War and politics are winning mix for US television
Albert Finney's portrayal of Churchill and 'The West Wing' take the honours at the Emmys
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Your support makes all the difference.The White House may think President Bush does a fine job wearing the mantle of Winston Churchill these days, but the voters of the American television academy have decided that, on the small screen at least, they'd rather have Albert Finney play the part.
Finney, one of Britain's most perennially successful acting exports, was awarded the Emmy for best actor in a television movie for his uncannily accurate portrayal of Churchill in the one-off drama The Gathering Storm, a co-production between the US Home Box Office (HBO) network and the BBC. The programme took two other major awards on Sunday night, for best television movie and for Hugh Whitemore's script, based on the memoirs of the old bulldog.
Finney, who is 66 and was nominated for a supporting actor Oscar at the latest Academy Awards for his winning turn opposite Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, beat some tough competition from fellow Britons Michael Gambon, playing President Lyndon Johnson on the eve of the Vietnam War in HBO's Path to War, and Kenneth Branagh, as the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton in the Channel 4 production.
The timing of The Gathering Storm, which aired during the summer, could not have been better for striking the right geopolitical nerve. Since the 11 September attacks, President Bush has been filling his speeches with self-consciously Churchillian rhetoric. Recently, his Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, cast him – less than convincingly, perhaps – as a latter-day Churchill seeking to fend off the Hitler-like menace of Saddam Hussein. When Mr Bush warned the United Nations of the "grave and gathering danger" from Iraq, he was not only using Churchillian rhetoric; he was alluding to the title of the television movie.
There was politics aplenty at the Emmy awards, which were back on extravagantly glitzy form after last year's uncomfortable austerities and multiple postponements caused by the attacks on New York and Washington. The night's big winner, for the third year in a row, was NBC's presidential drama series, The West Wing, which won six awards including best drama series. Martin Sheen's fictional president, Josiah Bartlet, might be several leagues to the left of George Bush politically, but the fascination with the inner workings of presidential power is surely a sign of the times.
The West Wing came out well ahead of the new kid on the television block, the black comedy Six Feet Under, which was nominated in more categories but ended up with just one major prize, for best direction. The fact that Six Feet Under deals with the distinctly un-Churchillian themes of family dysfunction, homosexuality and death may have had something to do with its final tally.
Elsewhere, the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks mini-series Band of Brothers took top honours in its category. Friends won for best comedy series for the first time in its nine-year run – almost certainly for the last time, too, as it reaches its final series. Jennifer Aniston, whose character spent much of the season pregnant, won her first award for best actress in a comedy.
The winners
Comedy: Friends
Actor Drama: Michael Chiklis, The Shield
Actress Drama: Allison Janney, The West Wing
Actor Comedy: Ray Romano, Everybody Loves Raymond
Actress Comedy: Jennifer Aniston, Friends
Actor Mini-series or Movie: Albert Finney The Gathering Storm
Actress Mini-series or Movie: Laura Linney Wild Iris
Supporting Actor Drama: John Spencer The West Wing
Supporting Actress: Drama: Stockard Channing The West Wing
Supporting Actor Comedy: Brad Garrett Everybody Loves Raymond
Supporting Actress Comedy: Doris Roberts Everybody Loves Raymond
Supporting Actor Mini-series or Movie: Michael Moriarty James Dean
Supporting Actress Mini-series or Movie: Stockard Channing The Matthew Shepard Story
Directing Drama: Alan Ball Six Feet Under
Directing Comedy: Michael Patrick King Sex and the City
Directing Variety, Music or Comedy Programme: Ron De Moraes, Kenny Ortega, Bucky Gunts Opening Ceremony ... 2002 Winter Olympic Games
Directing Mini-series, Movie or Dramatic Special: David Frankel, Tom Hanks, David Leland, Richard Loncraine, David Nutter, Phil Alden Robinson, Mikael Salomon, Tony To Band of Brothers
Writing Drama: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran 24
Writing Comedy: Larry Wilmore, The Bernie Mac Show
Writing Variety, Music or Comedy Programme: Saturday Night Live
Writing Mini-series, Movie or Dramatic Special: Larry Ramin, Hugh Whitemore, The Gathering Storm
Performance Variety or Music Programme: Sting, Sting in Tuscany ... All This Time
Variety, Music or Comedy Series: Late Show with David Letterman
Variety, Music or Comedy Special America: A Tribute to Heroes
Made for TV Movie: The Gathering Storm
Mini-series: Band of Brothers
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