LOS ANGELES (CNS) – “Veep” and “Game of Thrones” repeated their Emmy
wins for outstanding comedy and drama series tonight, while the limited
series recreating the Los Angeles arrest and double-murder prosecution of O.J.
Simpson was the big winner with five prizes.
Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany each collected their first career Emmys
for their leading roles in the drama series “Mr. Robot” and “Orphan Black,”
respectively. But on the comedy side, there were no surprises, with Julia Louis-
Dreyfus (“Veep”) and Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”) repeating their Emmy
wins from last year. Louis-Dreyfus has won the Emmy for lead actress in a
comedy five years in a row.
For HBO’s “Veep” and “Game of Thrones,” the wins at tonight’s 68th
annual Primetime Emmy Awards were their second in a row. “Game of Thrones”
also won Emmys for directing for Miguel Sapochnik and writing for David Benioff
and D.B. Weiss.
But dominating the evening was FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson:
American Crime Story,” which took home five Emmys, including the prize for
outstanding limited series.
Courtney B. Vance, 56, won his first career Emmy for best actor in a
limited series for his role as famed Simpson defense attorney Johnnie Cochran.
Sarah Paulson also won her first career Emmy for her portrayal of prosecutor
Marcia Clark, whom she brought to the Emmy ceremony.
Paulson hailed “this incredible group of actors, these magicians,”
particularly praising co-star Sterling K. Brown, who won a supporting actor
Emmy for his work portraying co-prosecutor Christopher Darden.
“I am holding this because of you,” she said on stage at the Microsoft
Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Paulson, 41, also said she learned a lot about Clark in preparing for
the role, and it changed her opinion of her. She said the more she learned,
“the more I had to recognize that I, along with the rest of the world, had
been superficial and careless in my judgment and I am glad to be able to stand
here today in front of everyone and tell you I’m sorry.”
Brown was emotional on stage when he accepted his Emmy.
“A lot of you may not have known who I was but you checked the box
anyway, and that makes me very, very happy,” he said.
The series also won a writing Emmy for D.V. DeVincentis.
The series had three nominations for directing for a limited series,
movie or dramatic special, but it lost to Susanne Bier for “The Night
Manager.”
Malek, 35, took home his first career Emmy for best dramatic actor for
his role as socially awkward computer hacker Elliot Alderson, who goes to work
for an anarchist in the USA series “Mr. Robot.”
“I play a young man who is, I think, like so many of us, profoundly
alienated,” Malek said. “And the unfortunate thing is, I’m not sure how many
of us would want to hang out with a guy like Elliot. But I want to honor the
Elliots, right? Because there’s a little bit of Elliot in all of us, isn’t
there?”
Maslany, 30, also took home her first Emmy for her role as a woman who
discovers she is a clone with “sisters” scattered across the world in
“Orphan Black.”
She thanked the show’s producers “for this incredible dream job.”
“I feel so lucky to be on a show that puts women at the center,” she
said.
Maggie Smith won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama for
“Downton Abbey.” It was her third win in five nominations for the role. The
prize for supporting actor in a drama went to Ben Mendelsohn of “Bloodline.”
The comedy-actress win for Louis-Dreyfus, 55, was her eighth Emmy
overall, having previously won prizes for her work in “Seinfeld” and “The
New Adventures of Old Christine.”
“I’d like to personally apologize for the current political climate,”
she joked. “I think that `Veep’ has torn down the wall between comedy and
politics. Our show started out as a political satire, but it now feels more
like a sobering documentary.”
She also broke the news to the crowd that her father, William Louis-
Dreyfus, died on Friday. He was 84. Fighting back tears, Louis-Dreyfus said she
was thankful that her father enjoyed “Veep,” because “his opinion was the
one that really mattered.”
Tambor, 72, won his second straight Emmy for lead actor in a comedy for
his transgender role in “Transparent.”
“There is no best actor, all right? I’m so honored to be in this
category with these artistic killers,” he said in recognition of his co-
nominees. He also hailed series creator Jill Soloway, saying, “You changed my
life, you changed my career. You changed everything.”
He also reached out to show runners and network executives, asking them
to “please give transgender talent a chance,” he said. “Give them an
audition. Give them their stories. Do that.”
Soloway won her second consecutive Emmy for comedy series directing for
her work on the Amazon series.
