The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, celebrated record breaking and diverse range of shows from the past year with record breaking and heartfelt moments.
The awards opened with a video of Kimmel trying to get to the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. In it, he caught a ride with some characters from a variety of the year’s most popular shows. After squeezing into a van with the Dunphys from “Modern Family,” he hitched a ride in the presidential limo of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character from “VEEP” (driven by Jeb Bush), and finally caught a ride on the back a dragon from “Game of Thrones.”
Game of Thrones took home its second Emmy in a row for best drama series, while the episode “Battle of the Bastards” also won an Emmy for both writing and directing. Game of Thrones also won an additional nine Emmys at the Creative Arts Emmys which were held on Sept. 10th and 11th, which brought the show’s Emmy wins to 38, more Emmys than any primetime scripted show in history.
FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” took home the Limited Series Emmy. D.V. DeVincentis won for writing for the episode “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” Sterling K. Brown won for supporting actor in a limited series or movie, Sarah Paulson for lead actress and Courtney B. Vance for lead actor. Regina King also won for supporting actress in a limited series or TV movie for “American Crime,” bringing the show’s total number of Emmys to five for the night.
“VEEP”, a politically based comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus on HBO earned the network two more Emmys. It won for best comedy series for the second year in a row, and Dreyfus won the Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series, her sixth total in the category. Dreyfus used her acceptance speech to make a few comparisons to her satirical political character to Donald Trump, but the highlight of her acceptance speech was her heartfelt thank you to her father who had passed away last Friday.
Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, the co-creators and writers of “Master of None” also had their parents to thank after winning the award for comedy writing for an episode titled “Parents,” which was inspired by their families. Ansari’s parents even acted in the episode. During their acceptance speech, Yang proposed that the future filmmakers create “a better representation of Asian Americans in pop culture,” encouraged by the direction towards more diverse storytelling that TV is taking.
Another moment of the night which highlighted the progressive direction of TV was when Amazon, yet another streaming network, won awards for its show “Transparent.” The comedy follows the life of a transgender person played by Jeffrey Tambor who comes out to her family as having identified as a woman her whole life. Tambor took home the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy. The show also won best direction in comedy series for the episode “Man on Land” directed by Jill Soloway.
Other mentionable wins: Kate McKinnon took home supporting actress in comedy series for her work in SNL. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took home the Emmy for Variety Talk Series, and “Key & Peele” won for Variety Sketch Series for that show’s final season.
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Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Louie Anderson, “Baskets”
Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Tony Hale, “Veep”
Matt Walsh, “Veep”
Writing for a comedy series
Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, “Master Of None”
Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, “Catastrophe”
Dan O’Keefe, “Silicon Valley”
Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley”
David Mandel, “Veep”
Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, “Veep”
Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Niecy Nash, “Getting On”
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Judith Light, “Transparent”
Gaby Hoffmann, “Transparent”
Anna Chlumsky, “Veep”
Directing for a comedy series
Jill Soloway, “Transparent”
Aziz Ansari, “Master Of None”
Alec Berg, “Silicon Valley”
Mike Judge, “Silicon Valley”
Dave Mandel, “Veep”
Chris Addison, “Veep”
Dale Stern, “Veep”
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Ellie Kemper, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Laurie Metcalf, “Getting On”
Traces Ellis Ross, “Black-ish”
Amy Schumer, “Inside Amy Schumer”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie”
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Aziz Ansari, “Master of None”
Will Forte, “The Last Man on Earth”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Thomas Middleditch. “Silicon Valley”
Reality-Competition Program
“The Voice”
“The Amazing Race”
“American Ninja Warrior”
“Dancing with the Stars”
“Project Runway”
“Top Chef”
Writing for a limited series, movie or dramatic special
D.V. DeVincentis, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Bob DeLaurentis, “Fargo”
Noah Hawley, “Fargo”
David Farr, “The Night Manager”
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Joe Robert Cole, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Supporting Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie
Regina King, “American Crime”
Melissa Leo, “All The Way”
Sarah Paulson, “American Horror Story: Hotel”
Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Hotel
Jean Smart, “Fargo”
Olivia Colman, “The Night Manager”
Directing for a limited series, movie or dramatic special
Susanne Bier, “The Night Manager”
Jay Roach, “All The Way”
Noah Hawley, “Fargo”
Ryan Murphy, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Anthony Hemingway, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
John Singleton, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie
Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Jesse Plemons, “Fargo”
Bokeem Woodbine, “Fargo”
Hugh Laurie, “The Night Manager”
David Schwimmer, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
John Travolta, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Sarah Paulson, “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Kirsten Dunst, “Fargo”
Felicity Huffman, “American Crime”
Audra McDonald, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille”
Lili Taylor, “American Crime”
Kerry Washington, “Confirmation”
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Courtney B. Vance, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Bryan Cranston, “All The Way”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride”
Idris Elba, “Luther”
Cuba Gooding Jr., “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Tom Hiddleston, “The Night Manager”
TV Movies
“Sherlock: The Abominable Bride”
“A Very Murray Christmas”
“All The Way”
“Confirmation”
“Luther”
Limited Series
“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
“American Crime”
“Fargo”
“The Night Manager”
“Roots”
Writing for a variety special
“Patton Oswalt: Talking For Clapping”
“Amy Schumer: Live At The Apollo”
“John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid”
“Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted”
“Triumph’s Election Special 2016”
Variety Talk Series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
“Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live”
“The Late, Late Show with James Corden”
“Real Time with Bill Maher”
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”
Directing for a variety special
Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski, “Grease: Live”
Beth McCarthy-Miller, “Adele Live In New York City”
Chris Rock, “Amy Schumer: Live At The Apollo”
Louis J. Horvitz, “58th Grammy Awards”
Glenn Weiss, “The Kennedy Center Honors”
Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé Knowles Carter, “Lemonade”
Variety sketch series
“Key & Peele”
“Documentary Now!“
“Drunk History“
“Inside Amy Schumer”
“Portlandia”
“Saturday Night Live”
Writing for a drama series
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, “Game Of Thrones”
Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, “The Americans”
Julian Fellowes, “Downton Abbey”
Robert King and Michelle King, “The Good Wife”
Sam Esmail, “Mr. Robot”
Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, “UnREAL”
Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”
Maura Tierney, “The Affair”
Lena Headey, “Game Of Thrones”
Emilia Clarke, “Game Of Thrones”
Maisie Williams, “Game Of Thrones”
Constance Zimmer, “UnREAL”
Directing for a drama series
Miguel Sapochnik, “Game Of Thrones”
Michael Engler, “Downton Abbey”
Jack Bender, “Game Of Thrones”
Lesli Linka Glatter, “Homeland”
Steven Soderbergh, “The Knick”
David Hollander, “Ray Donovan”
Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline”
Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”
Peter Dinklage, “Game Of Thrones”
Kit Harington, “Game Of Thrones”
Michael Kelly, “House Of Cards”
Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan”
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”
Kyle Chandler, “Bloodline”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Rhys, “The Americans”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder”
Taraji P. Henson, “Empire”
Keri Russell, “The Americans”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
Comedy Series
“Veep”
“Black-ish”
“Master of None”
“Modern Family”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Drama Series
“Game of Thrones”
“The Americans”
“Better Call Saul”
“Downton Abbey”
“Homeland”
“House of Cards”
“Mr. Robot”