Emmys 2019: Fleabag and Chernobyl win big and Game of Thrones bows out with best drama series

HBO’s sprawling fantasy epic earned two awards on Sunday, with Peter Dinklage winning outstanding supporting actor and the show itself landing outstanding drama series.

Its losing nominations included best actor for Kit Harington and best actress of Emilia Clarke, while it had multiple entries in the supporting categories.

The two wins at the Primetime ceremony added to the 10 it scored earlier this month at the Creative Arts Emmys, where the technical aspects of TV production are recognised.

Game Of Thrones’ 12 wins this year matched its own record, set in 2015 and 2016.

The cast reunited on stage inside the Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, where they were presenting an award.

They all spoke about how much the show’s 10-year run meant to them.

Sophie Turner, who played Sansa Stark, said: “I think all of us agree how amazing the entire last season was for us. We had no idea how it would end, who would betray whom and who would end up with the prize.”

Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams told the audience: “As much as we wish the show could have gone on forever, our time had come. And tonight is a chance to, once again, thank all of those who watched.”

Alfie Allen, who played Theon Greyjoy, added: “It’s an honour for us all to be here tonight.”

Game Of Thrones’ eighth and final season aired earlier this year but received a mixed reception from both fans and critics.

Overall, It was a night to celebrate for HBO. It topped the table on 34 wins, ahead of Netflix in second with 27.

HBO was largely powered by Thrones and Chernobyl, which took home 10 awards (it won seven at the Creative Arts Emmys and three more on Sunday night).

However, critical darling and serial Emmy winner Veep was shut out in one of the major surprises of the night.

Fleabag managed to score the best comedy win.

A stunned Phoebe Waller-Bridge said “this is getting ridiculous” as Fleabag capped an all-conquering night at the Emmys.

The quirky British sitcom swept all before it at the biggest night in US television, winning ahead of well-fancied favourites including HBO’s Veep and Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.

Fleabag was widely considered the outsider of the three, with many tipping the TV academy to recognise Veep’s final season in the category of outstanding comedy series.

While that award was a shock, the biggest upset came about two hours earlier, when the star-studded audience inside Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater had a collective intake of breath when the winner of the outstanding comedy actress was called.

Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus had made the prize her own, winning six times for her portrayal of politician Selina Meyer.

She was out of the running last year after undergoing treatment for cancer and many thought her win, and the chance to go out on a high, was nailed on.

However, it was Waller-Bridge’s name that was called. The Londoner also won a prize for writing the second season of Fleabag. Harry Bradbeer won an Emmy for directing an episode of the show.

Accepting the gong for outstanding comedy series, Waller-Bridge, 34, said: “This is just getting ridiculous. Fleabag started as a one-woman show at the Edinburgh festival in 2014. The journey has been absolutely mental to get here. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s been involved.”

The chance to earn five awards on the night was missed when Sian Clifford and Olivia Colman lost in the supporting actress category.

Fleabag features Waller-Bridge as a young woman living in London who provides the audience with outrageous and intimate details of her bedroom antics.

It premiered in 2016 to critical acclaim, but was overlooked at the Emmys, not even scoring a single nomination.

Season two arrived earlier this year and centred on the relationship between Fleabag and “hot priest” Andrew Scott.

Elsewhere on the night Jodie Comer beat Killing Eve co-star Sandra Oh in the outstanding lead actress in a drama category.

The Liverpool-born star of Killing Eve, 26, was visibly stunned when Gwyneth Paltrow read her name out and said she left her parents at home.

She won ahead of stellar competition in the form of co-star Sandra Oh, Game Of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke and House Of Cards’ Robin Wright.

Comer, who plays psychopathic assassin Villanelle in the spy thriller, embraced Oh on her way to the stage and thanked her during a memorable acceptance speech.

“I was not expecting to get up on this stage at all. Safe to say, Sandra, that this Killing Eve journey has been an absolute whirlwind”, she said.

And Comer admitted her parents were home in Merseyside “because I didn’t think this was going to be my time”.

The win came after fans complained she had been snubbed in the same category last year.

BBC drama Killing Eve features Oh as an MI5 agent on the tale of Comer’s Russian assassin.

Irish actress Fiona Shaw also stars as the head of MI6’s Russia Section. Shaw was nominated for her supporting role on Sunday but lost out to Ozark’s Julia Garner.

Killing Eve was up for the biggest prize on the night, outstanding drama series, but lost to Game Of Thrones.

