On 29 August 2010, the red carpet outside Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre became a snapshot of television at a turning point. Jimmy Fallon arrived with producer Nancy Juvonen before hosting the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, while established stars and the casts of a new generation moved past the cameras.
Modern Family, represented on the carpet by Sofia Vergara, won outstanding comedy series after its first season. Mad Men retained outstanding drama series. Together, those awards captured two defining currents of the era: a new family comedy finding immediate acclaim and a period drama deepening an already formidable run.
Two faces in this sequence would leave with major acting awards. Al Pacino won outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie for his performance as Jack Kevorkian in You Don't Know Jack. Edie Falco, photographed holding her statuette, won outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for Nurse Jackie.
The wider arrivals tell their own story. Jane Krakowski represented 30 Rock; Julia Louis-Dreyfus was nominated for The New Adventures of Old Christine; Jennifer Carpenter arrived during Dexter's acclaimed run; and Heidi Klum and Seal joined a carpet that moved easily between television, film and music fame.
Seen together, the eleven photographs preserve the expectant hours before the ceremony resolved into winners and speeches: polished, crowded and poised between familiar television institutions and the shows that would shape the decade ahead.
