The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema The Big & Small Screen
I would like to take a moment and say that “Game of Thrones”, is without doubt the greatest show ever made. Yes, there have been other shows that have changed the game when it comes to entertainment. It has been roughly 12 years since “Friends”, stopped airing but they are still people out there, clamouring for “Friends” reunion and binge watching re-runs. True, you cannot have a discussion on pop television culture without including the gang from Central Perk. Shows like “West Wing” (1996-2006), “The Simpsons” (1989-present) and “Blackadder” (1983-1989) have all been trend-setters in specific genres and many shows today owe their being to the existence of these yesteryear shows.
That is all true and dandy, but “Game of Thrones”, is by far better. Never has the greatness of “Game of Thrones”, been more evident than during last week’s Emmy Awards.
During television’s darkest hour — where studios have become loss-making, shows are getting cancelled, creativity is lacking and there appears to be a lot of plagiarism and idea stealing; it is quite refreshing to find a show that is not only new, but is gusty and has managed to keep the world on its toes for what now seems like a lifetime.
Let me put this “Game of Thrones”, phenomenon into perspective. During last week’s Emmy Awards, Television basically flipped the bird at film or should I say the “Oscars”, by showing a true representation of the diverse nature of the genre.
Diversity took centre stage as television paid tribute to all shows, actors and actresses, colour and races.
With each winner announced, each acceptance speech uttered and every show or personality honoured; television proved that while it might be the “Test cricket” of entertainment, there is still room for tradition and core values in this ever changing world of ours.
Names like Jon Oliver, Rami Malek, Tatiana Maslany, Aziz Ansari, Regina King, Courtney B Vance and many others all took time to walk to the podium and score that winning goal for diversity.
Oliver walked away with the Best Writing Variety series gong, while Malek, Maslany, Anasari and Vance won Outstanding Lead Actor (Drama Series), Outstanding Lead Actress (Drama Series), Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor (Limited Series) respectively.
There were even some moments for the old dogs as Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her fifth consecutive gong for Outstanding Lead Actress in a comedy, while newcomer and ultra-talented newbie Kate McKinnon won her first Emmy.
With all these sub-plots and wins all around, the night, however, truly belonged to the “Game of Thrones” cast.
Records were broken while recognition was finally received as “Game of Thrones”, won gongs in three different categories and collected a total of 12 Awards on the night.
In addition to its achievement as this year’s Outstanding Drama Series, creators David Benioff and Daniel Weiss took home the prize in writing for the show’s ninth episode “Battle of the Bastards”.
The episode also saw Miguel Sapochnik walk away with his own gong for Outstanding Directing, and capped off a night that saw the show take home prizes in the casting, costumes, editing, production design, makeup, prosthetics, sound mixing and special visual effects department.
They also took their tally to 38 Emmy Awards, and became the fictional show with the most awards. The record was previously held by “Frazier” on 35.
Now, one might argue that these are just numbers but remember numbers do not lie. In the space of just six years, the show has won more accolades than shows, which have been in existence for twice, sometimes even thrice, its lifespan.
“Game of Thrones” now has the record for most Emmys in a single year, 12, which the show has achieved twice (2015 and 2016). The series has the record for the most Emmy wins by a drama series (38).
Episode Nine of the just ended Sixth Season “Battle of the Bastards”, has the most Emmy wins for a single episode (7).
The show now has two more years to catch on the most Emmy wins ever; a record firmly held by the sketch comedy cult classic Saturday Night Live (50). Now, if that is not greatest, then I do not know what is!
