Emmys 2013: Making sense of an ever-changeable awards evening

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The “Breaking Bad” crew, winner of the drama series Emmy at the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, pose in the press room. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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The Emmy-winning cast of “Modern Family” hits the stage to accept its award. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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James Cromwell won for supporting actor in a miniseries or movie. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Neil Patrick Harris, center, dances with the Emmy-nominated choreographers. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Vince Gilligan is mobbed by the “Breaking Bad” cast and crew after winning for drama series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Producers Michael Polaire, left, Gregory Jacobs, Susan Ekins and Jerry Weintraub, winners of miniseries or movie for “Behind the Candelabra,” and Michael Douglas, right, winner of lead actor in a miniseries or movie for the same film, pose in the press room. (Paul Buck / EPA)

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Host Neil Patrick Harris speaks onstage during the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Actress Jane Lynch, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, and Emmys host Neil Patrick Harris, all past Emmys hosts, perform onstage. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Writer/actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler make their way to the stage to present an award. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Actress/writers Amy Poehler and Tina Fey present the Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy series to Merritt Wever. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Merritt Wever’s acceptance speech for her supporting actress in a comedy series Emmy for her work on “Nurse Jackie” was very brief. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Presenters LL Cool J and Malin Akerman. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Actresses, and sisters, Zooey Deschanel (“New Girl”) and Emily Deschanel (“Bones”). (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield won the Emmy for writing for a comedy series for their work on “30 Rock.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Actors Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) and Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”) present onstage. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Gail Mancuso wins the Emmy for directing in a comedy for her work on “Modern Family.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Robin Williams paid tribute to the late Jonathan Winters. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Robin Williams remembers comedy legend Jonathan Winters, who died in April. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and actress Sofia Vergara (“Modern Family”) introduce the nominees for lead actor in a comedy series. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Jeff Daniels accepts the Emmy for lead actor in a drama series for his work on HBO’s “The Newsroom.” He joked about the last award he’d won being the AARP’s best actor over 50 for “The Squid and the Whale” (a golden Barcalounger), saying the Emmy is better. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Singer Carrie Underwood performs the Beatles’ “Yesterday.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Bobby Cannavale won the Emmy for supporting actor in a drama series for his work on “Boardwalk Empire.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Director Rob Reiner gives a tribute to Jean Stapleton. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Jim Parsons wins the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series for his work on “The Big Bang Theory.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Sarah Bromell accepts an award for her late husband, Henry Bromell, who won the Emmy for writing for a drama series for his work on “Homeland.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Actress Jane Lynch speaks onstage about the late actor Cory Monteith, who she worked with on “Glee.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Tony Hale, left, feeds lines to Julia Louis-Dreyfus as she accepts the award for lead actress in a comedy series for her work on “Veep.” Hale won for the supporting actor in a comedy series award for his performance on the show. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associted Press)

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Actor Nathan Fillion performs during the musical number marking the halfway point in the show. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Actress and comedian Sarah Silverman performs during the musical number marking the show’s halfway point. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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“The Voice” producer Mark Burnett accepts the award for reality competition program. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Recording artist Elton John talks about Liberace before performing “Home Again.” (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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“Behind the Candelabra” costars Matt Damon, left, and Michael Douglas introduce a performance by Elton John. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associted Press)

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Talk show host Jimmy Fallon speaks onstage into a moving microphone during the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

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Neil Patrick Harris performs a song-and-dance routine. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Gail Mancuso points to the house as she stands up to get her Emmy for directing for a comedy series for “Modern Family.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Tony Hale, right, accepts the Emmy for supporting actor in a comedy series for his work in “Veep.” Included in his thank-yous: a shout out to a youth theater in Tallahassee, Fla., that he was part of. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Melissa Leo, who won for guest actress in a comedy series for her turn on “Louie,” shows off her Emmy backstage at the ceremony. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Edie Falco presents a tribute to the late James Gandolfini. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)

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Anna Gunn accepts the Emmy for supporting actress in a drama series for her work on “Breaking Bad.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Dancers perform at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, the first show to announce the choreography Emmy winner in the telecast. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Derek Hough, whose routine “Hey Pachuco” on “Dancing With the Stars” won the choreography Emmy, jumps for joy. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Actors Jim Parsons and Bob Newhart present the variety show award. Newhart won his first Emmy, for guest actor in a comedy series, at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys. The show he appeared in? “The Big Bang Theory.” Parsons won the lead actor in a comedy series award Sunday for his work on that show. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Stephen Colbert runs to the stage to receive the Emmy for variety series for “The Colbert Report.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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“The Voice” representatives pose after winning for reality competition program. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Claire Danes reacts to winning lead actress in a drama series (“Homeland”) as she makes her way to the stage. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Claire Danes accepts her Emmy. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By Glenn Whipp

Sept. 23, 2013 10:30 AM PT

“Modern Family”? Check. “Breaking Bad”? Double check. Jeff Daniels? Whaaaaaa????

