TV

Everything You Missed At The 2016 Emmys

TL;DR Aziz Ansari's parents won everything.

by Matilda Dixon-Smith  19 September 2016

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Today the Emmys came and went and the internet gained its new supply of gifs for the year. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and packed full of jokes about Donald Trump’s impending doom and FX’s smash-hit The People vs OJ Simpson — one sure-fire winner for the night as it was nominated in almost every eligible category — the ceremony went down about as well as you’d expect: funny at times and generally unsurprising, despite one or two egregious snubs.

Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Lost To ‘Grease Live’ At The Emmys And The Internet Is Not Okay

This year it was a delight to discover that as the TV world expands and diversifies, so too do the Emmy nominations. Some excellent new series and talent were nominated for brilliant direction, fine writing and complex performances… As is required by law, Modern Family was nominated as well.

Let’s take a tour through US TV’s night of nights, shall we?

Jimmy Kimmel Was A Surprisingly Good-Natured Host

Kimmel is famous for his mean gags — Taking Candy from Kids, Celebrity Mean Tweets etc — so it was no surprise that his opening monologue for this year’s Emmys contained a barb or two (though nothing like the cringeworthy shitshow generally served up by Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes).

As is customary, the night began with a pre-recorded gag involving Kimmel’s preparation for the hosting gig. This one involved Kimmel hitching rides to the ceremony with various TV characters (and Jeb Bush).

So far, so funny. Then it was time for the monologue; long-time viewers of awards shows will know that a hosting gig lives or dies by the opening monologue. Kimmel’s set was indeed a little salty, but it was also brisk, casual and clever.

He riffed on The People vs OJ Simpson star Sarah Paulson, who brought the real-life OJ prosector Marcia Clark as her Emmy date (and even engraved Clark’s name on the statue!). While Paulson squirmed, Kimmel gabbed: “Everyone in LA knows, if you want to win, sit next to Marcia Clark”. He added to Clark: “This must be very strange for you, right? I mean, are you rooting for OJ to win this time?” (He also dug into the late Johnny Cochran, who he joked was “somewhere looking up at us”.)

Kimmel also went after Trump, wondering: “If it wasn’t for television, would Donald Trump be running for President? No, he wouldn’t.” He joked about the Emmys’ self-congratulation on the subject of diversity; and he revelled in his ability to make an Englishman blush when he announced that Kit Harrington is his “freebie”. (Really though, you’ve seen his butt; he’s everyone’s freebie).

All in all, solid A for effort.

Props to Kimmel for being good-natured even when they brought out Matt Damon (apple in hand) to tease him just moments after losing an Emmy to John Oliver too.

The People v OJ Simpson Swept The Awards

As predicted, Ryan Murphy’s hit The People v OJ Simpson swept the Limited Series category. Courtney B. Vance won Outstanding Lead Actor for his portrayal of defence lawyer Johnny Cochran, exiting the stage with thanks to his wife, the amazing Angela Bassett, and saying, “Obama out; Hillary in!”.

Sarah Paulson won for her fierce portrayal of Marcia Clark (her first ever Emmy!), and thanked Clark, apologising to her for her superficial judgement during the real trial of OJ. “The responsibility of playing a real person is an enormous one,” said Paulson. “You want to get it right not just for you, but for them. I, along with the rest of the world, had been superficial in my judgement, and I’m glad to be able to stand here in front of everyone today and say, ‘I’m sorry’.” Paulson is a Global Treasure.

Finally, before the showrunner Ryan Murphy collected the award for Best Limited Series, Extremely Handsome Human Man Sterling K. Brown snatched the best supporting actor gong from expected champion David Schwimmer. Brown won for his delicate portrayal of beleaguered prosecutor Chris Darden and it was a truly exciting win, if for no other reason than LOOK AT STERLING K. BROWN HE IS A MARVEL.

57df529cd3bfa.image

Emmy Winners Continue To Make Amazing Speeches

So, okay, not every award went to Murphy’s OJ miniseries. Other people won things too! And, thankfully, the upwards trend of actors and creatives making impassioned and powerful speeches at awards shows continues.

This year Emmy-watchers were rewarded with a heartwrenching speech from winner Patton Oswalt, who saved his thanks for his late wife, crime writer Michelle McNamara. “I want to share this with two people,” Oswalt announced. “My daughter Alice who is waiting at home. And the other one is waiting somewhere else, I hope.”

The Queen of Comedy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus also took a brief break from comedy during her acceptance speech — that is, after proclaiming that “Veep has torn down the wall between comedy and politics. Our show started out as a political satire but it now feels more like a sobering documentary. So I certainly do promise to rebuild that wall … and make Mexico pay for it”. She turned sober soon after to dedicate her latest award (she has won the past five consecutive years) to her father, who passed away just days ago. “I’m so glad that he liked Veep,” she said, “because his opinion was the one that really mattered.”

Co-creators of Netflix’s Master of None, Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari, who won the Outstanding Comedy Writing award for their episode ‘Parents’, took a moment to talk about Asian-American representation on television. “There’s 17 million Asian-Americans in this country,” said Yang, “and there’s 17 million Italian-Americans. They have The Godfather, Goodfellas, Rocky, The Sopranos — we got Long Duk Dong. So we got a long way to go”.

He continued, “But I know we can get there; I believe in us. It’s just going to take a lot of hard work. Asian parents out there, if you could just do me a favour, if just a couple of you get your kids cameras instead of violins, we’ll be all good!”

Aziz Ansari’s parents, who starred in the winning episode, seemed to be on board with the message:

Finally, both Laverne Cox and Jeffrey Tambor made yet more impassioned pleas for Hollywood to give trans actors (and trans stories) a chance.

After Tambor’s acceptance speech, where he proclaimed that he wouldn’t mind being “the last cisgender male to play a female transgender on television”, Cox took the stage and added, “Give trans talent a shot. I would not be here today if somebody didn’t give me a chance.”

Kevin Spacey’s Mystery Hat-Wearing Hunk

Check it:

sub-buzz-7811-1474247074-1

Twitter got on it quick smart to identify the mystery babe seated next to Kevin Spacey, who, it turns out, is Evan from pop group Evan and Jaron. Let’s just say the internet is cautiously excited by Spacey’s choice of seat buddy.

XOXO, Gossip Girl.

 

People Wore Some Truly Bonkers Things On The Red Carpet

As you all know, the true joy of an awards ceremony is the nutso junk that celebrities wear on the red carpet and how much/little those outfits look like off-cuts from your local fabric store/costume shop/BDSM convention.

On that note, here is Anna Chlumsky half encased in a rendered concrete wall from the 1970s. I love Chlumsky dearly (I mean, who doesn’t) but this outfit has got to be one of Christian Siriano’s off-casts from his season on Project Runway, right?

Here is Maisie Williams wearing faux-bangs just like your mum did in the eighties with a make-up gun’s worth of green eyeshadow (girl you’re not blind anymore):

And here is Amy Poehler, wearing that throw rug your aunt gave you as a 21st birthday present. You know, the one you hide in the cupboard until she comes to visit because it’s so hideous?

On the flip side, Kerry Washington wore strapless cutouts while pregnant and rockedthe look hands down, no questions asked. Glorious.

Hari Nef and Priyanka Chopra also tied for first in the competition: Dress Most Likely To Be Worn By A Smiling Model In A French Perfume Ad. They really rocked those twirls.

Check out the full list of Emmys winners here.