Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit pulled off quite the shocking surprise for the last award of the night at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, taking home Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The series had eighteen Emmy award nominations but winning eleven nominations.
The beloved series was going up against HBO’s I May Destroy You and Mare of Easttown, Amazon’s The Underground Railroad, and Disney Plus’ WandaVision for the coveted award.
The series was a passion project of creator Scott Frank’s, who had tried to get the series off the ground for nearly 30 years, with Frank accepting the award with producers Moses Ingram, Marielle Heller, William Horberg, Mick Aniceto, Marcus Loges, and star Anya Taylor-Joy, with Horberg delivering a poignant speech.
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‘Thank you to all the fellow nominees in this category, the amazing work this year. The one thing that no algorithm can predict and no billion-dollar budget can manufacture is word of mouth,’ Horberg began.
‘This award is for the fans who told their friends. And who became friends, fans who told their friends to, you got to watch the orphan girl chess drama,’ he continued.
He went on the thank Netflix, adding, ‘you guys did the rarest thing of all these days, you took a chance on risky material. And you trusted the filmmakers.’
‘Thanks to the TV academy for already recognizing the work of the best department heads and crew that Scott and I have ever worked with, especially our fellow producers, Mick (Aniceto) and Marcus Loges,’ he continued.
He then turned to star Anya Taylor-Joy and stated, ‘what can I say, you brought the sexy back to chess and you inspired a whole generation of girls and young women to realize that patriarchy simply has no defense against our queen.’
‘And finally to my brother, from another mother Scott Frank, for making such a great show that in this pandemic season you managed to refurbish the whole world’s tranquility. Thank you very much,’ he concluded.
The Queen’s Gambit also won Outstanding Direction for a Limited or Anthology Series or TV movie for co-creator Scott Frank, who directed all seven episodes.
The series is based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name, about an orphaned chess prodigy named Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy).
