The Emmys moved briskly, the presenters were sunny enough, Jimmy Kimmel was a great host – but best of all, the awards went to very deserving talent
Winter might be coming for the residents of Westeros but for the creators of Game of Thrones and HBO it was clear skies again at the Emmys where the series won the best drama series award for the second year in the row. The fantasy drama TV series, on Sunday night triumphed in 12 of the 24 categories, including Outstanding Drama Series, in which it was nominated at the 68th annual Emmy Primetime Awards ceremony. D.B. Weiss, screenwriter for Game of Thrones, said, “We are all here tonight because of the world created by George Martin. We all now play and live in that world.” The TV series also dominated the Creative Emmy Awards, picking up nine prizes for technical achievement. Other big winners of the night included The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The show won five trophies including Outstanding limited Series plus acting gongs for Sarah Paulson, Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance.
Veep won the Outstanding Comedy Series award for the second year in a row, while its star Julia louis-Dreyfus won Outstanding lead Comedy Actress for the fifth time, thus making Emmy record. In earning her 5th consecutive award this year, Dreyfus has made Emmy history for most wins in the category. In her acceptance speech she said, “I’d also like to take this opportunity to personally apologise for the current political climate.” She added, “What started out as a political satire, now feels more like a sobering documentary” and vowed to rebuild the wall between comedy and politics saying, “and make Mexico pay for it.” She dedicated her award to her father, who recently died.
Tony Hale, who plays the president’s personal aide Gary Walsh in Veep, triumphed in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category.
The Outstanding Comedy Actor gong went to Jeffrey Tambor, who plays a transgender woman in Transparent, for the second year in a row. Accepting the award, Tambor encouraged the industry to offer more opportunities to the community. “I would not be unhappy were I the last cisgender male to play a transgender female on television. We have work to do,” he said.
Jimmy Kimmel who earlier said that he wasn’t excited to host Emmys this year, finished his opening monologue and asked, “Are we ready to make the Emmys great againIJ” He reminded everyone that the TV world is more diverse than ever, then noted, “In Hollywood, the only thing we value more than diversity is congratulating ourselves on how much we value diversity.”
Dame Maggie Smith won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Downton Abbey.
Smith was not there in person to accept the award, so host Jimmy Kimmel joked, “We’re not mailing this to her. Maggie, if you want this, it will be in the lost and found.”
Rami Malek won Outstanding lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Mr Robot, while Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black won Outstanding leading Actress.
Master of None scored its first Emmy award, winning Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. The show’s co-writer Alan Yang called for better Asian representation on screen in his acceptance speech.
Elsewhere, The Voice took home the award for Outstanding Reality Competition Series, beating Project Runway and Dancing With The Stars.
Sherlock was named Best Made for TV Movie for its special episode The Abominable Bride. Susanne Bier, the Danish director of the spy thriller The Night Manager, won for Best Directing in a limited Series.