The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards were televised on Sunday, September 18 and hosted brilliantly by actress and comedian Jane Lynch. TV fans with a penchant for food-based programming tuned in excitedly to see if Bravo's veteran reality series Top Chef would snatch the Outstanding Reality Competition Programming award from long-time winners The Amazing Race two years in a row.
Did they succeed?
Not this year. The Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Competition Programming returned to The Amazing Race, as it had for the past 7 years until Top Chef interrupted the winning streak in 2010.
However, the night was not without food-related winners. The HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, an adaptation of James M. Cain's 1941 novel that highlights the restaurant scene in depression-era Los Angeles, scooped up two coveted acting awards. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie went to Guy Pearce for his role as Monty Beragon, and Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet was awarded Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for portraying Mildred Pierce.
And let's not forget those behind the scenes who were awarded Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Saturday night prior to the televised show:
Traveling culinary expert Anthony Bourdain received the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for Non-Fiction Programming for his Haiti episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or Special went to Laura Rosenthal, casting director for Mildred Pierce.
Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or Special was awarded to Carter Burtwell, writer of the original dramatic score for Mildred Pierce.
Three-way tie for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie winners included production designer Mark Friedberg, art director Peter Rogness, and set decorator Ellen Christiansen-De Jonge for Mildred Pierce.