In the land of Hollywood, where all the women are under 40 and all the men under 5'9", movies have always had a more prestigious and glamorous reputation than television. This year’s Emmys, which aired on Sunday, showed that “the rat-faced people of television” (to quote Amy Poehler at the 2013 Golden Globes) could bring it as much as those involved with movies in terms of acting, writing and directing. Television certainly trounced the movie industry this year in terms of diversity, although, looking at the 2016 Oscars, that clearly was not a difficult feat. Host Jimmy Kimmel led this year’s fun, fast-paced — if not terribly surprising — distribution of Emmy statues.
Kimmel opened the show with a video of him trying to get to the Emmys, finding himself in a white Bronco during a car chase, a minivan with the Dunphys of “Modern Family” (2009 – present), a carpool with James Corden complete with karaoke, a limo with President Meyer of “Veep” (2012 – present) that was driven by Jeb Bush (who asked Kimmel what it was like to actually be nominated for something) and ending on a dragon with Daenerys Targaryen of “Game of Thrones” (2011 – present).
Kimmel then arrived on stage to deliver a solid monologue, commenting on Hollywood’s lack of diversity, wondering whether Marcia Clark is rooting for "O.J. to win this time" and pointing out that television is responsible for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The best line of the monologue: Kimmel asks Mark Burnett, the person behind “The Apprentice” (2004 – present) who Kimmel specifically blames for Trump’s rise, “Who do you have lined up for the Supreme Court, Miley Cyrus or Cee Lo?”
Kimmel had some other memorable moments throughout the show. He had his mom make PB&Js, which were handed out to the audience by the kids of “Stranger Things” (2016 – present). For one of his more controversial bits, he announced Bill Cosby to the stage, only to walk out alone and say he just “wanted to see what [everyone] would do.”
But the main purpose of the Emmys is to hand out awards, and the big winners of the night were “Veep” for Outstanding Comedy Series, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: An American Crime Story” (2016) for Outstanding Limited Series and “Game of Thrones” for Outstanding Drama Series. Rami Malek, Tatiana Maslany, Jeffrey Tambor, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Courtney B. Vance and Sarah Paulson all picked up wins in the Outstanding Lead Actor or Actress category.Other notable wins included “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (2014-present) for Outstanding Variety Series,Kate McKinnon of “Saturday Night Live” (1975 – present) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Sterling K. Brown of “The People v. O.J.” for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. Also, to the outrage of everyone on Twitter, the directors of “Grease: Live” (2016) took home the statue for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special over that of Beyoncé’s “Lemonade" (2016).
There were several moving speeches throughout the night. McKinnon tearfully accepted her award, thanking Ellen Degeneres and Hillary Clinton — both of whom she impersonates on SNL — along with her late father. During Louis-Dreyfus’ speech, she quipped that while “Veep” had begun as political satire, it now appears to be a sobering documentary, then welled up as she dedicated her award to her father, who passed away on the Friday before the Emmys.
Jill Soloway and Tambor both spoke powerfully about transgender rights in their acceptance speeches for outstanding directing and acting in “Transparent” (2014 – present), respectively. Soloway called for the end of violence against transgender women, and Tambor urged Hollywood to give more parts to transgender people and let them tell their stories.
When Paulson got up to accept her award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her role as Marcia Clark in "The People v. O.J.," she acknowledged Clark herself, whom Paulson brought as her date to the event. She publicly apologized on behalf of everyone who had been “superficial and careless” in their judgment of Clark throughout Simpson’s trial.
Despite its lowest ratings ever, this year’s Emmys proved to be a successful night of recognition for the people who create, work on and act in the programs we see on our TV screens — or more realistically, our computer screens — almost every day.
What you missed from the 2016 Emmys
