HBO Leads the Pack at 2011 Creative Arts Emmys, PBS First Among Networks, Show Airs September 17 on ReelzChannel
HBO’s Boardwalk Empire leads program winners with seven statuettes, Discovery's Deadliest Catch and History's Gettysburg follow with four.
HBO topped the list of winners at the 2011 Creative Arts Emmy Awards with 15 winged statuettes, followed by PBS with 10.
Leading the recipients of multiple awards was HBO’s period drama Boardwalk Empire, with seven Emmys. Set against a backdrop of crime and corruption in 1920s Atlantic City, New Jersey, the series earned a total of 18 Emmy nominations in this, its first season.
The ceremony was held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles. An edited version of the event will air as a special on Saturday, September 17, at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT), on ReelzChannel.
As with last year’s Creative Arts Emmys, the show was guided by a series of presenting pairs made up of performers and show-runners or producers from more than a dozen television programs of today — and two classics, Mitzi…Roaring in the ’20s and the Elvis ’68 Comeback Special.
In the order of their appearance, they were: Jon Cryer & Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men), Connie Britton & Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights), Bob Mackie & Mitzi Gaynor (Mitzi...Roaring in the 20s), Alison Brie & Dan Harmon (Community), Chris Colfer & Brad Falchuk (Glee), Paul Reubens & Josh Meyers (The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway), Bertram van Munster & Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race), Jon Benjamin & Adam Reed (Archer), Noah Wyle & Robert Rodat (Falling Skies), Jesse Spencer & David Shore (House), Walton Goggins & Graham Yost (Justified), Jeff Probst & Mark Burnett (Survivor), Priscilla Presley & Steve Binder (Elvis ’68 Comeback Special), Gene Simmons & Nick Tweed-Simmons (Gene Simmons Family Jewels), Rebecca Romijn & Paul Scheer (NTSF: SD: SUV), Maya Rudolph & Emily Spivey (Up All Night), Kiernan Shipka & Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and Howie Mandel & Jason Raff (America’s Got Talent).
The majority of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which this evening honored excellence in more than 75 categories, are dedicated to key technical disciplines and behind-the-scenes crafts essential to television production — including art direction, cinematography, hairstyling, makeup, music, picture editing, sound editing and mixing, special visual effects, stunts and more.
Awards are also given for animation, commercials, nonfiction reality series and other programming, as well as four acting categories. Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series went to Loretta Devine for ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series went to Gwyneth Paltrow for Fox’s Glee; Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series went to Paul McCrane for NBC’s Harry’s Law; and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series went to Justin Timberlake for NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
For the fourth year in a row, Jeff Probst, of the long-running CBS show Survivor was named outstanding host for a reality or reality-competition program. Probst has won every time he has been nominated.
The Governors Award, which is given annually to individuals or organizations committed to important social causes, went to John Walsh, who is known internationally as a crime fighter, victims’ advocate and the host of America's Most Wanted — the groundbreaking reality program that has helped law-enforcement to capture more than 1,150 dangerous fugitives and brought home more than 50 missing children since its debut in 1988.
Walsh never intended to follow this path, but it his has been his life since July 27, 1981 — the day his only child, Adam, was abducted from a mall near his home in Hollywood, Florida. Adam was found murdered two weeks later. Since then, Walsh has devoted his life to the capture of criminals such as the one who killed his child.
Outstanding Reality Program was presented to the Discovery series Deadliest Catch.
Outstanding Children’s Program went to HBO’s A Child’s Garden of Poetry. Outstanding Children’s Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program was “Under the Influence: Kids of Alcoholics,” an installment of Nickelodeon’s Nick News with Linda Ellerbee.
This marked the ninth Emmy — and fifth in a row — for Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, which won last year for the episode titled “The Face of Courage: Kids Living with Cancer.”
Comedy Central's Futurama, set in the 31st century, was named Outstanding Animated Program. Futurama was also honored for Outstanding Voiceover Performance, which went to actor Maurice LaMarche.
The Futurama wins marked a comeback for the show. From 1999 to 2003, it aired on Fox, and earned three Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Animated Program in 2002. Reruns aired on Cartoon Network through 2007, and in 2008, new episodes, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, began airing on Comedy Central.
Outstanding Short Form Animated Program went to ABC’s Disney Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa.
The winner for Outstanding Commercial was “Born of Fire,” a spot for Chrysler 200. The production company was Serial Pictures, and for the third consecutive year the advertising agency was Wieden + Kennedy.
Outstanding Nonfiction Series went to PBS’s American Masters, an anthology of portraits of influential cultural icons.
Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking went to another PBS production, Freedom Riders, about a group of Civil Rights activists who challenged segregation in the American South in 1961. The program also received the award for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming, which went to Stanley Nelson.
Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming went to Josh Fox for still another PBS production, Gasland, about the hazards of natural gas drilling.
Outstanding Nonfiction Special was won by the History production Gettysburg, about the storied Civil War battle.
The 64th Annual Tony Awards telecast was named Outstanding Special Class Program — marking two years in a row for the awards ceremony devoted to the Broadway stage.
The Tonys also won for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special, which went to Dave Boone, Matt Roberts and Mo Rocca.
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special was given to The Kennedy Center Honors, which aired on CBS.
Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special went to Lonny Price for the PBS production Sondheim! The Birthday Concert.
“Oscar Digital Experience,” from ABC.com, won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Media.
Among the music categories, Justin Timberlake, Seth Myers, John Mulaney and Katreese Barnes took the Emmy for original music and lyrics win for Timberlake’s monologue song from Saturday Night Live. In addition, Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music went to Trevor Morris for Showtime’s The Borgias.
Joining Boardwalk Empire among programs with multiple wins were Deadliest Catch and Gettysburg with four; Freedom Riders, Mildred Pierce, Saturday Night Live, So You Think You Can Dance and The Kennedys with three; and The 64th Annual Tony Awards, American Idol, American Masters, Disney Phineas and Ferb, Downton Abbey (Masterpiece), Firebreather, Futurama, Glee and The Borgias with two each.
Rounding out the night’s winners after HBO’s 15 Emmys and PBS’s 10 were Fox with nine; CBS with seven; NBC with five; Discovery and History with four; ABC, Cartoon Network and ReelzChannel with three; AMC, Comedy Central, Disney Channel and Showtime with two; and ABC.com, drmartens.com ESPN, Farm, JayLenosGarage.com, MTV, Nickelodeon, Starz, thedailyshow.com, TNT, Travel Channel and TV Land with one each.
This year’s executive producers were Steve Venezia, chair of the Creative Arts Awards Committee, and vice chairs Frank Scherma, Mark Watters and Eileen Horta. The producer — for the 17th time — was Spike Jones, Jr. Chris Donovan directed the show.
Twenty-five other awards will be handed out at the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast. Hosted by Jane Lynch, the show will air live coast-to-coast on Fox on Sunday, September 18 (5 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET), from NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles. The executive producer is Mark Burnett.
Get the full list of 2011 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Winners info right here.