The awards honoring the men and women who penned the year’s best in film, television, and radio were held last night and in the television division, cable was undeniably triumphant. The top awards for best comedy and dramatic series went to Louie and Breaking Bad respectfully. This is the first best series honor for Louie from a major awards organization; the program had previously been awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.
This is Breaking Bad’s second Best Dramatic Series win in a row. Girls was also a winner for the night taking home the best New Series award. This comes to no surprise as the show has been on a winning streak this award season, following wins at the Golden Globes and DGAs. An unexpected winner was Portlandia, which beat out favorites like Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report for best Comedy/Variety Series marking the first major awards win for the IFC program. Additional awards were bestowed to AMC’s Mad Men, HBO’s movie Game Change, the History Channel’s miniseries Hatfields & McCoys, and ABC’s Modern Family.
The majority of the winners were indeed from cable networks; the category for best Dramatic Series was compiled only of cable shows, which enforces the argument of an overall critical superiority of cable programming. There is no denying that the best shows on television happen to come from cable channels and it’s validating to see the people responsible for their creation being recognized.
A complete list of the television winners:
DRAMA Series Breaking Bad (AMC), Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett
COMEDY SERIES Louie (FX), Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.
NEW SERIES Girls (HBO), Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling
EPISODIC DRAMA Mad Men (AMC), Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner – “The Other Woman”
LONG FORM – ORIGINAL Hatfields & McCoys (History Channel), Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker, Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann, Nights Two and Three
LONG FORM – ADAPTED Game Change (HBO), Written by Danny Strong, Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann
EPISODIC COMEDY Modern Family (ABC), Written by Elaine Ko - “Virgin Territory”
COMEDY / VARIETY (INCLUDING TALK) – SERIES Portlandia (IFC), Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley
COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS 66th Annual Tony Awards (CBS), Written by Dave Boone; Special Material by Paul Greenberg; Opening and Closing Songs by David Javerbaum, Adam Schlesinger
ANIMATION The Simpsons (Fox), Written by Jeff Westbrook - “Ned ’N’ Edna’s Blend Agenda”
DAYTIME DRAMA The Young and the Restless (CBS), Written by Amanda Beall, Jeff Beldner, Susan Dansby, Janice Ferri Esser, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Marla Kanelos, Natalie Minardi Slater, Beth Milstein, Michael Montgomery, Anne Schoettle, Linda Schreiber, Sarah K. Smith, Christopher J. Whitesell, Teresa Zimmerman
CHILDREN’S – EPISODIC & SPECIALS Sesame Street (PBS), Written by Christine Ferraro – “The Good Sport”
CHILDREN’S – LONG FORM OR SPECIAL Girl vs. Monster (Disney Channel), Teleplay by Annie DeYoung and Ron McGee, Story by Annie DeYoung
DOCUMENTARY – CURRENT EVENTS “ Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode One” (Frontline-PBS), Written by Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria (PBS)
DOCUMENTARY – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS “The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time” (Nova-PBS), Telescript by Randall MacLowry, Story by Joseph McMasterand Randall MacLowry
NEWS – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT “Tragedy In Colorado: The Movie Theatre Massacre” (ABC News), Written by Lisa Ferri, Joel Siegel
NEWS – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY “The Ghost of Joe McCarthy” (Moyers & Company/Thirteen/WNET), Written by Bill Moyers, Michael Winship
