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‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Mrs. Maisel’ triumph at Emmys

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” became the first streaming series to win top Emmy comedy honors and HBO’s “Game of Thrones” recaptured the best drama series award Monday at a ceremony that largely slighted its most ethnically diverse field of nominees ever.

With the exception of “Saturday Night Live,” broadcast shows were shut out of the top awards as 21st-century platforms continued to overshadow traditional network fare like “This Is Us.”

HBO, which had ceded its top-dog status in total nominations for the first time in 17 years in July (108, to Netflix’s 112), ended up in a tie for wins with the streaming service at 23 each.

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” a freshman sitcom about an unhappy 1950s homemaker liberated by stand-up comedy, earned best actress honors for star Rachel Brosnahan.

Her castmate Alex Borstein earned the supporting actress trophy and the series creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino (“Gilmore Girls”), nabbed writing and directing awards.

Claire Foy of “The Crown” and Matthew Rhys of “The Americans” won top drama acting Emmys, their first trophies for the roles and last chance to claim them, with Foy’s role as Queen Elizabeth II going to another actress and Rhys’ show wrapped.

The field bested by Foy included last year’s winner Elisabeth Moss for “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Sandra Oh of “Killing Eve,” who would have been the first actor of Asian descent to get a top drama award.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” said a startled Foy. She played the young British queen who, as the series continues, will be shown advancing in years.

“Game of Thrones,” which sat out last year’s Emmys because of scheduling, won its third best drama trophy despite competition from defending champ “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“Thank you for letting us take care of your people,” ”Game of Thrones” producer D.B. Weiss said to George R.R. Martin, whose novels and their characters fuel the drama.

In a ceremony that started out congratulating TV academy voters for the most historically diverse field of nominees yet, the early awards all went solely to whites.

An African-American sweep of guest series actor awards at the recent creative arts Emmys suggested big changes ahead for the awards, which only recently have given significant honors to performers and creators of color.

But there was disappointment for “Atlanta,” which had claimed acting and directing trophies last year for its star and creator Donald Glover and seemed poised for more with 16 nominations.

Rather than become the first black-led comedy in 33 years to be named the best (since “The Cosby Show” in 1985), “Atlanta” was shut out Monday (it won two awards, including guest actor for Katt Williams, last week).

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