Game of Thrones triumphs in Emmy win

In a year of change for the Emmys, Breaking Bad is out of competition while Modern Family has lost its Comedy Series crown. There’s been a long overdue win for Mad Men’s Jon Hamm but the clear winners are fantasy epic Game of Thrones and political comedy Veep.

Drama

Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
Orange is the New Black

Actor in a Drama

Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul
Kyle Chandler – Bloodline
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards
Jon Hamm – Mad Men
Jeff Daniels – The Newsroom
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan

Supporting Actor in a Drama

Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul
Ben Mendelsohn – Bloodline
Jim Carter – Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly – House of Cards
Alan Cumming – The Good Wife

Lead Actress in a Drama

Taraji P Henson – Empire
Claire Danes – Homeland
Robin Wright – House of Cards
Viola Davis – How to Get Away With Murder
Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men
Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black

Supporting Actress in a Drama

Joanna Froggatt – Downton Abbey
Lena Headey – Game of Thrones
Emilia Clarke – Game of Thrones
Christine Baranski – The Good Wife
Christina Hendricks – Mad Men
Uzo Aduba – Orange is the New Black

Writing For a Drama Series

The Americans – Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep – Joshua Brand
Better Call Saul – Five-O – Gordon Smith
Game of Thrones – Mother’s Mercy – David Bennioff, DB Weiss
Mad Men – Lost Horizon – Sam Chellas, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men – Person to Person – Matthew Weiner

Directing For a Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire – Eldorado – Tim Van Patten
Game of Thrones – Mother’s Mercy – David Nutter
Game of Thrones – Unbowed, Unbroken, Unbent – Jeremy Podeswa
Homeland – From A to B and Back Again – Lesli Linka Glatter
The Knick – Method and Madness – Steven Soderbergh

Comedy Series

Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Anthony Anderson – Black-ish
Matt LeBlanc – Episodes
Don Cheadle – House of Lies
Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth
Louis CK – Louie
William H Macy – Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent

Lead Actress in a Comedy

Lisa Kudrow – The Comeback
Lily Tomlin – Grace and Frankie
Amy Schumer – Inside Amy Schumer
Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation
Julia Louis Dreyfus – Veep

Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver – Girls
Keegan Michael Key – Key & Peele
Ty Burrell – Modern Family
Titus Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tony Hale – Veep

Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory
Niecy Nash – Getting On
Julie Bowen – Modern Family
Allison Janney – Mom
Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live
Gaby Hoffman – Transparent
Anna Chlumsky – Veep

Writing For a Comedy Series

Episodes – Episode 409 – David Crane, Jeffrey Klarik
The Last Man on Earth – Alice in Tuscon – Will Forte
Louie – Bobby’s House – Louis CK
Silicon Valley – Two Days of the Condor – Alec Berg
Transparent – Pilot – Jill Soloway
Veep – Election Night – Armando Ianucci, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche

Directing For a Comedy Series

The Last Man on Earth – Pilot – Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Louie – Sleepover – Louis CK
Silicon Valley – Sand Hill Shuffle – Mike Judge
Transparent – Best New Girl – Jill Soloway
Veep – Testimony – Armando Ianucci

TV Movie

Agatha Christie’s Poirot: Poirot’s Last Case
Bessie
Grace of Monaco
Hello Ladies: The Movie
Killing Jesus
Nightingale

Miniseries

American Crime
American Horror Story: Freak Show
The Honourable Woman
Olive Kitteridge
Wolf Hall

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Timothy Hutton – American Crime
Ricky Gervais – Derek
Adrien Brody – Houdini
David Oyelowo – Nightingale
Richard Jenkins – Olive Kitteridge
Mark Rylance – Wolf Hall

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Felicity Huffman – American Crime
Jessica Lange – American Horror Story: Freak Show
Queen Latifah – Bessie
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Honourable Woman
Frances McDormand – Olive Kitteridge
Emma Thompson – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Richard Cabral – American Crime
Denis O’Hare – American Horror Story: Freak Show
Finn Wittrock – American Horror Story: Freak Show
Michael Kenneth Williams – Bessie
Bill Murray – Olive Kitteridge
Damian Lewis – Wolf Hall

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Regina King – American Crime
Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Coven
Angela Bassett – American Horror Story: Freak Show
Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Freak Show
Mo’Nique – Bessie
Zoe Kazan – Olive Kitteridge

Writing for a Miniseries or Movie

American Crime – Episode One – John Ridley
Bessie – Bessie – Horton Foote, Dee Rees, Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois
Hello Ladies – Stephen Merchant, Gene Stupmitsky, Lee Eisenberg
The Honourable Woman – Hugo Blick
Oliver Kitteridge – Jane Anderson
Wolf Hall – Peter Straughan

Directing for a Miniseries or Movie

American Horror Story: Freak Show – Ryan Murphy
Bessie – Dee Rees
The Honourable Woman – Hugo Blick
Houdini – Uli Edel
The Missing – Tom Shankland
Oliver Kitteridge – Lisa Cholodenko
Wolf Hall – Peter Kosminsky

Tuorhoth’s TV Awards 2015 – Brooklyn Nine-Nine! Fargo! Wolf Hall! Shield! Gotham!

