Anthony Bourdain, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ Win Big on Night 2 of Creative Arts Emmy Awards

By Cynthia Littleton

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – CNN’s “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and NBC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” and “Saturday Night Live” racked up big wins Sunday on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Sunday’s ceremony completes the Television Academy’s two-night presentation of awards in 96 categories. HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” with seven trophies, and FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” with four, were the big winners at the close of Saturday’s ceremony. Over the course of the two nights, “Thrones” and “Saturday Night Live” topped the list of programs with the most wins, with seven awards each.

“Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” collected a total of five trophies, as did “Jesus Christ Superstar.” The victories were emotional for those affiliated with both shows. Bourdain took his own life in July, and “Jesus Christ Superstar” executive producer Craig Zadan died unexpectedly last month.

Lydia Tenaglia, exec producer of “Parts Unknown” and a longtime collaborator with Bourdain, broke up on stage as she accepting Bourdain’s win for writing for a non-fiction program. She described her feeling of “tremendous bittersweetness,” noting that Bourdain had been nommed for his writing in the past but never won. “He’s off on a journey to parts unknown,” she said. “We wish we could be there to shoot that journey with him. I think he would have written the hell out of that episode.”

“Jesus Christ Superstar’s” wins made EGOT winners (those who have Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards) of star John Legend and original composers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The live production won for variety series (live) and kudos for production design, lighting, technical direction and sound mixing.

Neil Meron, Zadan’s longtime producing partner, was also emotional as he accepted the variety special trophy, the last award presented of the night. “This is for Craig,” Meron said. Keeping musical theater alive and well as his “mission,” Meron added. “Tonight he is acknowledged for achieving that goal.”

“Saturday Night Live” picked up six wins on Sunday, bringing its Creative Arts total to seven after Tiffany Haddish prevailed for guest actress in a comedy series for her hosting stint last season.

RuPual Charles collected his third consecutive win for reality competition series host for his work on VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

Among networks, HBO has a narrow lead with 17 total wins coming out of Creative Arts Awards. Netflix is right behind with 16, followed by NBC (15), CNN (8) and FX Networks (7).

Netflix’s revival of “Queer Eye” grabbed three wins, including the trophy for structured reality program. CNN’s “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell” took the win for unstructured reality program. Netflix’s “Wild Wild Country” prevailed for documentary series. The Netflix comedy special “Dave Chappelle: Equanimity” won for variety special.

Judd Apatow took home his first Emmy since 1993 with his HBO production “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling,” which won for documentary special.

Highlights from this weekend’s Creative Arts Awards ceremonies will air Sept. 15 as a special on FXX. The remaining kudos will be handed out Sept. 17 in a ceremony to be telecast live on NBC.

Here’s a list of Sunday’s winners, updated live:

Variety special (live): “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”

Host for a reality competition program: RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

Directing for a reality program: Nick Murray, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

Cinematography for a reality program: “Life Below Zero”

Casting for a reality program: “Queer Eye”

Variety special (pre-recorded): “Dave Chappelle: Equanimity”

Sound mixing for a non-fiction program (single- or multi-camera): “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”

Sound editing for a non-fiction program (single- or multi-camera): “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”

Technical direction, camerawork, video control for a series: “Saturday Night Live”

Makeup for a multi-camera series or special (non-prosthetic): “Saturday Night Live”

Hairstyling for a multi-camera series or special: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

Informational series or special: “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”

Short-form non-fiction or reality: “Anthony Bourdain: Explore Parts Unknown”

Creative achievement in interactive media within a scripted program: “Conan Without Borders”

Interactive program: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”

Music direction: Gregg Field, “Tony Bennett: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song”

Narration: David Attenborough, “Blue Planet II”

Original music and lyrics: “Come Back Barack,” “Saturday Night Live”

Picture editing for a structured or competition reality program: “Queer Eye”

Picture editing for an unstructured reality program: “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell”

Unstructured reality program: “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell”

Structured reality program: “Queer Eye”

Documentary or non-fiction series: “Wild Wild Country”

Directing for a documentary/non-fiction special: Brett Morgen, “Jane”

Documentary/non-fiction special: “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling”

Technical direction, camerawork, video control for a limited series, movie or special: “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert” 

Choreography: Mandy Moore, “So You Think You Can Dance”

Short-form variety series: “Carpool Karaoke — the Series”

Picture editing for variety program: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”

Production design for a variety special: “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”

Production design for a variety, reality or reality competition series: “Saturday Night Live”

Lighting design/lighting direction for a variety special: “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”

Costumes for variety, non-fiction or reality programming: “Rupaul’s Drag Race”

Cinematography for a non-fiction program: “Jane” 

Picture editing for a non-fiction program: “Lagos”

Writing for a non-fiction program: Anthony Bourdain, “Parts Unknown”

Lighting design/lighting direction for a variety series: “Saturday Night Live”

Directing for a variety series: Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”

Writing for a variety series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”

(Pictured: John Legend)