Emmys are TV’s biggest night

The cable network’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story“, a 10-part drama about the sensational 1990s trial, went into the ceremony with 22 nominations (second only to HBO’s “Game of Thrones”). Kimmel jumped into the stretch limo of “Veep’s” Selina Meyer, whose driver was former GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush.

As Americans prepare to vote in November for a new president after an extraordinary election campaign, “Veep” is also expected to win the comedy series category on Sunday. Ever the comedian, Jones took control of her own headlines by poking fun at the whole thing along with the Ernst & Young accountants tasked with keeping the Emmy winners secret: “Y’all using your skills to protect Best Voiceover on a French Sitcom”.

The blood-spattered, sex-filled saga about noble families vying for control of the Iron Throne took home the most coveted prize of the night, the best drama Emmy – along with statuettes for writing and directing.

After Last Week Tonight won best variety talk series at the Emmys, Matt Damon came out on stage carrying an apple to rub Jimmy Kimmel’s loss in his face.

“Hollywood is doing good, but I’ll tell you women of color are doing even better”, nominee Viola Davis said on the red carpet.

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“.

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.

Arriving on stage, the United States chat show host ran into the audience and presented a trophy to nominated Transparent actor Jeffrey Tambor before exclaiming: “Well, that saved us 22 minutes”.

Jimmy Kimmel told the Emmys audience that he had his mom make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone at the awards’ ceremony and he wasn’t kidding.

It was good TV, unusually so for an awards show, and that was mainly thanks to host Jimmy Kimmel, who took the show this way and that, sometimes into the outer limits of taste but always amusing.

Kimmel went on to blame Apprentice creator and producer Mark Burnett for Donald Trump’s rise to the Republican presidential nominee.

“You must be bummed out”, said Damon, strolling onstage and nonchalantly eating an apple. “He’s a big loser”.

In response, Clinton tweeted “Congratulations on your Emmy, Kate!”

If you said that TV’s biggest night, as they call it in Los Angeles, was a routine acknowledgment of the usual suspects, you would not win an award for outstanding statement of the obvious.

Perhaps Kimmel’s most well-crafted remark, which sparked a roar of approval from the audience as much for its pithiness as its wit: The much-honored Amazon transgender series “Transparent“, he said, “was born a drama, but it identifies as a comedy”. “Give them auditions. Give them their story”.

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For years the Emmys amounted to a hard-to-watch, insider awards show because the same-old, same-old was rewarded each year. In a taped segment he introduced his mother (his real mother, he promised) who was making thousands of PB&J’s.