‘Modern Family,’ ‘Mad Men’ Still Rule the Emmy Roost

19 Sep, 2011 By: John Latchem

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The 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony Sept. 18 honored a healthy mix of stalwart favorites while giving recognition to other shows that ended their runs.

Repeating in the top spots were “Modern Family” for Best Comedy Series for a second year in a row and “Mad Men” for Best Drama Series for the fourth time. Lionsgate released the fourth season of “Mad Men” on Blu-ray and DVD in March, while 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s release of Modern Family: The Complete Second Season is well-timed to take advantage of the Emmy buzz with a Sept. 20 release date.

“Modern Family” scored five awards total, also capturing Best Supporting Actress for Julie Bowen, Best Supporting Actor for Ty Burrell, plus outstanding directing (for the episode “Halloween” and writing (for the episode “Caught in the Act.”)

“Mad Men” won a total of two Emmys, taking Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series at the Sept. 10 Creative Arts Emmys ceremony.

Also in the Drama Series categories, Kyle Chandler won Best Actor for the departing “Friday Night Lights,” which Universal plans to release in its complete series form on DVD Oct. 4. The high school football drama also won a writing award for the series finale. Julianna Marguilies won Best Actress for “The Good Wife,” the second season of which is on DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment. Best Supporting Actress went to Margo Martindale for the second season of “Justified,” which has not yet been announced for disc by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Best Supporting Actor went to Peter Dinklage for HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” also not yet announced for disc.

In the Comedy Series categories, Jim Parsons won a second consecutive Best Actor Emmy for playing Sheldon on “The Big Bang Theory,” the fourth season of which was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray by Warner Home Video.

Melissa McCarthy won Best Actress for her title role in “Mike & Molly,” with season one on DVD and Blu-ray Sept. 20. The same day marks the disc debut of Universal’s raunchy comedy Bridesmaids, in which the actress has a prominent role.

The Masterpiece Classics presentation of Downton Abbey, on DVD and Blu-ray from PBS, won six Emmys, including Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, Supporting Actress for Maggie Smith and Best Writing for Julian Fellowes, as well as Best Directing for “Part I,” and Creative Arts Emmys for costumes and cinematography.

The surprisingly controversial miniseries The Kennedys, once dumped by the History Channel and picked up by Reelz, won four Emmys in the miniseries segment, including Best Actor for Barry Pepper as Bobby Kennedy. The Kennedys also won for makeup (non-prosthetic), hairstyling and sound mixing.

The second season of Fox’s cult-hit “Glee,” released Sept. 13 on DVD and Blu-ray, won comedy series Emmys for casting and guest actress for Gwyneth Paltrow.

The revived “Futurama” won Outstanding Animated Program for the episode “The Late Philip J. Fry,” and the show’s Maurice LaMarche won Outstanding Voiceover Performance for the episode “Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences.” Both episodes are included on Fox’s DVD and Blu-ray of Futurama Vol. 5.

 

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