Originally posted Monday, September 17, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Atlanta-connected shows and actors - including literally FX’s “Atlanta - were largely shut out of the winnings at tonight’s prime-time Emmy’s on NBC.
But plenty showed up on air. The opening bit, which lightly mocked "diversity" in a song called "We Solved It," featured three former Georgians showed up - Athens native Tituss Burgess (Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), Atlanta native Kenan Thompson (NBC's "Saturday Night Live") and RuPaul (VH1's "RuPaul's Drag Race").
And co-host Colin Jost did make a funny joke about "Atlanta."
“There’s even more diversity coming to TV. There’s a Latino ‘Magnum P.I.’ There’s going to be a black Samantha in a reboot of ‘Bewitched’ but it’s going to be balanced out by an all-white reboot of ‘Atlanta’ called ‘15 Miles Outside of Atlanta.’
The cameras then show Brian Tyree Henry of "Atlanta" nodding his head no.
Jost continued: “It focuses on white women calling the police on the cast of ‘Atlanta.’”
The only category that aired tonight where a show with even the remotest of Atlanta ties won was "RuPaul's Drag Race" for best reality competition show because the host if RuPaul Charles, who lived in Atlanta back in the late 1980s and early 1990s during his formative years as a drag queen. I know, it's a bit of a stretch but it's the best I got.
Among the categories where Atlanta-connected shows and actors lost:
Outstanding drama: HBO's "Game of Thrones," beating out other favorites including Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale" and Netflix's "The Crown." Atlanta-produced Netflix drama "Stranger Things" was just happy to be nominated.
Outstanding comedy: Amazon's "The Amazing Mrs. Maisel." FX's "Atlanta" was considered a favorite to win but it didn't.
Best Actor in a Dramatic Series: Matthew Rhys of FX's "The Americans" beat ouf Jason Bateman in Netflix's "Ozark," shot in metro Atlanta, among others.
Best Actor in a Comedy Series: Bill Hader in HBO's "Barry." Donald Glover, who won last year for his role on "Atlanta," lost this time around.
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Henry Winkler ("Barry") beat Thompson, Henry and Burgess.
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Alex Borstein "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Zazie Beetz of "Atlanta" in her first nomination came home empty handed.
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Peter Dinklage of "Game of Thrones." David Harbour of "Stranger Things" was among the non-winning candidates.
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Thandie Newton from HBO's "Westworld." (It's obviously a good night for HBO.) Millie Bobby Brown of "Stranger Things" came home without an Emmy again.
Outstanding Directing in a DramaSeries: "The Crown," Stephen Daldry ("Paterfamilias"). He beat out two episodes of "Game of Thrones," an episode of "The Handmaid's Tale" as well as three Atlanta-produced episodes:
Ozark, Jason Batman ("The Toll")
Ozark, Daniel Sackheim ("Tonight We Improvise")
Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers ("Chapter Nine: The Gate")
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series: "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," Amy Sherman-Palladino ("Pilot") Among those who didn't win included two "Atlanta" episodes.
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: "The Americans," Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg ("START"). The "Chapter Nine: The Gate"episode of "Stranger Things" by the Duffer Brothers was nominated but didn't win.
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: The pilot series for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" written by Amy Sherman-Pallladino. Two episodes of "Atlanta" didn't win.
Outstanding Limited Series: FX's "The Assassination of Gianni Versace." Atlanta-based TNT's "The Alienest" was among the nominees.
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series: "John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous." Atlanta-based TBS's "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee: The Great American Puerto Rico (It's Complicated)" didn't win.
Outstanding Variety Talk Series: "Last Week With John Oliver" wins again. "Full Frontal With Samantha Bee" did not.
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