Moments you missed at the Emmys
Here are the major moments you may have missed at the 68th Annual Emmy Awards:
1. American Crime Story dominates with five wins.
The FX anthology show, which revisited the murder trial of OJ Simpson, nearly swept its nominated categories, with awards for best limited series, outstanding writing and acting (for Sterling K Brown, Sarah Paulson and Courtney B Vance). Meanwhile, HBO’s Game of Thrones and Veep each brought home their second consecutive wins for best drama and comedy series, respectively.
2. Rami Malek, Tatiana Maslany upset in acting categories.
Two critical darlings earned major hardware, with surprise wins for Mr. Robot‘ s Malek and Orphan Black‘ s Maslany for outstanding lead actor and actress in a drama series, respectively. Malek used the platform to honour his unhinged hacker character Elliot, saying there’s a ‘‘little bit of (him) in all of us.’’ Maslany, who plays multiple roles on BBC America’s clone drama, gushed that she feels ‘‘so lucky to be on a show that puts women at the centre.’’
3. Kimmel mocks OJ, Donald Trump in opening monologue.
Hosting the Emmys for a second time, Kimmel hit all the right notes with a biting opener. ‘‘Are you rooting for OJ to win this time?’’ he asked Marcia Clark, seated with her on-screen counterpart Paulson. He also laid into The Apprentice creator Mark Burnett, blaming him for Trump’s presidential run. ‘‘He’s responsible if Donald Trump gets elected and he builds that wall,’’ Kimmel said. ‘‘The first person we’re throwing over it is Mark Burnett. The tribe has spoken.’’
4. s Alan Yang calls for more Asian Americans on TV.
Winning for comedy series writing, the Master co-creator pointed out that Italian Americans can see themselves in movies such as The Godfather and Rocky, while Asian Americans have mostly stereotypical representations such as Sixteen Candles‘ Long Duk Dong. ‘‘We’ve got a long way to go,’’ Yang said, adding that if more Asian parents ‘‘get your kids cameras instead of violins, we’ll be good.’’
5. Julia Louis-Dreyfus earns eighth Emmy.
The Veep star picked up her fifth consecutive award for comedy series lead actress, giving her a record six wins in the category. (Her other was in 2006, for The New Adventures of Old Christine.) Comparing her caustic character Selina Meyer to Trump, Dreyfus ribbed that Veep ‘‘started as a political satire, but it now feels more like a sobering documentary.’’ She also choked up dedicating the honour to her late father William Louis-Dreyfus, who died on Friday. ‘‘I’m so glad that he liked Veep, because his opinion was the one that really mattered,’’ she concluded, fighting tears.
6. Jeffrey Tambor makes appeal for transgender talent.
Transparent‘ s winners each delivered memorable moments with their speeches, such as creator Jill Soloway shouting ‘‘Topple the patriarchy!’’ as she accepted directing honours. Tambor, winning his second lead actor award for playing Maura Pfefferman, wrapped his speech by demanding that Hollywood ‘‘give transgender talent a chance. ... I would not be unhappy if I were the last cisgender man to play a female transgender.’’ Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox echoed his sentiment later in the show, saying she ‘‘wouldn’t be here tonight if someone hadn’t given me a chance.’’
7. Beyonce’s misses out on Emmy gold.
The pop star’s dynamic visual album, which debuted as an HBO special earlier this year, lost to Fox’s Grease: Live! in variety special directing. Twitter users reacted with GIFs and outrage, some calling out the Emmys for awarding two white men (Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski) over Queen Bey.
8. Leslie Jones puts Twitter trolls on blast.
The Saturday Night Live comedian, who had her website hacked and Twitter account flooded with racist slurs this summer, made light of the situation onstage with the Ernst & Young representatives who hold the winners’ names. ‘‘Let’s be real, y’all protecting something that nobody is trying to steal. Don’t nobody want to know about boring Emmy secrets,’’ Jones said. ‘‘But since you good at keeping things safe, I got a job for you: my Twitter account.’’