Yesterday, we learned who was nominated for the 2019 Emmy Awards. Unsurprisingly (or very surprisingly, depending on who you ask), Game of Thrones blew everything else out of the water with 32 nominations, more than any show has ever gotten in a single year.
It looks like we’re in for something of a victory lap, as several cast members who have never been nominated before — including Alfie Alfie Allen, Gwendoline Christie and Sophie Turner — finally secured places on the ballot. And as usual, Game of Thrones is up for Outstanding Drama Series, the top award of the night. It’s no secret that the final six episodes of the show were controversial among fans, but whether the voters loved the final season or are just using this opportunity to reward the show as a whole, my guess is that this will, once again, be Game of Thrones’ year.
Like the rest of the cast and crew, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin is riding high on the news, and took to Twitter to congratulate the nominees:
My congratulations to David Benioff, Dan Weiss, our producers, directors, and all the rest of our amazing cast and crew... those who were nominated and those who were overlooked alike, they all have reason to be proud. https://t.co/xmOLeatYFV
— George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) July 17, 2019
And he gave more detailed congratulations on his Not a Blog, together with his thoughts on how Game of Thrones has, well, changed the game:
"My congratulations to David Benioff, Dan Weiss, our producers, directors, and all the rest of our amazing cast and crew… those who were nominated and those who were overlooked alike, they all have reason to be proud. They came together to create the most popular television show in the world, and the most acclaimed, nominated, and awarded series in the entire history of television. And they did with a fantasy, a genre that previously had gotten very little respect. GAME OF THRONES changed television, and let us hope that all the fantasy shows that follow — some GOT prequels, many not — will take the torch we lit and carry it proudly."
Martin is right that Game of Thrones has changed television, although we I suspect we won’t know how much until a few years have passed. In the immediate future, it’s given us a lot of splashy expansive fantasy shows to look forward to, including The Wheel of Time, The Witcher, The Kingkiller Chronicle, Watchmen, His Dark Materials, The Dark Tower, Sandman, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show, and many more.
Your move, shows! Carry that torch!
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And congrats again to all the nominees. The Emmys will air on Sunday, September 22 on Fox.
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