Jimmy Kimmel, this year’s host, spearheaded the opening skit. But CBS had little to lose by competing with ABC this year, as it had only four nominees (and no winners) among the 27 categories recognized with awards during the televised ceremony.
Advertisement
With Election Day less than two months away, celebrities transformed their award speeches into platforms to address the current state of American politics.
“If Donald Trump gets elected and he builds that wall, the first person we are throwing over it is Mark Burnett”, quipped Kimmel, addressing Burnett, the British producer who created “Celebrity Apprentice”.
Kate McKinnon, who won best supporting actress in a comedy for her performance on “Saturday Night Live”, generated the most Twitter buzz of any nominated actor, with about 28,000 tweets.
“I was actually speechless”, she said of the season seven script.
The number of Emmys viewers was down around 5 percent from previous year, ABC said. He also made fun of the smugness of his audience: “In Hollywood, the only thing we value more than diversity is congratulating ourselves on how diverse we are”, he said. “The Emmys are so diverse this year that the Oscars are now telling people we’re one of their closest friends”. Criticized in 2012 for having a hard time finding the balance between mean and witty, Kimmel nailed it with this year’s Emmys with a good balance of mocking humor and self-depreciation. It was the third time she has received the award for her role in the hit period drama.
First-time Emmy winners Tatiana Maslany, who plays multiple characters on “Orphan Black”, and Rami Malek, who plays a hacker on “Mr. Robot”, were gracious and touching in their acceptance speeches. The best drama series victor passed Frasier as the most decorated scripted series in Emmy history, with 38 wins.
Billie Gold, vice president of programming research at Amplifi US, a media buying company, said the Emmy recognition of high-quality shows across different platforms is laudable, but “these are not programs that the preponderance of the viewing audience watches”.
“There are definitely other places where it’s more appropriate [to bring up these issues]”, said Dorsa.
Why so low? None of the shows or actors who won appear on broadcast TV.
“They weren’t that good, too”.
“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” beat “Fargo”, “The Night Manager”, “American Crime” and “Roots” for the Outstanding Limited Series award.
The cast of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” pose backstage with their award for Oustanding Drama Series at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California U.S., September 18, 2016.
Advertisement
Fielding press questions backstage after accepting his show’s award, Veep showrunner David Mandel expressed exasperation over being asked questions about the presidential election – then took aim squarely at Trump.
