The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2013, until May 31, 2014, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Monday, August 25, 2014, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California, where 26 awards were presented, and was broadcast in the U.S. by NBC. Comedian and NBC's Late Night host Seth Meyers hosted the ceremony for the first time. The nominations were announced on July 10, 2014.
The scheduling of the Primetime Emmy Awards is coordinated with that of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, which was held the previous weekend on August 16, 2014.
Breaking Bad was the major winner of the night, with five wins, including its second Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for the second part of its fifth season. Modern Family won its fifth consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, tying with Frasier as the series with the most consecutive wins in the category. Gail Mancuso became the first woman in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards to win the Outstanding Directing Emmy twice after her win for directing the Modern Family episode "Las Vegas". The Amazing Race won its tenth Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program as well. Other major winners of the night were Sherlock: His Last Vow (3 wins), American Horror Story: Coven and Fargo (2 wins each).
Scheduling of ceremony
The ceremony was held on a night other than Sunday for the first time since 1976 (the 28th Primetime Emmy Awards were also staged on a Monday that year, May 17). The ceremony's unusual date – a Monday night in late August – was due to two factors, primary being NBC's commitment to Sunday Night Football; since acquiring the National Football League's Sunday night game package in 2006, NBC, when it is their turn in the four-network rotation to air the Primetime Emmy Awards, usually schedules the ceremony for the Sunday before Labor Day weekend, to avoid conflicts with SNF in mid-September (when ABC, CBS or Fox normally air the ceremony).The last time a ceremony had to be scheduled around football was the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, which NBC aired on Sunday, August 29, 2010. NBC's ideal date on the 2014 calendar for the ceremony (Sunday, August 24) led to the other scheduling factor — MTV's Video Music Awards, which were set for that night more than a year in advance from MTV.com, May 8, 2013 (and would be staged in the L.A. area as well, at The Forum in Inglewood). On January 28, 2014, rather than go head-to-head with the VMA's, NBC announced that the ceremony would take place on Monday, August 25. The move would allow NBC to commit to a preseason Sunday Night Football broadcast for the 24th (a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals); it also ensured the tradition of staging the Primetime Emmy Awards the weekend after the Creative Arts Emmy Awards (that ceremony was already set for August 16).
The ceremony's weeknight date and start time – 5:00 p.m. (PDT) in Los Angeles, California – led to concerns of rush hour traffic gridlock in Los Angeles' downtown core at the time of the ceremony; to help alleviate the concerns, the ATAS worked with Los Angeles city officials to map out street closures and red carpet staging areas, as well as include travel instructions (including which routes to take and where to park) in attendees' ticket packets.
Changes in categories and balloting On November 14, 2013, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that it would implement online voting for its members to select the nominees. However, online voting to determine the winners would not be used until 2015, and winners for this year were voted on via paper ballots.
The Academy had also announced changes to several awards and categories that affect both the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Changes for the Primetime Emmy Awards involved separating the Outstanding Miniseries or Movie category into two entities again—Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Television Movie. The two were combined in 2011, due to a downtrend in the genres. This separation is only for the program category with all other awards in the category remaining combined between the two formats. The Academy also introduced two new categories—Outstanding Structured Reality Program and Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.Reality television programs are honored in three categories: "Outstanding Reality-Competition Program", "Outstanding Structured Reality Program", and "Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program"; the last two are awarded at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
There was also an increase in the number of longform nominees in writing, directing and performing categories for miniseries/movie (from five to six nominees) as well as a change in their final voting procedures. Additionally, a 2% rule was adopted in the comedy and drama series categories, wherein, a seventh nominee can be added to the respective categories if its total first-round votes are within 2% of the sixth place series.
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:Emmys.com list of 2014 Nominees & Winners
Programs
+ Modern Family (ABC) The Big Bang Theory (CBS) Louie (FX) Orange Is the New Black (Netflix) Silicon Valley (HBO) Veep (HBO) Breaking Bad (AMC) Downton Abbey (PBS) Game of Thrones (HBO) House of Cards (Netflix) Mad Men (AMC) True Detective (HBO) The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) Saturday Night Live (NBC) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Fargo (FX) American Horror Story: Coven (FX) Bonnie & Clyde (A&E) Luther (BBC America) Treme (HBO) The White Queen (Starz) The Normal Heart (HBO) Killing Kennedy (Nat Geo) Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (HBO) Sherlock: His Last Vow (PBS) The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime) The Amazing Race (CBS) Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Project Runway (Lifetime) So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) Top Chef (Bravo) The Voice (NBC)
