Best:
Actress Uzo Aduba. Photo / Getty Images
Uzo Aduba has the best night of her life.
The Orange is the New Black star's tearful excitement was contagious as she won for best supporting actress in a comedy; gave the speech when the show won best comedy; and shared a charming anecdote about getting her SAG card on OITNB. (She originally auditioned for the part of Poussey.)
Debbie Reynolds reminds us that famous moms can be embarrassing, too.
Reynolds won a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by her daughter, Carrie Fisher. Reynolds took a moment to share that when Fisher got the part of Princess Leia in Star Wars, she warned her daughter about getting stuck with any weird hairdos that would haunt her for life. Oops. The best part was Fisher on stage, with a "Ugh, Mom, you're so embarrassing" look on her face.
Viola Davis's powerful acceptance speech.
Still maybe thinking of that New York Times column, a thrilled Viola Davis (the winner for lead actress in a TV drama) thanked How to Get Away With Murder creators and ABC executives for casting her in the wild role, and "for thinking that a sexualized, messy, mysterious woman could be a 49-year-old, dark-skinned African-American woman who looks like me."
Naomi Watts trips over Emma Stone's dress.
This could have been mortifying as the cast of Birdman gathered on stage to accept the win for best ensemble, except that a) Watts seemed so excited b) She caught herself and c) Stone's reaction was priceless.
A Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux sighting.
As is a SAG Award tradition, the show began with various audience members giving a brief, funny anecdote about how they got into acting. Aniston's was just OK ("When I was a little girl growing up in New York City, all I ever wanted to be was Scarlett O'Hara. Oh well.") but there was an added bonus: Her fiance, Justin Theroux, looking on adoringly in the background. We want those two crazy kids to make it!
Bryan Cranston is funny.
Let's just take a moment to remember that Bryan Cranston is hilarious. "We're here to honor inspiring work of fellow performers," Cranston said at the top of the show. "Their talent and the important roles they got to play have the power to stop us in our tracks and make all actors think. ...'God, I need a new agent.'"
Cute family shout-outs.
There's nothing quite as boring as actors reeling off a bunch of names you haven't heard. But Patricia Arquette managed to keep it entertaining by name-checking her famous siblings all in one breath (Rosanna-Richmond-Alexis-David) and J.K. Simmons thanked his wife for raising "above average" children.
"As the World Turns" becomes a running joke.
Accepting her award for Still Alice, Julianne Moore talked about how she was thrilled to be cast as twins on As the World Turns back in the day, but soon realized how boring it was to act with herself. The aging soap, naturally, turned into a running joke of the night. When the cast of Birdman got up on stage to accept the best ensemble prize, resident Hollywood weirdo Zach Galifianakis couldn't help but grab the microphone to copy her intro: "When I was on 'As the World Turns' ..."
Eddie Redmayne proves he'll give a great speech at the Oscars.
Redmayne has some stiff competition in the best actor category, but with his expert speech skills (thanking his fellow nominees and dedicating his win to ALS victims), his portrayal of Stephen Hawking has a pretty great shot at the Oscar gold.
Worst:
Actress Julia Roberts. Photo / Getty Images
Julia Roberts makes the "lead actor in a drama category" all about her.
The A-lister ditched the prepared scripted banter introducing the lead actor nominees, and instead gushed about her Normal Heart co-star Mark Ruffalo's win for best actor in a miniseries. Ruffalo was absent from the ceremony, but still - unnecessary.
William H. Macy's "losers" zinger falls totally flat.
The Shameless star (who won best actor in a comedy for a very dark role) started his acceptance speech off strong: "I've written so many great acceptance speeches that I never got to give. But not tonight!" he noted of his many nominations. "To my fellow nominees ... yeah, forget it, you lost." It could have been a great dig at all those speeches where the winner fawns over their fellow nominees - but the camera happened to catch one fellow nominee (an unamused Eric Stonestreet) in the audience at that second, and it just got awkward.
Frances McDormand's speech is an extended commercial for Olive Kitteridge.
McDormand, who became a meme with her grumpy demeanor at the Golden Globes, let loose with an acceptance speech that started out wonderfully eccentric but ended as a reminder about Olive Kitteridge coming out on DVD next month. Although we did like this line about how she would rather just be in sweatpants than at a fancy award show: "This is really swell and everything, but I wish that we could all get some really cozy slippers; a box of seeds, nuts and chews; hang out and watch more of our work." (Seeds, nuts and chews?)
Downton Abbey" wins best drama ensemble.
If voters are going to award something totally random, why not the last season of Boardwalk Empire?
