66th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in US prime time television programming from June 1, 2013 until May 31, 2014, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Monday, August 25, 2014, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast in the U.S. by NBC.[2] Comedian and Late Night host Seth Meyers hosted the ceremony for the first time.[3][4][5][6][7] The nominations were announced on July 10, 2014.[8][9][10]
66th Primetime Emmy Awards
- August 25, 2014[1]
(Ceremony) - August 16, 2014[1]
(Creative Arts Awards)
Nokia Theatre,
Los Angeles, California
Breaking Bad (5)
The Normal Heart (9)
Breaking Bad
The scheduling of the Primetime Emmy Awards is coordinated with that of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, which was held the previous weekend on August 16, 2014.[1]
Breaking Bad was the major winner of the night, with five wins, including its second Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for the second part of its fifth season. Modern Family won its fifth consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, tying with Frasier as the series with the most consecutive wins in the category. Gail Mancuso became the first woman in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards to win the Outstanding Directing Emmy twice after her win for directing the Modern Family episode "Las Vegas". The Amazing Race won its tenth Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program as well. Other major winners of the night were Sherlock: His Last Vow (3 wins), American Horror Story: Coven and Fargo (2 wins each).
Changes in categories and balloting[edit]
On November 14, 2013, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that it would implement online voting for its members to select the nominees. However, online voting to determine the winners would not be used until 2015, and winners for this year were voted on via paper ballots.[14]
The Academy had also announced changes to several awards and categories that affect both the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Changes for the Primetime Emmy Awards involved separating the Outstanding Miniseries or Movie category into two entities again—Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Television Movie. The two were combined in 2011, due to a downtrend in the genres. This separation is only for the program category with all other awards in the category remaining combined between the two formats.[15] The Academy also introduced two new categories—Outstanding Structured Reality Program and Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program.[Note 2][16]
There was also an increase in the number of longform nominees in writing, directing and performing categories for miniseries/movie (from five to six nominees) as well as a change in their final voting procedures.[15] Additionally, a 2% rule was adopted in the comedy and drama series categories, wherein, a seventh nominee can be added to the respective categories if its total first-round votes are within 2% of the sixth place series.[15]