The 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards have arrived, and the night did not go entirely as expected. While many assumed the final season of Game of Thrones would steamroll the competition in all the major categories, it only won two awards: Best Supporting Actor for Peter Dinklage and Best Drama Series. It lost out on Writing to HBO's Succession (the first season—next year the currently-airing second season will be eligible) and Directing to, of all things, Netflix's Ozark.
On the comedy side of things, while Amazon Prime's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel scored early wins for Supporting Actor (Tony Shalhoub) and Supporting Actress (Alex Borstein), it was Amazon's other critically acclaimed series Fleabag (a genuinely perfect show) that dominated the rest of the categories. In addition to winning Best Comedy Series, the show won Best Actress and Writing for Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Best Director—an upset over Bill Hader's tremendous "ronny/lily" episode of Barry. The HBO series didn't go home empty handied, however, as Hader repeated in the Best Actor category, but Veep's swan song was shut out in all major categories.
HBO also dominated in the Limited Series category, as the terrific Chernobyl won Best Limited Series, Writing, and Directing over other favorite When They See Us, although the Netflix series won Best Actor for Jharrel Jerome and made for one of the ceremony's most memorable moments. Speaking of which, the less said about the ceremony the better—the lack of host made for an awkward proceeding, and almost none of the planned bits worked. At all.
The lead acting drama categories were eventful, as Pose star Billy Porter made history as the first openly gay man to win Best Actor, beating out Thrones star Kit Harington; Best Actress, meanwhile, went to Killing Eve breakout Jodie Comer, who bested Emilia Clarke.
All in all it feels like even though Emmy voters felt somewhat obligated to give Game of Thrones—an inarguably iconic series—the major trophy, the stink of the final season trickled down to lack of enthusiasm in the other categories, which resulted in some truly surprising wins. But it's hard to be annoyed when Fleabag and Phoebe Waller-Bridge got some incredibly well-deserved love.
Check out the full list of 2019 Emmy winners below.
Comedy Series
Barry (HBO)
Fleabag (Amazon) - WINNER
The Good Place (NBC)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Schitt's Creek (Pop)
Veep (HBO)
Drama Series
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Bodyguard (Netflix)
Game of Thrones (HBO) - WINNER
Killing Eve (BBC America)
Ozark (Netflix)
Pose (FX)
Succession (HBO)
This Is Us (NBC)
Limited Series
Chernobyl (HBO) - WINNER
Escape at Dannemora (Showtime)
Fosse/Verdon (FX)
Sharp Objects (HBO)
When They See Us (Netflix)
Television Movie
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix) - WINNER
Brexit: The Uncivil War (HBO)
Deadwood: The Movie (HBO)
My Dinner With Herve (HBO)
King Lear (Amazon)
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Mahershala Ali (True Detective)
Benicio Del Toro (Escape at Dannemora)
Hugh Grant (A Very English Scandal)
Jared Harris (Chernobyl)
Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us) - WINNER
Sam Rockwell (Fosse/Verdon)
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie
Amy Adams (Sharp Objects)
Patricia Arquette (Escape at Dannemora)
Joey King (The Act)
Niecy Nash (When They See Us)
Michelle Williams (Fosse/Verdon) - WINNER
Aunjanue Ellis (When They See Us)
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish)
Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
Ted Danson (The Good Place)
Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method)
Bill Hader (Barry) - WINNER
Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek)
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate (Dead to Me)
Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll)
Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) - WINNER
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman (Ozark)
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
Kit Harington (Game of Thrones)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Billy Porter (Pose) - WINNER
Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us)
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones)
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) - WINNER
Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder)
Laura Linney (Ozark)
Mandy Moore (This Is Us)
Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)
Robin Wright (House of Cards)
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones)
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones)
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) - WINNER
Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul)
Michael Kelly (House of Cards)
Chris Sullivan (This Is Us)
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones)
Julia Garner (Ozark) - WINNER
Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)
Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve)
Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones)
Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones)
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method)
Anthony Carrigan (Barry)
Tony Hale (Veep)
Stephen Root (Barry)
Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) - WINNER
Henry Winkler (Barry)
Supporting Actress in Comedy Series
Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) - WINNER
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
Olivia Colman (Fleabag)
Sian Clifford (Fleabag)
Betty Gilpin (GLOW)
Sarah Goldberg (Barry)
Marin Hinkle (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Writing for a Comedy Series
Barry - "ronny/lily" - Bill Hader and Alec Berg
Fleabag - "Episode 1" - Phoebe Waller-Bridge - WINNER
Pen15 - "Anna Ishii-Peters" - Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle
Russian Doll - "Nothing in This World Is Easy" - Teleplay by and Story by Leslye Headland, Story by Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler
Russian Doll - "A Warm Body" - Allison Silverman
The Good Place - "Janet(s)" - Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan
Veep - "Veep" - David Mandel
Directing for a Comedy Series
Barry - "The Audition" - Alec Berg
Barry - "ronny/lily" - Bill Hader
Fleabag - "Episode 1" - Harry Bradbeer - WINNER
The Big Bang Theory - "Stockholm Syndrome" - Mark Cendrowski
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "All Alone" - Amy Sherman-Palladino
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - "We're Going to the Catskills!" - Daniel Palladino
Writing for a Drama Series
Better Call Saul - "Winner" - Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz
Bodyguard - "Episode 1" - Jed Mercurio
Game of Thrones - "The Iron Throne" - David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Killing Eve - "Nice and Neat" - Emerald Fennell
Succession - "Nobody Is Ever Missing" - Jesse Armstrong - WINNER
The Handmaid's Tale - "Holly" - Bruce Miller and Kira Snyder
Directing for a Drama Series
Game of Thrones - "The Last of the Starks" - David Nutter
Game of Thrones - "The Long Night" - Miguel Sapochnik
Game of Thrones - "The Iron Throne" - David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Killing Eve - "Desperate Times" - Lisa Bruhlmann
Ozark - "Reparations" - Jason Bateman - WINNER
Succession - "Celebration" - Adam McKay
The Handmaid's Tale - "Holly" - Daina Reid
Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special
A Very English Scandal - Stephen Frears
Chernobyl - Johan Renck - WINNER
Escape at Dannemora - Ben Stiller
Fosse/Verdon - Jessica Yu
Fosse/Verdon - Thomas Kail
When They See Us - Ava DuVernay
Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special
A Very English Scandal - Russell T. Davies
Chernobyl - Craig Mazin - WINNER
Escape at Dannemora - "Episode 6" - Brett Johnson, Michael Tolkin, Jerry Stahl
Escape at Dannemora - "Episode 7" - Brett Johnson, Michael Tolkin
Fosse/Verdon - "Providence" - Steven Levenson, Joel Fields
When They See Us - "Part Four" - Ava DuVernay, Michael Starrbury
Competition Series
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
RuPaul's Drag Race - WINNER
Top Chef
The Voice
Variety Talk Series
Last Week Tonight (HBO) - WINNER
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
The Late Late Show With James Corden (CBS)
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central)
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (TBS)
Variety Sketch Series
At Home with Amy Sedaris (truTV)
Documentary Now! (IFC)
Drunk History (Comedy Central)
I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman (Hulu)
Saturday Night Live (NBC) - WINNER
Who Is America? (Showtime)
Animated Program
Big Mouth (Netflix)
Bob's Burgers (FOX)
Bojack Horseman (Netflix)
Come Along with Me (Adventure Time) (Cartoon Network)
The Simpsons (FOX) - WINNER
