Anna Gunn was actually quite fantastic in the last season of Breaking Bad. She deserved that one, I thought (as did the rest of the BB cast).
I loved Wierd Al’s parody of Game of Thrones. I’ve never even seen the show (don’t have cable) and I still got a kick out of it 
I can just see Cranston & Brad Hall bumping into each other at the afterparty…
BC: Hey, Brad! How are you? Julia did great tonight! <subtext: I just made out with your wife in front of you, an auditorium full of hundreds of our coworkers, and millions of people watching live across the country. And it was awesome! /s>
BH: Brian! Congratulations on another outstanding win! <subtext: Prick. /s>
I kept seeing past Oscar broadcasts flash before my eyes:
1990 Oscars–Kathy Bates beats Julia Roberts!
1994 Oscars–Jessica Lange wins and Jodie Foster loses!
1996 Oscars–Woody Harrelson, William H. Macy and Billy Bob Thornton lose acting awards but Fargo takes home two!
And no matter how genuinely talented they are, I am deathly tired of seeing Janney, Parsons, Louis-Dreyfus and even Cranston winning. They have 20 Emmys between them (and feel free to add the 10 that The Amazing Race has earned since the reality competition category was created) and the sheer massive redundancy is getting boring. 2 or even 3 over the long life span of a series is one thing, but this high concentration of repetition is killing a lot of the suspense if certain people are constantly seen as legacies.
As for the presenters, if I were to base my late-night viewing habits on how they did last night, I would be a Kimmel guy all the way. He mopped the floor with the rest (Myers, Fallon, Colbert), though I was glad to see Stephen win one last time for the Report as he transitions to his new gig.
Has any multiple award-winner (say a Jim Parsons or an Allison Janney) ever told his or her people, “I’ve already won this award several times. Don’t submit my work for consideration, as others should get the opportunity to win one.” I doubt it and partly because the the whole cast and crew benefits when one of the actors gets an award.
The best line of the night was Woody Harrelson doing his McConaughey: “C’mon back to the Airstream later - I make the best margarita this side of the R-I-O Grande.”
Yes, John Larroquette won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy four consecutive years, so withdrew his name from all further Emmy submissions, even though Night Court went on several more years. (His subsequent Emmy nominations were for other shows/appearances)
Bill Cosby famously refused to ever have his name submitted for Actor for The Cosby Show so he never nominated for that show (though he already had 4 Emmys by that point anyway).
But it is a rare thing.
Candice Bergen also declined to be nominated after she’d won several times.
I’m still unhappy about Monday night. I’m on the west coast. I was at work or in traffic during the actual broadcast and as silly as watching an awards show is, watching a re-run is sillier, especially when the awards are already announced and all of the good parts of the show (if there are any) are already on you tube.
Apparently the ratings were still good, so NBC got away with it and it’ll probably happen again.
History? For what? Winning an Oscar and Emmy the same year? Ever heard of Helen Hunt? He wouldn’t have even been the first actor with an alliterative name to do both.
Modern Family was always overrated and even the fans admit it’s going downhill. TBBT is also going downhill the last couple seasons. The Emmy voters love their ruts.
As much as I love Allison Janney, Mom is a disaster. It should have never made it past pilot.
At least none of the waaaay-off category people won. E.g., Fred Armisen for supporting actor for Portlandia. (But still some winners in the “Huh, comedy?”, etc. type mis-typing.)
Good: Martin Freeman winning. Bad: Not for Fargo.
I agree with the general consensus that the comedy awards are whaaaaaa?-inducing, but the drama awards (basically recognizing how amazing Breaking Bad) were spot on. That said, the telecast as a whole was fairly dull. Seth Meyers did not distinguish himself. The brightest spot was the skit in NYC offering people a dollar.
I’m a sucker for Billy on the Street so that was a fun inclusion (though I was hoping for more from Weird Al, alas)
My favorite winner was Sarah Silverman, who I not only find hilarious but exceptionally hot, and not anyone would consider an “obvious” award recipient, so that was nice for me, too.
And while I like Modern Family a lot and won’t begrudge Ty or Gail’s 2nd Emmy, it really is time to share the wealth when it comes to Best Comedy. I think it’s good, but not that good to completely monopolize the award.
I normally don’t like Seth Myers, but I thought he did a really good job. I enjoyed all his bits, which surprised me.
Overall I thought the broadcast was ok, but the weirdness and hijinks of categories bothers me (guest star vs supporting, mini series vs regular series vs movie) . And I like Modern Family a lot, but it was not the best comedy this year or last year. I hate the ruts the Emmys get into. At least next year’s drama categories will be up for grabs with BB over.