Louie Anderson won his first career Emmy for his supporting work in the
quirky FX comedy “Baskets,” in which he portrays the mother of twin sons
played by Zach Galifiankis.
“I have not always been a very good man, but I play one hell of a
woman,” the 63-year-old comedian said.
Kate McKinnon, 32, won her first Emmy in four nominations, taking home
the prize for supporting actress in a comedy for “Saturday Night Live.” She
thanked the cast and crew of the long-running sketch show, and gave kudos to
her late father, noting, “He made me start watching `SNL’ when I was 12.”
Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang took home the Emmy for comedy series writing
for the Netflix series “Master Of None,” in which Ansari stars as a 30-
something actor struggling to make it in New York.
NBC’s “The Voice” won its second consecutive Emmy for outstanding
reality-competition program. It was the show’s third win overall.
Regina King won her second straight Emmy for supporting actress in a
limited series or movie for “American Crime.”
The Emmy for variety sketch series went to “Key & Peele.” Patton
Oswalt won the Emmy for writing for a variety special for “Patton Oswalt:
Talking For Clapping.” It was his first career Emmy. HBO’s “Last Week Tonight
With John Oliver” won the Emmy for outstanding variety talk series.
The Emmy for directing for a variety special went to Thomas Kail and
Alex Rudzinski for “Grease: Live.”
wins for outstanding comedy and drama series tonight, while the limited
series recreating the Los Angeles arrest and double-murder prosecution of O.J.
Simpson was the big winner with five prizes.
Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany each collected their first career Emmys
for their leading roles in the drama series “Mr. Robot” and “Orphan Black,”
respectively. But on the comedy side, there were no surprises, with Julia Louis-
Dreyfus (“Veep”) and Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”) repeating their Emmy
wins from last year. Louis-Dreyfus has won the Emmy for lead actress in a
comedy five years in a row.
For HBO’s “Veep” and “Game of Thrones,” the wins at tonight’s 68th
annual Primetime Emmy Awards were their second in a row. “Game of Thrones”
also won Emmys for directing for Miguel Sapochnik and writing for David Benioff
and D.B. Weiss.
But dominating the evening was FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson:
American Crime Story,” which took home five Emmys, including the prize for
outstanding limited series.
Courtney B. Vance, 56, won his first career Emmy for best actor in a
limited series for his role as famed Simpson defense attorney Johnnie Cochran.
Sarah Paulson also won her first career Emmy for her portrayal of prosecutor
Marcia Clark, whom she brought to the Emmy ceremony.
Paulson hailed “this incredible group of actors, these magicians,”
particularly praising co-star Sterling K. Brown, who won a supporting actor
Emmy for his work portraying co-prosecutor Christopher Darden.
“I am holding this because of you,” she said on stage at the Microsoft
Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
Paulson, 41, also said she learned a lot about Clark in preparing for
the role, and it changed her opinion of her. She said the more she learned,
“the more I had to recognize that I, along with the rest of the world, had
been superficial and careless in my judgment and I am glad to be able to stand
here today in front of everyone and tell you I’m sorry.”
Brown was emotional on stage when he accepted his Emmy.
“A lot of you may not have known who I was but you checked the box
anyway, and that makes me very, very happy,” he said.
The series also won a writing Emmy for D.V. DeVincentis.
The series had three nominations for directing for a limited series,
movie or dramatic special, but it lost to Susanne Bier for “The Night
Manager.”
Malek, 35, took home his first career Emmy for best dramatic actor for
his role as socially awkward computer hacker Elliot Alderson, who goes to work
for an anarchist in the USA series “Mr. Robot.”
“I play a young man who is, I think, like so many of us, profoundly
alienated,” Malek said. “And the unfortunate thing is, I’m not sure how many
of us would want to hang out with a guy like Elliot. But I want to honor the
Elliots, right? Because there’s a little bit of Elliot in all of us, isn’t
there?”
Maslany, 30, also took home her first Emmy for her role as a woman who
discovers she is a clone with “sisters” scattered across the world in
“Orphan Black.”
She thanked the show’s producers “for this incredible dream job.”
“I feel so lucky to be on a show that puts women at the center,” she
said.
Maggie Smith won the Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama for
“Downton Abbey.” It was her third win in five nominations for the role. The
prize for supporting actor in a drama went to Ben Mendelsohn of “Bloodline.”
