overjoyed that it's finally rewarded. I'm happy that their hard work wasn't buried under a couple of controversies that this time, I didn't always find fair (unlike in S4).

 

P.Dinklage is my new Dennis Franz, I think he should win every year. I enjoy his portrayal of Tyrion and for me, the trial of S4 was a little too "Emmy bait" (Edit: even though it wasn't the intention, obviously, it's the kind of big scenes that voters usually go for)  so I'm even happier he won this year. Like about everyone, I'm bummed for L.Headey. I guess that having two nominations worked against the show for best supporting actress. For me, GoT's finest quality is its cast and I wish there was a category for the whole, like in the SAG awards.

 

 Amusingly, Emilia Clarke didn't even bother showing up for the telecast.

She's filming in Europe for Season 6.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Happy Harpy

[Ruby25]

I think what happened tonight was that voters decided that Peter Dinklage is the face of the show, and he gets to go along with it in the year that Game of Thrones was going to win just about everything. Submission tapes no longer matter, because most people probably aren't watching them.

 

Of course, that could well mean that Dinklage could win again going forward no matter what he submits, just on popularity both for himself and the show.

[jcin617]

I'm just happy it finally won;  I don't particularly care if it was for a weaker season (although I enjoyed it well enough).   But it's not like this would be the first time the Emmy's have been given to a show more based on it's past history.

[Advance35]

I'll be the Pollyanna of the unpopular opinion, then.

 

I'm so happy I was wrong/pessimistic and so, so happy for the wins, especially the best drama one. Sorry for badmouthing you, Emmies!

A genre show winning an Emmy is always a victory for me, and I'm glad that it happened this particular season for GoT.

The cast and crew accomplish a phenomenal work, tirelessly, on a crazy scale and I'm overjoyed that it's finally rewarded. I'm happy that their hard work wasn't buried under a couple of controversies that this time, I didn't always find fair (unlike in S4).

 

 

Your not alone.  I'm thrilled it won in so many categories.   And I like being reminded the controversey's on the internet don't rule the world.   Peter Dinklage is the best actor the show has IMO.     When the show and some of the actors were finding their footing (IMO) he took off running.    He deserves this award and a pay raise for making the "Mereen" saga even remotely interesting to me.

 

I'm not surprised LH didn't win.   While she did a good job I didn't think her work was "award" worthy.

 

D&D came out real winners and I wouldn't be surprised if behind the scenes they are about to get PAID. lol.   I think they've taken a dense and large story with a thousand different yarns and streamlined admirably.   I was engaged in every episode that aired this season.   I wasn't thrilled with Dorne but "The Wall" and "Mereen" didn't put me to sleep and for that alone I give them credit.    They've made television history by being the first genre nominated show and HBO will always be greatful for that, I have know doubt.

 

And I'll always be grateful to them since I think the only reason GRRM has made the little progress he has is because of the show lighting a fire under him, though I still question whether he will ever finish and still believe the show is going to tell the world who will sit the Iron Throne.

 

Bravo HBO and D+D.  

[Dev F]

D&D came out real winners and I wouldn't be surprised if behind the scenes they are about to get PAID. lol.   I think they've taken a dense and large story with a thousand different yarns and streamlined admirably.   I was engaged in every episode that aired this season.   I wasn't thrilled with Dorne but "The Wall" and "Mereen" didn't put me to sleep and for that alone I give them credit.  

 

I dunno. I'm still a fan of the show, and I certainly have to give it credit for its ambition, for how much it achieves given an extraordinarily high level of difficulty, but I think that if you're going to win an award for being the outstanding drama series of the year, you should be required to maintain a high baseline of competence throughout. A show that had a really amazing season in some respects but completely blew it in other fundamental ways -- including botching an entire major storyline (Dorne) and mistiming the whole narrative so badly that the last couple episodes had to rush through like a dozen plot points like they were going down a checklist -- ought to be disqualified.

 

But as bad as I thought the Outstanding Drama win was, the Best Writing award was even worse. Literally any other of the nominees was more deserving of recognition than "Mother's Mercy," which to my mind was probably the worst written episode of the entire series. Now, that's not entirely fair, since it's really just the episode that has to pay off all the bad writing choices the producers made over the rest of the season -- but in a way that makes its selection even more galling.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Dev F

[BlackberryJam]

Add me to the chorus of people thrilled about all the wins. While I think NCW deserved a nomination for S3 and I think (shockingly) KH deserved a nomination for S5, I'm not totally appalled that Dinklage won.

 

I think Headey using a body double for the Walk of Shame mattered when it came to the voters. Not that she wasn't great, but that it wasn't just her, it wasn't her performance alone.

 

As to the writing win, well-deserved. Just because GoT isn't always the show that we (book readers) want it to be, doesn't mean it's not the most amazing fucking show on television. It is the best drama on tv.

 

TYPOS FIXED

Edited September 21, 2015 by BlackberryJam

[Happy Harpy]

Add me to the chorus of people thrilled about all the wins. While I think NCW deserved a nomination for S3 and I think (shockingly) KH deserved a nomination for S5, I'm not totally appalled that Dinklage won.

