Big Cheers to Palisadian Emmy Winners

By TRILBY BERESFORD | Reporter

Hosted by “Saturday Night Live” comedians Michael Che and Colin Jost, the 2018 Emmy Awards were presented at the Microsoft Theater on Monday, Sept. 17.

Proud Palisadian nominees included Larry David for “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Laura Dern for “The Tale,” Ted Danson for “The Good Place,” Bill Hader for “Barry” and “SNL,” and Dan Castellaneta for loyally voicing every memorable character in “The Simpsons.”

Emerging triumphant, Hader won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for “Barry,” the HBO show he created with Alec Berg. This is his first Emmy for acting.

“I did not think this would happen,” Hader announced in his acceptance speech. “I took classes at Second City LA. I was taught there that you should always make the other people look good, so I hired other great actors who made me look good.” Henry Winkler was among those “other” actors in “Barry”—he won Outstanding Supporting Actor.

While Palisadian J.J. Abrams was not personally recognized this year, his show, “Westworld,” was nominated in numerous technical and design categories as well as acting. Thandie Newton, who has played an enigmatic brothel madam in the series for two seasons, won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

She was one of a small handful of Black actors to be recognized—the Emmy Awards received criticism this year for their luke warm effort to represent a wide range of performers. Most of the TV shows that collected awards feature predominantly (and entirely) caucasian casts, such as Best Drama winner “Game of Thrones” and Best Comedy winner “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

Sandra Oh became the first Asian woman to be nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, however overall Asian representation was insignificant.

Unsurprisingly, the Emmy Awards also highlighted the fact that complex LGBTQ+ stories have not yet gained their rightful place among mainstream television offerings. These details may have contributed to the low viewership. Or perhaps everyone just prefers Netflix now.

With unwavering enthusiasm for the achievements that have taken place and those challenging milestones still to come, the Palisadian-Post congratulates every nominee and extends a special shout out to deserving winner Bill Hader.