Nothing is certain during awards season, but HBO's “Angels in America,” which swept the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 19, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, certainly came close.
The miniseries had every pedigree possible: Tony Kushner wrote the script based on his Tony-winning play; director and executive producer Mike Nichols; and stars Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeffrey Wright, all of whom won that night. “Angels” was the most-watched made-for-cable series of 2003, and it gave a dramatic voice to the AIDS epidemic in a way that no other television project had done before.
An 'angelic' evening
And so, “Angels” had an angelic night at the Emmys, breaking the record held by “Roots” since 1977 for the most Emmys awarded to a miniseries in a single year (11 wins from 21 nominations). It became the first show to sweep all the major categories in which it was eligible, and became only the second series up to that point to win all four major miniseries acting categories.
Today, there is no longer a miniseries category; over the decades, the label “scripted fiction program of more than one episode” has evolved. Today, the category applies to limited or anthology series.
“Angels” beat out strong competition from “American Family” (Season 1) on PBS; “Horatio Hornblower” on A&E; “Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness” on PBS; and “Traffic” on USA.
Continuing the fight against AIDS
Nichols accepted the award from presenter Barbara Walters and promptly handed it to Kushner, who joined him on stage along with many cast members and his fellow producers. After thanking HBO executives and his fellow producers (executive producer Cary Brokaw; co-executive producer Mike Haley and producer Celia D. Costas were also winners), Nichols added, “As you know, the fight against AIDS is not over yet and we need to do what we can for Africa, and that’s what we want to leave you with when it comes to ‘Angels in America.’ Let’s see what we can do.”
This was Nichols’ fourth Emmy; he had won for directing earlier that night, and his other two were in 2001 for “Wit,” on which he also worked with Brokaw and Haley. This was Brokaw’s second Emmy (his first was for “Wit”); and Haley and Costas’ first wins. Costas would win a second in 2005 for “Warm Springs.”
Heart surgery pioneers get their groove on
The choice of who would win in the TV movie category was less predictable, but “Something the Lord Made” (also from HBO) earned awards for executive producers Robert W. Cort, Eric Hetzel and David Madden and producers Michael Drake and Julian Krainin.
The film about the pioneers of heart surgery earned Cort a second Emmy (she had won in 1990 for “A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story”); and first wins for Hetzel, Madden, Drake and Krainin (Krainin had won an Oscar in 1974 for the documentary short “Princeton: A Search for Answers”).
After accepting the award from presenters Kiefer Sutherland and Joely Richardson, Cort spoke on behalf of the producers and praised the film's nominated director, Joe Sargent, who was in the audience and already had four Emmy wins under his belt for projects spanning from 1973 to 1992. Cort noted that Sargent's “brave heart” permeates every frame of our film.
“Something the Lord Made” also took home awards for cinematography for a miniseries and single-camera picture editing for a miniseries, but there were no acting awards for nominated stars Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Alan Rickman.
“Something” competed with “Ike: Countdown to D-Day” (A&E); “And Starring Pancho Villa as himself” (HBO); “The Lion in Winter” (Showtime); and “The Reagans” (Showtime).