 

I think Headey using a body double for the Walk of Shame matter when it came to the voters. Not that she wasn't great, but that it was just her, it wasn't her performance alone.

ICAM about NCW. He was just stellar in S3, especially because I loved how understated his acting was, without any melodramatic note; for me, the inner changes he conveyed were more powerful and in the end more present than the shocking exterior events. Just like I think Alfie Allen should have been nominated this year imo, along with P.Dinklage. Theon killing Miranda was the hell of a Hell Yeah moment.

 

The body double probably counted for people "in the know", it might have had an impact on the "Method" crowd for example? For me, it took guts to play the scene at all, especially in her state at the time. But Dany is quite popular with casual viewers, professional or not imo, so I still think the split vote counted. Never underestimate a "Dracarys". Maybe the context of the scene mattered, too. Maybe some people didn't want to vote for a performance, even great, that portrayed a woman's public humiliation.

Was L.Headey nominated for S3? Retrospectively, it was the best Cersei year for me. I find it more difficult to play a character in full power with layers, especially when it's a villain -the one-note is so tempting- but I could see the cracks in Cersei's armor all around behind her cat-who-ate-the-bowl-of-cream smirk.

 

Your not alone.  I'm thrilled it won in so many categories.   And I like being reminded the controversey's on the internet don't rule the world.   Peter Dinklage is the best actor the show has IMO.     When the show and some of the actors were finding their footing (IMO) he took off running.    He deserves this award and a pay raise for making the "Mereen" saga even remotely interesting to me.

Oh yeah! I'm just interested whenever P.Dinklage is onscreen. He's owns that role and he makes everything better for me. He rejuvenated Mereen, imo, which was seriously lacking charismatic characters besides Dany -who for me had lost her mojo during S4 and got it back in S5. I'm glad for the choices that were made about the characters re: comparisons with the books.

 

And props to D&D because with all due respect to GRRM and the wonderful world and arcs he created, AFFC and ADWD sounded like a bunch of many, many detours from the main road. They straigthened up the whole thing up, imo, and made it more compelling for me.

Edited September 21, 2015 by Happy Harpy

[benteen]

NCW was robbed of a nomination for Season 3 and that was proof to me that the Emmy voters won't even consider another male actor on GOT that isn't PD.

[Lady S.]

 

Damn the year of Sansa Rape and Daughter Burning and You Need a Bad Pussy.

Let us never forget that D&D won their writing Emmy for an episode which included the Bad Pussy line.

[benteen]

At least that director didn't win for the worst shot and edited fight scene of all time between Jaime, Bronn and the Sand Snakes.

[BlackberryJam]

The thing about the Bad Pussy line is that it appears intended to be a terrible line spoken by a childish girl with little concept of politics whose reactions seem to always be "Fight or Tits." So it seemed an appropriate thing for Tyene, as characterized, to say. If you have Olenna saying it, or Brienne, or Sansa, then the dialogue is actually ridiculous. Was it the finest line of the episode? FUCK NO. Did it fit with Tyene as portrayed, as an oversexed twit? Yes. Was the rest of the episode absolutely and completely amazing? FUCK YES.

 

They don't give awards based on one line and they don't deny awards based on one clunker. It's silly to keep repeating "they gave the award to Bad Pussy." Hell, they deserved the award for the scene between Cersei and the High Sparrow alone, not to mention the amazingness of the Sansa, Myranda and Theon scene and the heart break of everything that happened with Stannis. That was some amazing writing.

 

It's time to step away from the obsession with one weak line and view the whole, which was absolutely fantastic.

Edited September 22, 2015 by BlackberryJam

[Advance35]

The thing about the Bad Pussy line is that it appears intended to be a terrible line spoken by a childish girl with little concept of politics whose reactions seem to always be "Fight or Tits." So it seemed an appropriate thing for Tyene, as characterized, to say.

 

That's actually a very good point.  I didn't really care for Dorne because I felt like the Sand Snakes come across MUCH more cloak and dagger in the book but that context does put Tyene's characterization in a better light, at least for me.

 

I believe the actresses that portray the Sand Snakes said they will be filming for Season 6 and I remember GRRM issuing a statement that the "book readers" would see a lot more of the Sand Snakes so I'm interested to see where the show goes with them.

 

I thought Mother's Mercy was a good episode, it showed us where Stannis's ruthless ambition led him, it showed us a dramatic/traumatic culmination of Cersei's reversal of fortune, we saw another faction, House Martell, cold-blooded and ruthless retaliation against House Lannister, continuing to propel the tragic eye for an eye motto that so many in Westeros live thier lives by.   And of course we saw where Jon Snow's good intentions led him.

 

It really was a very good episode.  But than again I'm someone that's not even overly bothered by the much noted Travel of GoT Characters.   When LF went back to Kings Landing he was offscreen for an episode.   When Olenna was asked to return to Kings Landing by Margaery Ep. 4, we didn't see her until episode 6.

 

I truly think for every detractor their is someone who loved Season 5.   I've seen it all over the net.   People who thought GoT very much earned every single award it got.

[DigitalCount]

I'm thrilled too. Congrats to everyone involved in bringing us this show.