In a first time special we’ll be revealing the nominees and winners of our favourite TV picks of the past year. We’ve tried to blend drama with comedy and UK with US shows.

Best Show:

Agents of SHIELD (Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jeffrey Bell, Joss Whedon)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Dan Goor, Michael Schur)
Fargo (Noah Hawley)
Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel, Peter Staughan)
The Wrong Mans (James Corden, Matthew Baynton, Tom Basden)

Best Actor:

Andy Samberg as Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Billy Bob Thornton as Lorne Malvo in Fargo
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory
Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall
Martin Freeman as Lester Nygaard in Fargo

Best Actress:

Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall
Eliza Taylor as Clarke Griffin in The 100
Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler in The Big Bang Theory
Sofie Grabol as Hilder Odegard in Fortitude
Stephanie Beatriz as Rosa Diaz in Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Best Supporting Actor:

Andre Braugher as Ray Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Bill Paxton as John Garrett in Agents of SHIELD
Colin Hanks as Gus Grimly in Fargo
Damian Lewis as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall
Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock in Gotham

Best Supporting Actress:

Allison Tolman as Molly Solverson in Fargo
Chelsea Peretti as Gina Linetti in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney in Gotham
Jessica Raine as Jane Boleyn in Wolf Hall
Melissa Rauch as Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz in The Big Bang Theory

Best Drama:

Broadchurch
Fargo
Fortitude
Prey
Wolf Hall

Best Comedy:

The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Not Going Out
The Wrong Mans

Best Action/Adventure:

The 100
Agents of SHIELD
Doctor Who
Gotham
The Musketeers

Here’s the winner’s leaderboard:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – 4
Fargo – 2
Agents of SHIELD, Wolf Hall – 1

Here’s the nominations leaderboard:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fargo, Wolf Hall – 6
The Big Bang Theory – 4
Agents of SHIELD, Gotham – 3
The 100, Fortitude, The Wrong Mans – 2

Review of the Year – The Twelve Best TV Shows of 2014

It has been some year for television but sadly we’ve missed out on some of the big phenomena of the moment (True Detective, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Sons of Anarchy, Orange is the New Black) but we’ve still had plenty to enjoy from both sides of the Atlantic.

12) Sherlock

Key Players: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Amanda Abbington, Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Louise Brealey, Mark Gatiss, Lars Mikkelsen
Best Episode: 3.2 – The Sign of Three
Summary: A vastly disappointing third series for the BBC show. It’s weak on plot, dialogue and the whole ingenious essence of series two but the brilliant performances shine through.

11) The Big Bang Theory

Key Players: Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady
Starring: Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco Sweeting, Mayim Bialik, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Melissa Rauch, Kevin Sussman, Carol Ann Susi, Wil Wheeton
Best Episodes: 7.14 – The Convention Conundrum/8.7 – The Misinterpretation Agitation
Summary: The entire show has been out of stride since series 6 and this eighth season in particular seems both forced and unoriginal. Still the cast, Parsons, Bialik and Nayyar especially, perform fantastically and guest starring turns from Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Newhart and James Earl Jones are enough to shake things up.

10) Doctor Who

Key Players: Steven Moffat
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, Samuel Anderson, Ellis George, Chris Addison
Best Episodes: 8.4 – Listen/8.11 – Dark Water
Summary: Also entering the murky waters of an eighth series is the BBC’s flagship sci-fi show and, while Thick of It star Peter Capaldi’s turn as the new Doctor is a fresh of breath air, a string of weak episodes and poor climax mean this one’ll go down as mediocre.

9) The 100

Key Players: Jason Rothenberg
Starring: Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Paige Turco, Thomas McDonnell, Devon Bostick, Lindsey Morgan, Isiah Washington
Best Episode: 1.3 – Earth Kills
Summary: While a fairly low end production, this teen action is laced with far more gore, darker material and brutal twists than The Hunger Games could dream of.

8) Outnumbered

Key Players: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
Starring: Claire Skinner, Hugh Dennis, Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche, Romana Marquez, Emily Berrington, Rebecca Front, Samantha Bond
Best Episode: 5.6
Summary: A both fitting and touching end to the show which sees all five main characters grow up in one way or another.

7) Not Going Out

Key Players: Lee Mack, Daniel Peak
Starring: Lee Mack, Sally Bretton, Katy Wix, Hugh Dennis
Best Episode: 7.5 – Pointless
Summary: The Brit comedy may well be missing the talent of Tim Vine but still strong in its seventh series and at last properly develops the relationship of Lee (Mack) and Lucy (Bretton).

6) The Musketeers

Key Players: Adrian Hodges
Starring: Tom Burke, Luke Pasqualino, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Maimie McCoy, Peter Capaldi, Hugo Speer, Ryan Gage, Tamla Kari, Alexandra Dowling
Best Episode: 1.9 – Knight Takes Queen
Summary: There’s plenty of clumsily weak dialogue (“Justice won’t pay the rent”) but this is a gorgeously shot piece of swashbuckling entertainment for the masses.

