From the moment T.J. Miller appeared onstage, bare-chested with a painted belly, for the opening musical number of the Critics’ Choice Awards, it was clear he wanted his time hosting the show to be as weird as possible. Miller made good on that promise throughout the night at Santa Monica’s Barker Hanger—including one moment pretending to be shot out of a cannon—even if the evening transpired largely as expected, awards-wise.
One notable surprise on the wins-front however came late in the show when Silicon Valley received Best Comedy Series. Cue Atlanta co-star Keith Stanfield, somewhat channeling Kanye West and, we’ll be honest, embodying the thoughts of many there and in the audience about who should have won. As Silicon Valley executive producer Tom Lassally took the stage to accept the trophy, Stanfield ran onstage in his sailor hat and white button down — the apparent uniform of the Atlanta crew this evening — perhaps registering some discontent for the FX series’ loss in the contest.
“I want to thank everybody for honoring us in this way. We worked very hard on Silicon Valley. And here we are,” the actor deadpanned. “Thank you.” The camera then cut to Veep stars Timothy Simons and Sam Richardson, awestruck and suppressing laughter, and hardly alone.
“Wow. No idea who that was,” Lassally said, before launching into his acceptance speech.
Although Silicon Valley took Best Comedy Series for the second year in a row, Atlanta registered one major win, with Atlanta star Donald Glover taking home the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
“I hope this awards show is very different than any of the other ones you’ll attend this season,” Miller concluded, bloodied, holding his own head up on a silver platter.
Indeed, it was.
