The People v. O.J. Simpson took home five Emmys on Sunday, including in the Outstanding Limited Series category, which saw the show triumphing over a tough field that included American Crime, Fargo, The Night Manager and Roots.
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In other notable developments, Louie Anderson earned his first Emmy as best supporting actor in a comedy for a highly offbeat role: He plays the exasperated mother of a rodeo clown (Zach Galifianakis) in the freshman FX sitcom “Baskets“. It was able to hold onto the acting categories from previous year, with Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon succeeding Mom’s Allison Janney in the supporting actress in a comedy series race, and American Crime’s Regina King repeating as supporting actress in a movie or miniseries.
“Thrones”, HBO’s saga about noble families vying for control of the Iron Throne is the odds-on favorite in the coveted best drama category that will end the night, according to Gold Derby, a website pooling experts’ awards predictions.
USA comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who emceed the ceremony, took time out from his opening remarks to berate Mark Burnett, who produced “The Apprentice“, the reality show that made Trump a household name in the US.
“While I’m apologising, I’d like to take the opportunity to apologise for the current political climate”, she deadpanned to cheers from the audience as she accepted the Lead Actress gong for her political comedy series Veep.
Actress, Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”.
‘Our show started out as political satire but now it feels like a sober documentary, ‘ she said.
Jeffrey Tambor captured his second consecutive best comedy actor trophy for “Transparent”, in which he plays a transgender character. Kimmel jumped into the stretch limo of “Veep’s” Selina Meyer, whose driver was former GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
“Are you nominated?” Bush asks Kimmel. Alan Yang, who co-created Netflix’s comedy “Master of None”, shared its Emmy for outstanding comedy writing.
As for the awards themselves, the host joked that anyone without a dragon or a White Bronco in their show might as well leave early, which turned out to be both amusing and prescient given the dominance of “Game of Thrones” and “The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story“.
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.
In his breezy monologue, Kimmel scolded multi-honored Maggie Smith for never attending the Emmy ceremony: “She shows up at the Oscars”. Soon after, her face was filled with tears as she dedicated the award to her father, who died Friday.
“I have not always been a very good man, but I play one helluva woman!” He advised Kimmel that “if you run a positive campaign, the voters will ultimately make the right choice”- then told Kimmel curtly it was a joke. Along “O.J. Simpson” winners Brown and Vance, Egyptian-American Rami Malek beat veterans Kevin Spacey and Liev Schreiber to scoop his first Emmy for playing a socially inept computer hacker in “Mr. Robot”. After an awkward silence, Kimmel said it was a joke – the TV star embroiled in decades-old accusations of sexual assault wasn’t invited. But the real kicker came when she ended her speech with a call to action that’s pretty rare for prime-time network television: “Topple the patriarchy!”
“Big fan of you, too!”
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Gather all the most famous faces in television together in one room for a night of self-congratulation and pomp and circumstance, and what’s the one question you’re most eager to know?
