Arguably Hollywood’s biggest night for TV, the Emmy Awards present trophies to the best TV shows and actors of the year. Hosted by late-night funnyman Stephen Colbert, the ceremony was packed with political jokes and Donald Trump references.
Surprise guest Sean Spicer, formerly Trump’s press secretary, wheeled onstage behind a podium to join Colbert.
“This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys period, both in person and around the world,” Spicer said. The reference was to his Inauguration Day claims, contradicted by photos, about how big the audience was for President Donald Trump’s oath of office.
“Wow,” Colbert replied. “That really soothes my fragile ego.”
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Even without Spicer’s surprise appearance, politics couldn’t help but make its way onto the Emmy Awards stage, especially since Colbert noted that Trump was the biggest TV star of the year.
Spicer’s joke rubbed several people the wrong way on social media, and Colbert didn’t let him off the hook, either. Pointing out Robert DeNiro in the audience, he noted that the actor had been nominated for his role in the HBO movie Wizard of Lies (about Bernard Madoff). Colbert joked that he thought the movie was “The Sean Spicer Story.”
Colbert blamed the Emmys for Trump’s election as president. He suggested if Trump had won an award for Celebrity Apprentice, he might not have run for president. He showed a clip of a presidential debate where Trump said he should have won an Emmy.
“Unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote,” he said.
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Actor Alec Baldwin, who won a comedy supporting actor award for his memorable impersonations of Trump on Saturday Night Live, couldn’t resist picking up that baton when he grasped his trophy.
“I suppose I should say, at long last, Mr. President, here is your Emmy,” he said.
SNL had a smash year with its political comedy, led particularly by Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy’s impersonation of Spicer. It dominated the Emmys, too, with the show winning for variety sketch series and Kate McKinnon, who portrayed Hillary Clinton, taking a supporting actress award. McKinnon thanked Clinton from the stage for her “grace and grit.”
Three acting veterans got in the toughest shot at Trump — without mentioning his name. Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the stars of the movie Nine to Five, appeared to present an award.
“Back in 1980 in that movie, we refused to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot,” Fonda said.
“And in 2017,” Tomlin added, “we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.”
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Donald Glover won Best Comedy Actor for his role in Atlanta, his second Emmy win of the night. He also won a directing honour for the series, and he thanked his parents and the city of Atlanta in his speech.
HBO series Big Little Lies won for almost every category it was nominated in, including Best Limited Series.
Toronto native Samantha Bee (Full Frontal With Samantha Bee) and Quebec’s Jean-Marc Vallée (director, Big Little Lies) were among this year’s Canadian Emmy Award nominees, and Vallée brought home the win for Best Directing in a limited series.
This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown won the Best Drama Actor award, making it his second year in a row picking up a trophy, while Elisabeth Moss won the Best Actress Emmy for her work on the dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale. The show, based on a book written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, won the biggest award of the night for Best Drama. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor Riz Ahmed continued his winning ways and took top prize for Best Actor in a Limited Series for The Night Of.
Veep, the most-nominated comedy, won its third consecutive Best Comedy series star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is now the record-holder for the most wins for a Best Comedy Actress. She has six wins for Veep and one for New Adventures of Old Christine.
HBO’s Game of Thrones, which dominated last year’s Emmys with 23 nods and 12 trophies, including its second consecutive Best Drama award, fell outside the eligibility window for Emmy consideration this year. Now-finished Orphan Black wasn’t in the running for the same reason, depriving star Tatiana Maslany of the chance to repeat as Best Drama actress.
All the winners in the major categories are listed below.
