The Emmys were held last night, and most of them went to folks who already had their share.
ABC’s Modern Family won for outstanding comedy for the fifth straight year. Breaking Bad was again dubbed the year’s outstanding drama, and the show’s lead character, Bryan Cranston, won his fourth lead actor trophy (tying NYPD Blue’s Dennis Franz for the most all-time). Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory took home his fourth statuette as well. His quartet of best lead comedic actor Emmys ties him with the likes of Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) and Michael J. Fox (Family Ties and Spin City). Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her third straight comedic lead actress Emmy (for HBO’s Veep), and Julianna Margulies snagged her second dramatic actress Emmy for The Good Wife (and her third overall).
It’s interesting so few newcomers took home hardware, and it makes this after-Emmy blog a little frustrating. Should I write about how content-laden most of these shows were? Nope, did that last year. Should I talk about how Breaking Bad is both a haunting, near-biblical illustration on the wages of sin (while still being quite problematic, content-wise)? Whoops! Already did that, too. What about something on how television is changing so rapidly (what with shows from Netflix and such now earning Emmy noms) that we can hardly call it television anymore? Curses.
Just as the Emmys couldn’t think of anyone new to reward, I can’t think of new themes to plumb. Well, except for maybe one.
If anything, this year’s Emmys illustrated the endearing, sneaky charm of television itself: For all its edgy dramas and cutting-edge distribution methods and vaunted writing and acting, TV has always been cultural comfort food. We like what we like. And we like to like it, reward it and share it for as long as possible.
Growing up, I had a few shows that I’d reliably watch week after week. Some of them were great shows, like The Cosby Show and Family Ties. Some of them I blush to mention now: Being a young lover of cars, I loved watching The Dukes of Hazzard and the old Knight Rider. Yes, I could’ve spent my evening in better pursuits, but these programs still gave my week a certain comforting rhythm: Whatever craziness was going on at school or home, I could tune in and see Cliff Huxtable pass on some funny and gentle homilies to his children or watch Bo and Luke Duke jump a bridge.
The shows that get Emmys these days, of course, are often far from comforting. Breaking Bad is one of the most uncomfortable shows to watch ever—perhaps only surpassed by fellow drama nominees Game of Thrones, House of Cards and True Detective.
And yet, people are still tuning in week after week (or binge-watching the whole kabang over a long weekend). And I think people are still looking, in a way, for an element of comfort—not, perhaps, from the shows themselves, but the comfort that comes from talking about them with fellow fans. After all, what’s more comforting than companionship? Shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, as problematic and even horrific as they are, became water-cooler events—catalysts for conversation as relevant as the Super Bowl. These shows aren’t just about the watching: They’re about the discussions it opens afterward. And maybe we’re all desperately in need of a conversation starter or two.
It’s hard to talk much about anything these days, it seems. Religion and politics have always been dangerous dinnertime conversations, of course, but now every potential topic is the source of potential rancor. Even something as innocuous as pouring ice water on you for an inarguably great cause can stir strange passions. If you need proof, just check out our Facebook post on the subject.
But if you’re a Downton Abbey fan, you can happily chatter with another Downton Abbey fan about Lady Mary’s latest love or the Dowager’s most recent gasp-worthy aside. It’s safe ground.
Of course, Downton—another Emmy dramatic nominee—is about as clean as a buzzworthy show gets these days. Those who truly want to dive into culturally relevant television—and engage with their friends and coworkers on such shows—must expose themselves to mountains of content. The sort of content that would’ve been unthinkable on television when I was growing up and watching Family Ties.
Interesting what we take comfort from these days.
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