Much like previous years, last night’s Emmys telecast included a lot of love for HBO. The premium cable network once again led the way among other competition, with series such as “Game of Thrones” and “Chernobyl” picking up multiple trophies. But according to a new interview with Deadline, HBO programming president Casey Bloys does have a couple of projects that he wished got the gold.
Despite being very pleased with “Game of Thrones” winning so many awards, the HBO exec admitted that he it was “disappointing” to see the comedy series “Veep” lose out on the big awards to Amazon’s series “Fleabag.” This season marked the end to “Veep,” which has had a legendary Emmys run, including Julia Louis-Dreyfuss winning Best Actress several years in a row.
Bloys said, “Obviously, I think it’s one of the funniest shows on television but listen, ‘Fleabag’ and Phoebe are amazing so if you’re going to lose to somebody, they’re great people to lose to.”
Another “disappointing” result is how David Milch’s “Deadwood: The Movie” didn’t prevail in the Best TV Movie category, losing to the experimental “Black Mirror” film, “Bandersnatch.”
“It’s such a special show and David is such a special creator,” said Bloys. “I don’t want to sit here and complain, we had a really good night, you can’t win them all but we’re really proud of everyone who was nominated, whether they won or not.”
And he’s absolutely correct, HBO can’t complain. All told, combining all the various Emmys ceremonies, the network walked away with 32 trophies in 2019, including 12 for “Game of Thrones,” 10 for “Chernobyl,” and 3 for “Barry.” So yeah, Bloys and the rest of the folks at HBO can be a little disappointed that perennial favorites like “Veep” didn’t walk away with anything, but overall, the network is still the leader come awards time.