Acting
Lead + Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Sheldon Cooper (CBS) Louis C.K. – Louie as Louie (FX) Don Cheadle – House of Lies as Marty Kaan (Showtime) Ricky Gervais – Derek as Derek Noakes (Netflix) Matt LeBlanc – Episodes as himself (Showtime) William H. Macy – Shameless as Frank Gallagher (Showtime) Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep as Vice President Selina Meyer (HBO) Lena Dunham – Girls as Hannah Horvath (HBO) Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie as Jackie Peyton, RN (Showtime) Melissa McCarthy – Mike & Molly as Molly Flynn (CBS) Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation as Leslie Knope (NBC) Taylor Schilling – Orange Is the New Black as Piper Chapman (Netflix) Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad as Walter White (AMC) Jeff Daniels – The Newsroom as Will McAvoy (HBO) Jon Hamm – Mad Men as Don Draper (AMC) Woody Harrelson – True Detective as Detective Martin Hart (HBO) Matthew McConaughey – True Detective as Detective Rustin "Rust" Cohle (HBO) Kevin Spacey – House of Cards as Frank Underwood (Netflix) Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife as Alicia Florrick (CBS) Lizzy Caplan – Masters of Sex as Virginia Johnson (Showtime) Claire Danes – Homeland as Carrie Mathison (Showtime) Michelle Dockery – Downton Abbey as Lady Mary Crawley (PBS) Kerry Washington – Scandal as Olivia Pope (ABC) Robin Wright – House of Cards as Second Lady Claire Underwood (Netflix) Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: His Last Vow as Sherlock Holmes (PBS) Chiwetel Ejiofor – Dancing on the Edge as Louis Lester (Starz) Idris Elba – Luther as DCI John Luther (BBC America) Martin Freeman – Fargo as Lester Nygaard (FX) Mark Ruffalo – The Normal Heart as Ned Weeks (HBO) Billy Bob Thornton – Fargo as Lorne Malvo (FX) Jessica Lange – American Horror Story: Coven as Fiona Goode (FX) Helena Bonham Carter – Burton & Taylor as Elizabeth Taylor (BBC America) Minnie Driver – Return to Zero as Maggie Royal (Lifetime) Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Coven as Cordelia Foxx (FX) Cicely Tyson – The Trip to Bountiful as Mrs. Carrie Watts (Lifetime) Kristen Wiig – The Spoils of Babylon as Cynthia Morehouse (IFC)
Supporting + Ty Burrell – Modern Family as Phil Dunphy (ABC) Fred Armisen – Portlandia as various characters (IFC) Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Ray Holt (Fox) Adam Driver – Girls as Adam Sackler (HBO) Jesse Tyler Ferguson – Modern Family as Mitchell Pritchett (ABC) Tony Hale – Veep as Gary Walsh (HBO) Allison Janney – Mom as Bonnie Plunkett (CBS) Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler (CBS) Julie Bowen – Modern Family as Claire Dunphy (ABC) Anna Chlumsky – Veep as Amy Brookheimer (HBO) Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Kate Mulgrew – Orange Is the New Black as Galina "Red" Reznikov (Netflix) Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad as Jesse Pinkman (AMC) Jim Carter – Downton Abbey as Charles Carson (PBS) Josh Charles – The Good Wife as Will Gardner (CBS) Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones as Tyrion Lannister (HBO) Mandy Patinkin – Homeland as Saul Berenson (Showtime) Jon Voight – Ray Donovan as Mickey Donovan (Showtime) Anna Gunn – Breaking Bad as Skyler White (AMC) Christine Baranski – The Good Wife as Diane Lockhart (CBS) Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey as Anna Bates (PBS) Lena Headey – Game of Thrones as Cersei Lannister (HBO) Christina Hendricks – Mad Men as Joan Harris (AMC) Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (PBS) Martin Freeman – Sherlock: His Last Vow as Dr. John Watson (PBS) Matt Bomer – The Normal Heart as Felix Turner (HBO) Colin Hanks – Fargo as Officer Gus Grimly (FX) Joe Mantello – The Normal Heart as Mickey Marcus (HBO) Alfred Molina – The Normal Heart as Ben Weeks (HBO) Jim Parsons – The Normal Heart as Tommy Boatwright (HBO) Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Coven as Delphine LaLaurie (FX) Angela Bassett – American Horror Story: Coven as Marie Laveau (FX) Ellen Burstyn – Flowers in the Attic as Olivia Foxworth (Lifetime) Frances Conroy – American Horror Story: Coven as Myrtle Snow (FX) Julia Roberts – The Normal Heart as Dr. Emma Brookner (HBO) Allison Tolman – Fargo as Deputy Molly Solverson (FX)
Directing + Modern Family: "Las Vegas" – Gail Mancuso (ABC) Episodes: "Episode Nine" – Iain B. MacDonald (Showtime) Glee: "100" – Paris Barclay (Fox) Louie: "Elevator, Part 6" – Louis C.K. (FX) Orange Is the New Black: "Lesbian Request Denied" – Jodie Foster (Netflix) Silicon Valley: "Minimum Viable Product" – Mike Judge (HBO) True Detective: "Who Goes There" – Cary Joji Fukunaga (HBO) Boardwalk Empire: "Farewell Daddy Blues" – Tim Van Patten (HBO) Breaking Bad: "Felina" – Vince Gilligan (AMC) Downton Abbey: "Episode One" – David Evans (PBS) Game of Thrones: "The Watchers on the Wall" – Neil Marshall (HBO) House of Cards: "Chapter 14" – Carl Franklin (Netflix) 67th Tony Awards – Glenn Weiss (CBS) 86th Academy Awards – Hamish Hamilton (ABC) The Beatles: The Night That Changed America – Gregg Gelfand (CBS) Kennedy Center Honors – Louis J. Horvitz (CBS) Six by Sondheim – James Lapine (HBO) The Sound of Music Live! – Beth McCarthy-Miller and Rob Ashford (NBC) Fargo: "Buridan's Ass" – Colin Bucksey (FX) American Horror Story: Coven: "Bitchcraft" – Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (FX) Fargo: "The Crocodile's Dilemma" – Adam Bernstein (FX) Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight – Stephen Frears (HBO) The Normal Heart – Ryan Murphy (HBO) Sherlock: His Last Vow – Nick Hurran (PBS)
Writing + Louie: "So Did the Fat Lady" – Louis C.K. (FX) Episodes: "Episode Five" – David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik (Showtime) Orange Is the New Black: "I Wasn't Ready" – Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan (Netflix) Silicon Valley: "Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency" – Alec Berg (HBO)