Emmy glamour and glory

Hollywood’s A-listers will don their black-tie best on Monday for the 70th Emmy Awards, which honour the best in television.

After a year off, the popular fantasy epic Game of Thrones – which earned a whopping 22 nominations – is expected to make a big comeback. It has already won seven Emmys in technical categories.

But evergreen NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live is close behind with 21 nominations, and it too scooped up seven awards ahead of the main ceremony.

And The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu’s flagship drama based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel of the same name and 2017’s best drama winner, is certainly in the hunt for more statuettes, with 20 nominations and three awards so far.

Some things to watch for on Monday night:

● The #MeToo movement erupted after last year’s Emmys, meaning it is likely to hover over 2018’s event;

● The departure from CBS of its powerful CEO Les Moonves under a cloud of sexual misconduct allegations, will not go unnoticed at Monday’s gala;

● Women-driven programmes, such as The Handmaid’s Tale, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and The Crown, are among the top nomination-getters this year;

● With SNL stars Colin Jost and Michael Che hosting the Emmys, and Alec Baldwin once again nominated for his portrayal of President Donald Trump, 2018’s gala is once again likely to be a political one.

Jost told Vanity Fair he and Che hope to make the show “less political than normal”, but if recent awards shows are any indication, that might be difficult in resolutely Democratic Tinseltown.

At the Tonys in June, Robert de Niro got a standing ovation for using an expletive to condemn Trump. At the Oscars in February, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro made a plea for immigrants. –