The Julia Louis-Dreyfus vehicle beat out ABC comedies Black-ish and Modern Family, fellow HBO comedy Silicon Valley, Amazon’s Transparent, and Netflix’s Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus, channeling the pitch-perfect satirists on Veep, nailed the hard tone of a good political joke the best, echoing Kimmel’s ribbing but with slightly more class and sharpness because, you know, it’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
“So I certainly do promise to rebuild that wall and make Mexico pay for it”, Louis-Dreyfus said on stage. Her candid admission marked the first time Dreyfus has spoken about the recent death of her father, businessman William Louis Dreyfus, and it was devastating to hear.
Visibly shaking, Julia said: “I’d like to dedicate this to my father, William Louis-Dreyfus, who passed away on Friday”.
“I’m glad he liked “Veep”, she said”.
History was made as Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her fifth consecutive Emmy for the political comedy, and after a light-hearted apology for helping create the current political climate, she ended her speech with a heavy-hearted tribute.
She previously won three other Emmys, including one for best comedy series for Veep, a show she also produces.
“Thanks to Mark Burnett, we don’t have to watch reality shows any more, because we’re living them”, Kimmel said.
“Please tell me you’re seeing this too”, he joked in character.
Egyptian-American Rami Malek took home his first Emmy for best drama actor for playing a socially inept computer hacker in “Mr. Robot”, while Canadian Tatiana Maslany was a surprise victor for playing a woman with multiple cloned personalities in “Orphan Black”. “I think it’s changing the landscape, period”, he said.
Clinton responded in kind with a tweet congratulating the SNL star on her win.
British actress Maggie Smith was honoured as best supporting actress in a drama series for the final season of Downton Abbey.
“Transparent” creator Jill Soloway compared Trump to Adolf Hitler during the awards ceremony, which was filled with references to the USA election. It was the show’s third win overall.
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Regina King claimed the award for supporting actress in a limited series for “American Crime”, her second trophy for the program. HBO’s “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” won the Emmy for outstanding variety talk series. Jeb Bush popped up in the taped introduction, bragging he found a $12-an-hour Uber driver job.
