Women, politics rule the show

From ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ to Veep’ and the ever-topical ‘Saturday Night Live’, the primetime show took a nonstop dig at the current US administration

The dystopian vision of The Handmaid’s Tale,

the deeply cynical Washington comedy Veep and the ever-topical

Saturday Night Live won top series honours on Sunday in an Emmy Awards ceremony that took almost nonstop aim at President Donald Trump in awards and speeches.

“Go home, get to work, we have a lot of things to fight for,” producer Bruce Miller said in accepting the best drama trophy for A

Handmaid’s Tale, which also won best drama writing and directing awards and a best actress trophy for Elisabeth Moss. A beaming Margaret Atwood, whose 1985 novel

is the show’s source, was onstage.

Sterling K. Brown, whose role in This Is Us earned him the top drama series actor trophy, paid tribute to the last African-American man to win in the category, Andre Braugher in 1998 for Homicide: Life on the Street.

“Nineteen years ago, Detective Frank Pemberton held this joint,” Brown, holding his Emmy aloft and saying it was his “supreme honour” to follow Braugher. He was good-natured as the orchestra cut into his speech, but it seemed a glaring misstep on a night in which the TV academy revelled in the industry’s newfound diversity.

Earlier, Nicole Kidman spoke uninterrupted for two minutes and 45 seconds, while Brown got one minute 58 seconds, before he was played off, a significant difference given the short time winners get to talk.

Donald Glover won the best comedy actor for Atlanta, which he created and which carries his distinctive voice.

“I want to thank Trump for making black people No 1 on the most oppressed list. He's the reason I’m probably up here,” Glover said.

Host Stephen Colbert’s song-and-dance opening — with help from Chance the Rapper — included the song Everything Is Better on

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