The comedy-actress win for Louis-Dreyfus, 55, was her eighth Emmy
overall, having previously won prizes for her work in “Seinfeld” and “The
New Adventures of Old Christine.”
“I’d like to personally apologize for the current political climate,”
she joked. “I think that `Veep’ has torn down the wall between comedy and
politics. Our show started out as a political satire, but it now feels more
like a sobering documentary.”
She also broke the news to the crowd that her father, William Louis-
Dreyfus, died on Friday. He was 84. Fighting back tears, Louis-Dreyfus said she
was thankful that her father enjoyed “Veep,” because “his opinion was the
one that really mattered.”
Tambor, 72, won his second straight Emmy for lead actor in a comedy for
his transgender role in “Transparent.”
“There is no best actor, all right? I’m so honored to be in this
category with these artistic killers,” he said in recognition of his co-
nominees. He also hailed series creator Jill Soloway, saying, “You changed my
life, you changed my career. You changed everything.”
He also reached out to show runners and network executives, asking them
to “please give transgender talent a chance,” he said. “Give them an
audition. Give them their stories. Do that.”
Soloway won her second consecutive Emmy for comedy series directing for
her work on the Amazon series.
Louie Anderson won his first career Emmy for his supporting work in the
quirky FX comedy “Baskets,” in which he portrays the mother of twin sons
played by Zach Galifiankis.
“I have not always been a very good man, but I play one hell of a
woman,” the 63-year-old comedian said.
Kate McKinnon, 32, won her first Emmy in four nominations, taking home
the prize for supporting actress in a comedy for “Saturday Night Live.” She
thanked the cast and crew of the long-running sketch show, and gave kudos to
her late father, noting, “He made me start watching `SNL’ when I was 12.”
Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang took home the Emmy for comedy series writing
for the Netflix series “Master Of None,” in which Ansari stars as a 30-
something actor struggling to make it in New York.
NBC’s “The Voice” won its second consecutive Emmy for outstanding
reality-competition program. It was the show’s third win overall.
Regina King won her second straight Emmy for supporting actress in a
limited series or movie for “American Crime.”
The Emmy for variety sketch series went to “Key & Peele.” Patton
Oswalt won the Emmy for writing for a variety special for “Patton Oswalt:
Talking For Clapping.” It was his first career Emmy. HBO’s “Last Week Tonight
With John Oliver” won the Emmy for outstanding variety talk series.
The Emmy for directing for a variety special went to Thomas Kail and
Alex Rudzinski for “Grease: Live.”
By Lisa Respers France CNN
“The People v. O.J. Simpson” ran away with the night at the 68th Emmy Awards Sunday even as “Game of Thrones” broke a record.
The FX mini-series scored wins for outstanding limited series and for some of its actors.
One of them, Sara Paulson, won for outstanding lead actress in a limited series. In her acceptance speech, Paulson talked about the challenge of playing O.J. Simpson murder trial prosecutor Marcia Clark.
Her words brought Clark to tears.
Marcia’s moment
“The more I learned about the real Marcia Clark, not the two dimensional cardboard cut-out on the news, but the complicated, whip smart, giant hearted mother of two who woke up everyday, put both feet on the floor and dedicated herself to righting an unconscionable wrong, the more I had to recognize that I — along with the rest of the world — had been superficial and careless in my judgment and I am glad to be able to stand here today in front of everyone and tell you that I am sorry,” Paulson said.
Paulson was joined in the winners’ circle by her “People v. O.J. Simpson” co-star Courtney B. Vance who won outstanding lead actor in a limited series.
“Glory to God,” Vance yelled before later dedicating his award to wife, actress Angela Bassett.
Sterling K. Brown also won for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series for his role as Christopher Darden in the “People v. O.J.”
“Game of Thrones” maintains reign
For the second year “Game of Thrones” took home the Emmy for outstanding drama series. With its 38 wins the highly successful HBO series broke a 12 year record for most Emmy wins by a series which had been held by “Fraiser” with 35 Emmys.
Malek and Maslany
Fan favorites Rami Malek and Tatiana Maslany won outstanding lead actor and lead actress in a drama for “Mr. Robot” and “Orphan Blck” respectively.
“I feel so lucky to be on a show that puts women at the center,” Maslany said.
It was an emotional night for many winners.