The 2013 Emmy Awards made for a changeable evening with voters swinging wildly between rubber-stamping old favorites and offering up jaw-dropping surprises. It was, to quote noted Emmy handicapper Jimi Hendrix, a “frustrating mess” for anyone making predictions.

That said, let’s run down the list of winners and see whether we can make some sense from the higgledy-piggledy happenings of the evening.

Emmys 2013: Full coverage | Best & worst Emmy moments | Red carpet video | Quotes from the stars

DRAMA SERIES

The favorite: “Breaking Bad”

The winner: “Breaking Bad”

Analysis: Finally. Fans would have sent Emmy voters on a trip to Belize had the show been denied its first win in this category.

COMEDY SERIES

The favorite: “Modern Family”

The winner: “Modern Family”

Analysis: Again? Yes. Again. With its cable competitors “Louie,” “Veep” and “Girls” sharing a similar comic sensibility (you could throw NBC’s acerbic “30 Rock” in there as well) and, thus, dividing the vote, “Modern Family” probably had to beat only its equally popular broadcast network offering “The Big Bang Theory” to win its fourth straight Emmy.

LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA

The favorite: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”

The winner: Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”

Analysis: If the Emmys were going to go for a movie star here, everyone assumed it’d be Kevin Spacey for “House of Cards.” Daniels, though, had a killer three-minute monologue in his Emmy episode submission. Aaron Sorkin wrote it, and Daniels nailed it, and apparently that was enough for voters.

More Emmys: Red carpet | Play-at-home ballot | Timeline | L.A. Times photo booth | Emmys presenters

LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA

The favorites: Claire Danes, “Homeland” and Kerry Washington, “Scandal”

The winner: Danes

Analysis: Many thought voters would choose Washington for the hit “Scandal,” making her the first black actress to win this category. But Danes had a stronger Emmy submission, “Q&A,” that afforded her more big acting moments than could be found on Washington’s soapy political drama.

LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY

The favorites: Louis C.K., “Louie” and Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”

The winner: Parsons.

Analysis: Parsons’ Emmy submission, “The Habitation Configuration,” was a flawless episode of “The Big Bang Theory” that generously demonstrated his comic timing and likability. C.K.’s Emmy episode was the first of a two-parter. It was charming enough, but not necessarily indicative of the show’s ambition and comic risk-taking.

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY

The favorite: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

The winner: Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

Analysis: Fourteen nominations. Four wins. What do you need to know? They like her! They really like her!

More Emmys photos: Top winners & nominees | Show highlights

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA

The favorite: Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”

The winner: Bobby Cannavale, “Boardwalk Empire”

Analysis: If Patinkin was going to be denied, most figured that one of the “Breaking Bad” nominees – last year’s winner Aaron Paul or Jonathan Banks would win. Cannavale? His Emmy episode had him punching a priest, berating Jesus and stealing from the collection plate. Maybe there were a lot of lapsed Catholics among voters.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA

The favorite: Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad”

The winner: Gunn

Analysis: She joins co-stars Cranston and Paul as Emmy winners. Gunn had a stellar episode, the one where Skyler stages a suicide and later tells Walt she’s waiting/hoping/wishing for him to die. A supporting performer couldn’t have a better showcase.

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY

The favorite: Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”

The winner: Tony Hale, “Veep”

Analysis: Given how great Hale was in both “Veep” and “Arrested Development” (not to mention helping Louis-Dreyfus deliver her Emmy acceptance speech), voters had a strong alternative to the “Modern Family” gang (the show had won this category the past three years) and went with it. They made the right call.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY

The favorite: Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”

The winner: Merritt Wever, “Nurse Jackie”

Analysis: Easily, the night’s biggest shocker. (Maybe voters knew she’d deliver that great speech.) Did “Modern Family” nominees Bowen and Sofia Vergara cancel each other out? Or, more likely, do voters just dig Wever’s charmingly naive character on “Nurse Jackie,” even if the show, in its fifth season, isn’t generating much conversation these days?

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Emmys 2013: Quotes from stars

Emmys 2013: Complete list of winners and nominees

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