Drama Series
Better Call Saul (AMC)
The Crown (Netflix)
*** WINNER: The Handmaid’s Tale (Bravo)
House of Cards (Netflix)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
This Is Us (CTV)
Westworld (HBO)
Comedy Series
Atlanta (FX)
Black-ish (City)
Master of None (Netflix)
Modern Family (City)
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
*** WINNER: Veep (HBO)
Drama, Actress
Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder)
Claire Foy (The Crown)
*** WINNER: Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Keri Russell (The Americans)
Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld)
Robin Wright (House of Cards)
Drama, Actor
*** WINNER: Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
Anthony Hopkins (Westworld)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
Matthew Rhys (The Americans)
Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan)
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)
Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us)
Comedy, Actor
Anthony Anderson (Black-ish)
Aziz Ansari (Master of None)
Zach Galifianakis (Baskets)
*** WINNER: Donald Glover (Atlanta)
William H. Macy (Shameless)
Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)
Comedy, Actress
Pamela Adlon (Better Things)
Tracee Ellis-Ross (Black-ish)
Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie)
Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)
Allison Janney (Mom)
Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
*** WINNER: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Limited Series
*** WINNER: Big Little Lies (HBO)
Fargo (FX)
Feud: Bette and Joan (FX)
The Night Of (HBO)
Genius (National Geographic)
Limited Series, Actor
*** WINNER: Riz Ahmed (The Night Of)
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock: The Lying Detective)
Robert De Niro (The Wizard of Lies)
Ewan McGregor (Fargo)
Geoffrey Rush (Genius)
John Turturro (The Night Of)
Limited Series, Actress
Carrie Coon (Fargo)
Felicity Huffman (American Crime)
*** WINNER: Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies)
Jessica Lange (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Susan Sarandon (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Reese Witherspoon (Big Little Lies)
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
*** WINNER: John Lithgow (The Crown)
Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul)
Mandy Patinkin (Homeland)
Michael Kelly (House of Cards)
David Harbour (Stranger Things)
Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us)
Jeffrey Wright (Westworld)
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
*** WINNER: Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black)
Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things)
Chrissy Metz (This Is Us)
Thandie Newton (Westworld)
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
*** WINNER: Alec Baldwin (Saturday Night Live)
Louie Anderson (Baskets)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
Tony Hale (Veep)
Matt Walsh (Veep)
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
*** WINNER: Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)
Vanessa Bayer (Saturday Night Live)
Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
Judith Light (Transparent)
Kathryn Hahn (Transparent)
Variety Sketch Series
Billy On The Street (Much)
Documentary Now! (IFC)
Drunk History (Comedy Network)
Portlandia (IFC)
*** WINNER: Saturday Night Live (Global)
Tracey Ullman’s Show (HBO)
Variety Talk Series
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (TBS)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
*** WINNER: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO)
The Late Late Show With James Corden (CBS)
Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Reality Competition
The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Ninja Warrior (NBC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (vh1)
Top Chef (Bravo)
*** WINNER: The Voice (NBC)
Television Movie
*** WINNER: Black Mirror: San Junipero (Netflix)
Dolly Parton’s Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love (NBC)
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks (HBO)
Sherlock: The Lying Detective (Masterpiece) (PBS)
The Wizard Of Lies (HBO)
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Bill Camp (The Night Of)
Alfred Molina (Feud: Bette and Joan)
*** WINNER: Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies)
David Thewlis (Fargo)
Stanley Tucci (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Michael K. Williams (The Night Of)
Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Judy Davis (Feud: Bette and Joan)
*** WINNER: Laura Dern (Big Little Lies)
Jackie Hoffman (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Regina King (American Crime)
Michelle Pfeiffer (The Wizard of Lies)
Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies)
Directing for a Comedy Series
*** WINNER: Donald Glover (Atlanta)
Jamie Babbit (Silicon Valley)
Mike Judge (Silicon Valley)
Morgan Sackett (Veep)
David Mandel (Veep)
Dale Stern (Veep)
Directing for a Drama Series
Vince Gilligan (Better Call Saul)
Stephen Daldry (The Crown)
*** WINNER: Bruce Miller (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Kate Dennis (The Handmaid’s Tale)
Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland)
The Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things)
Jonathan Nolan (Westworld)
Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special
*** WINNER: Jean-Marc Vallee (Big Little Lies)
Noah Hawley (Fargo)
Ryan Murphy (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Ron Howard (Genius)
James Marsh (The Night Of)
Steve Zaillian (The Night Of)
Directing for a Variety Series
Derek Waters & Jeremy Konner (Drunk History)
Andy Fisher (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Paul Pennolino (Last Week Tonight With John Oliver)
Jim Hoskinson (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert)
*** WINNER: Don Roy King (Saturday Night Live)
Writing for a Comedy Series
Donald Glover (Atlanta)
Stephen Glover (Atlanta)
*** WINNER: Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe (Master of None)
Alec Berg (Silicon Valley)
Billy Kimball (Veep)
David Mandel (Veep)
Writing for a Drama Series
Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields (The Americans)
Gordon Smith (Better Call Saul)
Peter Morgan (The Crown)
Bruce Miller (The Handmaid’s Tale)
*** WINNER: Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale)
The Duffer Brothers (Stranger Things)
Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan (Westworld)
Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Drama
David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies)
*** WINNER: Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror: San Junipero)
Noah Hawley (Fargo)
Ryan Murphy (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Jaffe Cohen, Michael Zam and Ryan Murphy (Feud: Bette and Joan)
Richard Price and Steven Zaillian (The Night Of)
Writing for a Variety Series
Jo Miller, Samantha Bee, Ashley Nicole Black, Pat Cassels, Eric Drysdae, Mathan Erhardt, Travon Free, Joe Grossman, Miles Kahn, Melinda Taub & Jason Reich (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee)
*** WINNER: Kevin Avery, Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss & Juli Weiner (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver)
Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Sal Gentile, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Seth Reiss, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker & Ben Warheit (Late Night with Seth Meyers)
Barry Julien, Jay Katsir, Opus Moreschi, Stephen Colbert, Tom Purcell, Matt Lappin, Michael Brumm, Nate Charny, Aaron Cohen, Cullen Crawford, Paul Dinello, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Daniel Kibblesmith, Michael Pielocik, Kate Sidley, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack & John Thibodeaux (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)
Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Kent Sublette, Bryan Tucker, Pete Schultz, James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Zach Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen & Julio Torres (Saturday Night Live)
— With files from The Associated Press