There are so many Emmy awards given out each year that a single ceremony can’t possibly facilitate all the pomp and circumstance. That’s why the Creative Arts Emmys exist.
Each year, the Television Academy hands out dozens of awards in categories that range from technical aspects of television production to voice acting and guest-star roles. Normally occurring across two Saturdays in the weeks before the Emmys broadcast, this year’s Creative Arts Emmys were spread throughout the entire week. In case you missed those virtual ceremonies, though, allow us to highlight the most important, significant, or just plain strange 2020 Emmys winners—at least, until the main event airs Sunday night.
The Oldest Emmy Winner Ever
In 2019, Norman Lear became the oldest Emmy winner ever when he took home a trophy for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family And The Jeffersons. In 2020, at age 98, Lear broke his own record. The legendary producer won for the second edition of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, which was awarded an Emmy for outstanding variety television special (Live) over such starry enterprises as the Oscars, Grammys, and Super Bowl halftime show.
Bless the Child
Disney+ won its first-ever Emmy Award for its biggest contribution to the cultural conversation so far: Baby Yoda. The Mandalorian won outstanding special visual effects for its second episode, appropriately called “The Child.” All told, The Mandalorian received 15 Emmy nominations this year, including a nod for best drama series. Heading into the Sunday night ceremony, the series is tied with Watchmen for the most Emmy wins thus far with seven total awards.
EGOT Watch
Fingers crossed for a staged musical version of The Social Network? Composers Trent Reznor and Attitus Ross won an Emmy for their musical score for Watchmen, giving the two men an EGO—or an Emmy, a Grammy, and an Oscar. The same can be said for composer Ludwig Göransson. After taking home an Emmy on Saturday for his score to The Mandalorian, Göransson is now just a Tony Award away from the honorific.
Elsewhere in EGOT world, Brie Larson, who won an Oscar for Room, was awarded an Emmy for best original interactive program for her virtual reality project The Messy Truth VR Experience. That puts her halfway to completing the prestigious awards gauntlet herself. Actress Jasmine Cephas Jones is at the midpoint of EGOT as well. After winning a Grammy Award for Hamilton, Jones was awarded an Emmy for her performance on the Quibi series #FreeRayshawn. Speaking of which…
Quibi Rises
While we’re on the subject: streaming punching bag Quibi can now call itself an Emmy-winning platform. The fledgling service, which received 10 total nominations this year, won two awards during the Creative Arts Emmys for the series #FreeRayshawn. Jones and actors Laurence Fishburne were honored by the Television Academy on Thursday night.
Family Affair
Jones also factored into another Emmys first this week. She and her father, Ron Cephas Jones, became the first father-daughter duo to win awards during the same year after Ron won for his This Is Us performance on Saturday night. “As a parent that’s the most fulfilling that I could ever feel at the moment. Winning another Emmy is the icing on the cake, but to see my daughter progress and move into this place where she’s earned an Emmy is beyond words and I tear up every time I think about it to be honest with you,” Ron said on Saturday. “To see my daughter become healthy and happy, that’s a parent’s dream.”
The Good Place
It’s hard to believe, but Maya Rudolph had never won an Emmy Award until Thursday night. Now she has two trophies. On Thursday, the actress and comedian received her first honor from the Television Academy, for voice work on the Netflix animated series Big Mouth. Then Saturday, Rudolph emerged victorious in the outstanding guest actress in a comedy series category for her impression of Vice Presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live. To secure that win, Rudolph had to defeat a number of talented actresses, including herself: she was also a nominee in the category for The Good Place.
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