And the winners are...50+

27 August 2014 - 02:16 By ©The Daily Telegraph
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SOFIA'S CHOICE: Actress Sofia Vergara and TV personality Derek Hough at HBO's Emmy after-party. An earlier 'spinning' joke caused a Twitter uproar, with many viewers thinking it objectified women
SOFIA'S CHOICE: Actress Sofia Vergara and TV personality Derek Hough at HBO's Emmy after-party. An earlier 'spinning' joke caused a Twitter uproar, with many viewers thinking it objectified women

There was a single triumphant demographic at the 66th Emmys, the biggest television awards in the US, on Monday night.

Women over the age of 50, a group that has not always felt so favourably treated in the youth-oriented world of entertainment, won prizes in their droves.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 54, continued her award-winning streak for her role as the incompetent vice-president Selina Myers in Veep, picking up the Emmy for best actress in a comedy.

Allison Janney, 54, won both best supporting actress (comedy) for her role as a recovered addict in Mom, and an Emmy for her guest appearance in the sex-therapy drama Masters of Sex.

Julia Margulies, who deservedly won best actress (drama) for her role in The Good Wife, even made reference in her speech to what a great time it was to be a woman in television. Margulies might still be only 48, but she won her first Emmy 20 years ago, for her role in ER.

The young upstarts of the industry, Netflix, nominated for 31 awards, failed to make the sort of game-changing sweep many had predicted, with FX and HBO picking up more of the major prizes, for Fargo (miniseries) and The Normal Heart (movie).

But the night truly belonged to Breaking Bad, with wins for Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, and Anna Gunn, 46, as best actor, supporting actor and supporting actress respectively, plus the big one, best drama.

HBO's highly praised drama True Detective went home empty-handed, bar a best director award for Cary Joji Fukunaga.

Nevertheless, the show's charismatic leads Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson - both nominated for best actor - were the undisputed stars of the ceremony, drawn into almost every presenter's patter.

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