5) Fargo

Key Players: Noah Hawley, Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks, Bob Odenkirk
Best Episode: 1.1 – The Crocodile Dilemna
Summary: Although we’re only half way into watching it, it’s hard to deny this show’s bleak brilliance. Freeman, Hanks, Tolman and Thornton are all incredible in a truly savage tale that plays to the viewer’s sick sense of humour.

4) Gotham

Key Players: Danny Cannon
Starring: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Zabryna Guevara, Robin Lloyd Taylor, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Mazouz, Sean Pertwee, Camren Bicondova, Corey Michael Smith, Erin Richards, Victoria Catagena, John Doman
Best Episode: 1.7 – Penguin’s Umbrella
Summary: This superhero prequel may well need the rest of the season to iron out the chinks but it’s still a massively exciting watch for those in the know on the original sin city.

3) The Wrong Mans

Key Players: Matthew Baynton, James Corden
Starring: Matthew Baynton, James Corden, Anastasia Griffith, John Ross Bowie, Sarah Solemani, Rebecca Front, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dawn French, Alec Utgoff
Best Episodes: 2.1 – X-Mans/2.2 – White Mans
Summary: The long awaited follow up arrived just days ago but is a massive pay off for the fans. Our hapless (and seemingly cursed) heroes Sam Pinkett (Baynton) and Phil Bourne (Corden) improvising songs to prove to a DEA agent (Griffith) that their not smuggling any substances is a delight. Phil: “We didn’t know we were drug donkeys”, Sam: “Mules, Phil: “Drug mules!”.

2) Agents of SHIELD

Key Players: Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancheroen, Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Starring (series one): Clark Greg, Ming-Na Wen, Bill Paxton, Chloe Bennett, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, BJ Britt, David Conrad, Ruth Negga, Patton Oswalt, Saffron Burrows
Starring (series two): Nick Blood, Adrianne Palicki, Henry Simmons, Reed Diamond, Kyle MacLachlan, Simon Kassianides, Adrian Pasdar
Best Episode: 1.17 – Turn, Turn, Turn
Summary: The constant twists and turns require dedication but this Avengers-spin off boasts style and stunning visuals.

1) Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Key Players: Daniel J Goor, Michael Schur
Starring: Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Terry Crews, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Trugilo, Chelsea Peretti, Dirk Blocker, Joel McKinnon Miller
Best Episode: 1.16 – The Bet
Summary: This cop comedy is supreme in its silliness. It’ll be a hard job selecting a stand out performance as each star is fantastic but our own highlight is Andre Braugher’s unfathomably stern Captain Holt or Chelsea Peretti’s ditzy PA Gina.

TV review double-bill: The Big Bang Theory vs Brooklyn Nine-Nine

British channel E4 must be proud to have such a fine bunch of exclusive American comedy in it’s hands. Yes, I’d consider E4’s How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, The Mindy Project and Two Broke Girls to be a little below par compared to the excellence of homegrown comedic talents such as Outnumbered, Black Books and Not Going Out but today’s two subjects are some of the best TV sit-coms around.

First, it’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine which aired its pilot a few days ago. The show upstaged award season heavyweights such as Modern Family, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation and The Big Bang Theory to win the Golden Globe for both Best Comedy TV Show and Best Actor.

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Starring: Andy Sandberg, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Terry Crews, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti

The opening episode introduces some brilliant moments and character chemistry which, at times, had me howling. Andy Sandberg plays cocky, effective but wildly immature NYPD detective Jake Peralta who’s free, prank-filled days at the office could be over with the introduction of the new, stern and commanding officer Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher). The relationship of the lead pair may be the focus of the show but there’s plenty of brilliantly comic supporting characters. Amy Santiago (Fumero) is a viciously competitive detective who’s taken a risky bet with Peralta to see who can solve the most crimes before the end of the year; Crews plays Sergeant Terry Jeffords, a once venerable cop who’s lost his edge; Gina Lenetti’s (Peretti) a perky civilian administrator but my personal favourite is hapless and clumsy investigator Charles Boyle (Truglio) who desperately attempts to chat up tough-as-nails cop Rosa Diaz (Beatriz). This first episode is well written, albeit a disappointing second half and not particularly smart, and excellently performed by the cast.

Director: Mark Cendrowski

Starring: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar, Kate Micucci, Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch, Simon Helberg

In contrast, venerable comedy show The Big Bang Theory, which really found its feet and peaked around series four and five, has now got its seventh series in full swing with the lacking new instalment The Itchy Brain Simulation. I don’t think the show’s quite its usual self this series, or series six. I think this is down to the fact that six of the seven main characters are in steady relationships and the show can’t just rely on Raj’s (Kunal Nayyar) search for love to be enough to carry the show. TBBT used to be at the top of the comedic food chain but I’m not impressed by its recent form. The writers need to look over their shoulders and realise that new rivals such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine are promising far more entertainment.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Pilot – 8/10

The Big Bang Theory’s The Itchy Brain Simulation – 7/10