Full list of winners:

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Better Call Saul

Bodyguard

Game of Thrones

Killing Eve

Ozark

Pose

Succession

This Is Us

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

Barry

Fleabag

The Good Place

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Russian Doll

Schitt’s Creek

Veep

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

Milo Ventimiglia —This Is Us

LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Emilia Clarke — Game of Thrones

Jodie Comer — Killing Eve

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

Jonathan Banks — Better Call Saul

Giancarlo Esposito — Better Call Saul

Alfie Allen — Game of Thrones

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau — Game of Thrones

Peter Dinklage — Game of Thrones

Michael Kelly — House of Cards

Chris Sullivan — This Is Us

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Gwendoline Christie — Game of Thrones

Lena Headey — Game of Thrones

Sophie Turner — Game of Thrones

Maisie Williams — Game of Thrones

Fiona Shaw — Killing Eve

Julia Garner — Ozark

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

Game Of Thrones — “The Iron Throne,” David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Game Of Thrones — “The Last Of The Starks,” David Nutter

Game Of Thrones — “The Long Night” Miguel Sapochnik

The Handmaid’s Tale — “Holly,” Daina Reid

Killing Eve — “Desperate Times,” Lisa Brühlmann

Ozark — “Reparations,” Jason Bateman

Succession — “Celebration,” Adam McKay

OUTSTANDING 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

The Handmaid’s Tale — “Holly,” Bruce Miller and Kira Snyder

Killing Eve — “Nice And Neat,” Emerald Fennell

Succession — “Nobody Is Ever Missing,” Jesse Armstrong

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

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

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Stephen Root — Barry

Henry Winkler — Barry

Anthony Carrigan — Barry

Alan Arkin — The Kominsky Method

Tony Shalhoub — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Tony Hale — Veep

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Sarah Goldberg — Barry

Sian Clifford — Fleabag

Olivia Colman — Fleabag

Betty Gilpin — GLOW

Kate McKinnon — Saturday Night Live

Alex Borstein — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Marin Hinkle — The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Anna Chlumsky — Veep

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

Barry — “The Audition,” Alec Berg

Barry — “ronny/lily,” Bill Hader

The Big Bang Theory — “The Stockholm Syndrome,” Mark Cendrowski

Fleabag — “Episode 1,” Harry Bradbeer

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — “All Alone,” Amy Sherman-Palladino

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel — “We’re Going To The Catskills!” Daniel Palladino

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

Barry — “ronny/lily,” Alec Berg and Bill Hader

Fleabag — “Episode 1,” Phoebe Waller-Bridge

The Good Place — “Janet(s),” Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan

PEN15 — “Anna Ishii-Peters,” Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle

Russian Doll — “Nothing In This World Is Easy,” Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler

Russian Doll — “A Warm Body,” Allison Silverman

Veep — “Veep,” David Mandel

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE

Bandersnatch

Brexit

Deadwood

King Lear

My Dinner with Hervé

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES

Chernobyl

Escape at Dannemora

Fosse/Verdon

Sharp Objects

When They See Us

LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR 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

Sam Rockwell — Fosse/Verdon

LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Amy Adams — Sharp Objects

Patricia Arquette — Escape at Dannemora

Aunjanue Ellis — When They See us

Joey King — The Act

Niecy Nash — When They See Us

Michelle Williams— Fosse/Verdon

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Ben Whishaw — A Very English Scandal

Stellan Skarsgard — Chernobyl

Paul Dano — Escape at Dannemora

John Leguizamo — When They See Us

Michael K. Williams — When They See Us

Asante Blackk — When They See Us

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Emily Watson — Chernobyl

Margaret Qualley — Fosse/Verdon

Patricia Clarkson — Sharp Objects

Patricia Arquette — The Act

Marsha Stephanie Blake — When They See Us

Vera Farmiga — When They See Us

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL

Chernobyl — Johan Renck

Escape At Dannemora — Ben Stiller

Fosse/Verdon — “Glory,” Jessica Yu

Fosse/Verdon — “Who’s Got The Pain,” Thomas Kail

A Very English Scandal — Stephen Frears

When They See Us — Ava DuVernay

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL

Chernobyl — Craig Mazin

Escape At Dannemora — “Episode 6,” Brett Johnson, Michael Tolkin and Jerry Stahl

Escape At Dannemora — “Episode 7,” Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin

Fosse/Verdon — “Providence,”Steven Levenson and Joey Fields

A Very English Scandal — Russell T. Davies

When They See Us — “Part Four,” Ava DuVernay and Michael Starrbury

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION SERIES

Amazing Race

American Ninja Warrior

Nailed It

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Top Chef

The Voice

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES

The Daily Show

Full Frontal

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

The Late Late Show With James Corden

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES

At Home With Amy Sedaris

Documentary Now!

Drunk History

I Love You, America With Sarah Silverman

Saturday Night Live

Who Is America?

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES

Documentary Now! — “Waiting For The Artist,” Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas

Drunk History — “Are You Afraid Of The Drunk?” Derek Waters

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver — “Psychics,” Paul Pennolino

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — “Live Midterm Election Show,” Jim Hoskinson

Saturday Night Live — “Host : Adam Sandler,” Don Roy King

Who Is America? — “Episode 102,” Sacha Baron Cohen, Nathan Fielder, Daniel Gray Longino and Dan Mazer

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES

Documentary Now!

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

Late Night With Seth Meyers

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Saturday Night Live

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