Get the snacks and a scorecard ready for the 2019 Emmy Awards.
As TV academy voters honor what they consider the small-screen's best, viewers can join in by tallying up wins, snubs and records during the no-host, three-hour ceremony airing Sunday at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox. The reward for TV geeks whose predictions pan out at the 71st annual Emmy Awards: no trophy, but bragging rights.
There's also the fun of cheering your favorites and rooting against their competitors. Conflicted feelings may loom for "Game of Thrones" fans who loved the series, hated its finale. HBO's fantasy saga headed into the ceremony with a record 32 nominations, collecting 10 awards at last weekend's creative arts ceremony for technical and other achievements.
A video monitor displays the stage for Sunday's 71st Primetime Emmy Awards during Press Preview Day, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
If the series adds three more wins on Sunday, it will break its own record for most awards in a season, 12, which it earned in 2015 and again in 2016. If it claims the top drama trophy, it will be its fourth and make it one of a handful of series to achieve that tally. It could also build on its record of the most Emmys ever for a drama or comedy series, now at 57.
"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" is defending the top comedy award it captured last year, when three-time winner "Veep" was on hiatus. As with "Game of Thrones," the political satire is entered for its final season and could benefit from voter sentiment as well as evident respect.
Same goes for "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose potential seventh Emmy for the show would combine with two others she's won to make her the most-honored performer in Emmy history.
An Emmy Award is pictured inside the Lindt Chocolate Lounge backstage during Press Preview Day for Sunday's 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
"Game of Thrones" is competing in six categories besides best drama, including directing, writing and acting — with stars Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington vying for lead acting honors for the first time, and Peter Dinklage seeking his fourth supporting actor award.
Clarke's competition includes Sandra Oh of "Killing Eve," who would be the first actress of Asian descent to win the Emmy, along with Oh's co-star Jodie Comer and past winner Viola Davis of "How to Get Away with Murder." A win for Clarke or any of the four "Game of Thrones" actresses competing for a supporting trophy would be the first for a woman on the show.
The best drama actor field includes Billy Porter of "Pose," who would be the first openly gay man to win the award, and past winner Sterling K. Brown for "This Is Us."
Crew member Brent Tillema sweeps the stage during Press Preview Day for the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
Presenters are set to include Angela Bassett, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hugh Laurie, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Randall Park. Actor-comedian Thomas Lennon has the off-camera job of regaling viewers with factoids and jokes as winners head to the stage.
Halsey will perform during the in memoriam tribute.
Online:
http://www.emmys.com .
Lynn Elber is at lelber@ap.org and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber
SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai.
Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai. He also planned to speak to students and business leaders before flying to Beijing for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform.
China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan, the self-governing island that it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok’s sale.
Still, the fact that Blinken made the trip — shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs — is a sign the two sides are at least willing to discuss their differences.
“I think it’s important to underscore the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, seeking to work through them,” Blinken told Chen.
“We have an obligation for our people, indeed an obligation to the world, to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly,” he said. “That is the obligation we have, and one that we take very seriously.”
Chen agreed with that sentiment and said the recent Biden-Xi call had helped the “stable and healthy development of our two countries’ relationship.”
“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries, and the future of humanity” he said.
Chen added that he hoped Blinken was able to get a “deep impression and understanding” of Shanghai.
Shortly after arriving, Blinken attended a Chinese basketball playoff game between the local Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, with the home team losing in the last seconds in 121-120 nailbiter.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, center, with U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai Scott Walker, left, while attending a basketball game between the Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, center, with U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai Scott Walker, right, while attending a basketball game between the Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, second left, and U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, far right, arrive at the Grand Halls to meet with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, shakes hans with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining as they meet at the Grand Halls, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining at the Grand Halls, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Grand Halls, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining at the Grand Halls, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, talks with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining at the Grand Halls, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, watches U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, left, shake hands with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining at the Grand Halls, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
