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The Emmys honor the greatest performances of the greatest actors on television. But there may be no greater performance for these actors than acting genuinely happy for someone else while accepting soul-crushing defeat.
Like many awards shows, The Emmys use the "zoom in on all the nominees while the winner is announced" cam to simultaneously show heartbreak, joy, and condescension, all while one is dead inside. Here's what happened when some of your favorite actors and actresses were put in one of the toughest acting situations of their careers:
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Winner: Ty Burrell, Modern Family
(NBC)
Losers: Tony Hale is valiantly clapping while his soul cries. Jesse Tyler Ferguson wants to go home.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Winner: Allison Janney, Mom
NBC
Losers: Mayim Bialik looks resigned to her fate. Kate Mulgrew takes the loss in stride. Kate McKinnon, you could have fooled us!
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
NBC
Losers: You can almost hear Taylor Schilling's heart splinter and crack into tiny pieces. Edie Falco thought she might have had it.
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
NBC
Losers: Everyone in this category seems pretty okay with losing. Matt LeBlanc looks like he's finally accepted the darkness.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries
Winner: Martin Freeman, Sherlock
(NBC)
Losers: Matt Bomer needs a hug.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Winner: Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven
(NBC)
Losers: There's a twinge of shock here that you can see on Julia Roberts's face. Ellen Burstyn looks like she's clapping for a distant nephew who just learned his first word.
Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Winner: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Losers: Cicely Tyson is not amused. Tyson's reaction has led me to this theorem: the older you are, the more you don't really care about feigning happiness for the winner. We are tentatively calling this the Cicely Tyson theorem.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Winner: Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
(NBC)
Losers: Everyone here just seems happy that perennial no-show Maggie Smith did not get the award.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Winner: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
(NBC)
Losers: We're not sure Paul really deserved this one. Neither is Jim Carter from Downton Abbey.
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Winner: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
(NBC)
Losers: Robin Wright does not play.
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Winner: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
(NBC)
Losers: Jon Hamm should find Matt Bomer and hug it out.