“Veep” sweep
Julia Louis- Dreyfus was tearful and shaking when she accepted her fifth Emmy in a row,, this time for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for “Veep.”
She apologized for “the current political climate.”
“I think that ‘Veep’ has torn down the wall between comedy and politics,” she said. “Our show started out as political satire, but it now feels more like sobering documentary.”
She had a personal moment at the end of her acceptance speech when she dedicated her win to her father, William Louis Dreyfus, who she said died on Friday.
“I’m so glad that he liked ‘Veep’ because his opinion was the one that really mattered,” she said.
“Veep” also won for outstanding comedy series.
Remembered
Henry Winkler offered a loving tribute to director/producer Garry Marshall who died in July. Winkler said his former boss “had a generosity of spirit and knowledge.”
“I should know, he gave me my career,” Winkler said. “And I will tell you that anybody who was lucky enough to meet him he changed their life.”
The remembrance of Marshall kicked off the “In Memoriam” portion of the Emmys, which featured Tori Kelly singing “Hallelujah”
Transformational
Jeffrey Tambor won his second Emmy in a row for best comedy actor for his role in “Transparent.” He plays a transgender woman on the Amazon series.
Tambor encouraged the industry to offer more opportunities to the trans community.
“I would not be unhappy where I the last cis-gender male to play a transgender female on television,” Tambor said during his acceptance speech. “We have work to do.”
Kimmel’s comedy
The Emmys began on a lighter moment with a funny nod to some of TV’s biggest pop culture moments of the past year.
Host Jimmy Kimmel reenacted the famous O.J. Simpson chase down the 405 with Malcolm Jamal Warner, who played Al Cowlings in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”
“If I’m late they’ll let Tom Bergeron host,” Kimmel joked.
What followed was Kimmel catching rides with everyone from late night host James Corden to politician Jeb Bush and even a dragon from “Game of Thrones.”
There were plenty of O.J. jokes in Kimmel’s monologue. He teased “People v. O.J.” actress Sarah Paulson who brought Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark as her date.
“Because everyone in L.A. knows if you want to win, sit next to Marcia Clark,” Kimmel said. Then, turning to Clark, he said, “This must be very strange for you… are you rooting for O.J. to win?”
Early on in the show Kimmel announced the Maggie Smith rule that any winner not in attendance would not be receiving their Emmy statue.
Smith has been nominated multiple times for her role as Violet Crawley in “Downton Abbey” but has not attended the ceremony. Kimmel rushed out after Smith won for outstanding actress in a drama series.
“We’re not mailing this to her,” Kimmel joked. “Maggie, if you want this it will be in the lost and found.”
Kimmel was also the butt of a bit.
After he lost in the variety series category to “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” the Emmy audience was treated to an exchange between Kimmel and his long standing “rival,” Matt Damon.
Damon showed up to taunt him over his loss.
“Can we all cheer Jimmy,” Damon urged the audience. “He’s a big loser.”
Leslie Jones also provided some comic relief during the usually staid portion of the show when viewers meet the accountants responsible for keeping the results a secret.
The “Ghostbusters” star, who has been dealing with trolls on Twitter, joined the reps from Ernst and Young on stage and joked that she needed their protection for her social media account.
“Put [her Twitter account] in your vault please,”Jones said. “Y’all over here using your skills to protect best voice over in a French sitcom meanwhile I’m over here butt naked on CNN.”
Sharing the love
Streaming services did well right out of the gate.
Jill Soloway won for directing a comedy for Amazon’s “Transparent.” Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang won for writing on a comedy series for the Netflix series “Master of None.”
“We need to stop violence against trans women and topple the patriarchy,” said Soloway, whose show is about a trans woman.
TV is being hailed for improved inclusivity — compared to the film industry — in both its recognition and hiring of minorities.
About 25% of this year’s Emmy nominations in the acting categories went to people of color.
“Hollywood is doing good, but I’ll tell you women of color are doing even better,” nominee Viola Davis said on the red carpet. “We’ve gotten to the point where women are saying ‘You know what, I’m going to ask for what I want’ and I love it. A closed mouth don’t get fed.”
Kimmel acknowledged the diversity in his monologue.
“Here in Hollywood the only thing we value more than diversity is congratulating ourselves on how much we value diversity,” Kimmel joked during his opening. “The Emmys are so diverse this year the Oscars are now telling people we’re one of their closest friends.”
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