History was made on several fronts at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards last night.
The HBO miniseries John Adams surpassed the 2003 HBO production Angels in America to become the most honored long form program in TV history. Meanwhile, AMC's Mad Men, a stylish series about life on Madison Avenue in the 1960s, became the first basic cable program to win as best drama.
And then came writer-actress Tina Fey and the series she created, NBC's 30 Rock, dominating the comedy category like no other sitcom in years as it took home awards for best writing, best actress, best actor and best comedy.
While Fey was undoubtedly the single most celebrated performer at the Emmy telecast, it was the record tally of Emmys by Adams and the win by Mad Men that had historians buzzing.
The miniseries about America's second president and his wife, Abigail, had won five Emmys, including the one for best miniseries. Combined with the eight it took home last week at the Creative Arts Awards portion of the competition, it was guaranteed a spot in the record books, topping the 11 won by Angels and Eleanor and Franklin, a 1976 miniseries about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Roots, an epic miniseries about an African-American family's journey through slavery, won nine Emmys in 1977.
"Surpassing Angels in America is a huge and historic accomplishment," said Tom O'Neil, author of the book, The Emmys. "HBO's $100 million production was a massive gamble considering Adams - let's face it - was one of our least sexy U.S. presidents. But what the miniseries might have lacked in cool factor, it obviously made up in artistic achievement, according to the TV pros who vote for the Emmys."
Just as Angels in America and Roots spoke to profound social issues, John Adams arrived during an election cycle in which Americans are grappling with the question of what kind of president they want to lead the nation out of one of its most challenging periods since the 1930s.
In addition to best miniseries, Adams also won for best actor (Paul Giamatti as John Adams), best actress (Laura Linney as Abigail Adams), best supporting actor (Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin), and for screenplay by Kirk Ellis, who offered a political jab in his acceptance speech by praising the Age of Adams as a "period in our history when articulate men articulated complex thoughts in complete sentences."
The success of John Adams, which entered the competition last night with 23 nominations, was part and parcel of HBO continuing its winning ways.
