Arts & Culture

The Emmys delivers superficial diversity


Winston Heckt, Staff Writer


The 70th Emmys award show was on Monday, and as someone who neither watched the ceremony or cares about it, let me tell you what went down. Michael Che and Colin Jost of “SNL” hosted the awards, and there were plenty of jokes about diversity or the lack thereof, emphasized by the fact that even though it was the most diverse batch of nominees in Emmys history, the overwhelming majority of awards went to white people.

Out of 26 awards, only four went to people of color. There was no mention of the 45th President of the United States and very little mention of #TimesUp or #MeToo, a direct contrast to the much more politicized Oscars and Golden Globes ceremonies that happened earlier this year.

      Henry Winkler — best known for playing Fonzie in “Happy Days”—  finally won an Emmy for his supporting role in HBO’s “Barry.” Glenn Weiss, the dude who directed the Oscars, proposed to his girlfriend after winning an Emmy for directing said Oscars. A mystery guest who may or may not have been Donald Glover appeared in the audience dressed as the character Teddy Perkins from “Atlanta” and at one point congratulated Bill Hader for winning the Emmy for best actor in comedy, beating Donald Glover.

     Here are the standout winners of the 2018 Emmys:

     Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”

     Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Regina King as Latrice Butler in “Seven Seconds”

     Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Bill Hader as Barry in “Barry”

        Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Matthew Rhys as Philip Jennings in “The Americans”

       Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

     Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown”

      Best Children’s Program: “The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special”

    Best Comedy Series: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

  Best Comedy Writing: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

     Best Writing for a Variety Series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”

This article first appeared in the Friday, September 21 edition of The Echo.