Emmy Night: Winners List, Haphazard Notes, Political Jabs
Sunday, September 17, 2017 at 9:40PM By Nathaniel R
The BIG LITTLE LIES cast were first presenters setting the tone for a night devoted to them essentially
8:00 Stephen Colbert managed to work lots of political commentary and Trump jabs into his opening song which hits peak jab with the "even treason's better on TV" lyric with the stars of The Americans giving brief cameo. The also Trump centric post-song monologue is good and the stars are eating it up.
8:16 Colbert actually saves the best joke for last with a surprise cameo by Sean Spicer (yes, actually Sean Spicer with his stand) who he introduces as Melissa McCarthy. Even McCarthy is shook.
8:18 Nice touch to have an ensemble as joyfully in synch as Big Little Lies do a supporting category. Lithgow wins for playing Churchill. That also worked for Albert Finney 15 years ago. Oldman is also going to win the Oscar playing Churchill later this year. It's one of those roles... like Effie White or Mama Rose. And, well, Winston Churchill...
the great ANN DOWD wins supporting actress. Remember when she guest starred here at the blog?
8:28 Earlier in the show Colbert made a joke about Trump tweeting about the show in anger and now Hillary Clinton is even thanked in an accepting speech so Colbert's joke will surely be prophetic.
8:50 Funny Westworld sketch with Colbert nekkid. "Do you mind being naked?" "No, why would I?" insert shot of amazing abs. Hee. The skit ends with Titus Burgess being Emmy worthy yet again. When is he going to win a damn statue? ROBBED AGAIN TONIGHT.
8:52 The orchestra plays a muzak version of "You Don't Own Me" when The Handmaid's Tale wins. I want to thank and punch whoever chose that. And now I want to see Bette, Diane, and Goldie in white wimples.
9:05 Crazy Ex Girlfriend's Rachel Bloom does a music intro about the accountants "it's all downhill from here". She never fails to make me giggle.
9:07 Jean-Marc Vallee thanks David E Kelley for his writing which gives us our first Michelle Pfeiffer reaction shot. She squeezes David's hand. Awww
9:08 OHMYGOD. NINE-TO-FIVE REUNION. Standing ovation. As it should be. They also take jabs at Trump without naming him. Dolly Parton weirdly tries to deflect this to pretend they're talking about someone else. They're introducing supporting actor in a limited series which is a really up-in-the-air category, easy to imagine anyone winning. It's Skarsgård in Big Little Lies with a sweet speech (shout out to his mom who flew in from Stockholm!) and a kiss from Nicole on the way up.
9:20 Emmy statues first sit down interview. It's RuPaul henny!
9:35 Master of None makes history with the first black women to win for comedy writing. Great great speech and shout out to LGBTQIA community.
9:58 Perfect / beautiful Viola Davis introducing Hamilton's Christopher Jackson (who has a Daytime Emmy -- i didn't know that!) who is singing the In Memoriam song
11:04 OOPS. An hour flew by with all the Big Little Lies / Handmaid's Tale excitement. Thrilling to see all four of the top prizes (both series, limited series, and movie) go to female centric shows!
triumphant Nicole
THE WINNERS
Drama
Series The Handmaid's Tale
Lead Actress Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale (1st win, 9th nomination)
Lead Actor Sterling K Brown, This is Us (2nd win, 2nd nomination)
Supporting Actress Ann Dowd, The Handmaid's Tale (1st win)
Remember when Ann was so sweet to guest blog here with advice for young actors and such?
Supporting Actor John Lithgow, The Crown (his 6th Emmy win, 12th nom)
Writing Bruce Miller The Handmaid's Tale "Offred" (1st win, 1st nom)
Directing Reed Morano The Handmaid's Tale "Offred" (1st win, 2nd nom)
Comedy
Series Veep (3rd consecutive win for the series)
Lead Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (win)
She's now the record holder of all time most Emmys for the same role
Lead Actor Donald Glover, Atlanta (2nd of 2 wins tonight)
Directing Donald Glover, Atlanta (1st of 2 wins tonight)
Writing Aziz Ansari (2nd win) & Lena Waithe, Master of None (1st win)
Supporting Actress Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live (2nd Emmy win, 5th nom)
Supporting Actor Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live (3rd win, umpteenth nom)
Limited Series/Movie
Series Big Little Lies
Movie Black Mirror: San Junipero
Lead Actress Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies (1st win)
Lead Actor Riz Ahmed, The Night Of (1st win, 2nd nom)
Supporting Actress Laura Dern, Big Little Lies (1st win, 6th nom)
Supporting Actor Alexander Skarsgård, Big Little Lies (1st win, 1st nom)
Director Jean-Marc Vallee, Big Little Lies (1st win, 3rd nom)
Writing Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror: San Junipero (1st win, 2 noms)
Nicole's win brought us this wondrous reaction shot of the Pfeiffer-Kelleys
Randomness
Variety Sketch Series Saturday Night Live (1st win in this new category which was split off from a more broad category two years ago which also included talk shows. Key & Peele won last year)
Variety Talk Series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Variety Writing Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Variety Directing Don Roy King (7th win) Saturday Night Live
Reality Competition Series The Voice
lots of record breaking last night! congrats to all
Big Little Lies, Emmy, SNL, TV, The Handmaid's Tale
Reader Comments (52)
Hope Nicole Kidman take that EMMY
I'm so happy for Ann Dowd. It almost compensates the McKinnon robbery.
In addition to Lena Waithe, at the Creative Arts Emmys the writing team for "Full Frontal w/Samantha Bee" won for variety special - which includes Ashley Nicole Black. Not sure if that's a shared record, then? Regardless, happy for all involved.
"Best"? The Sean Spicer joke was gross and inappropriate.
NICOLE!!!!
Richly deserved (although my heart experienced a twinge of bittersweet sympathy for Reese, who was sensational).
Can we be done with JLD, please? I'm now officially Veeped out.
Oh....I'm so pleased: NICOLE KIDMAN, ELISABETH MOSS, RIZ AHMED, ALEXANDER SKARSGARD. LAURA DERN. ANN DOWD, Big Little Lies and the sensational The Handmaid's Tale, ALL WINNERS. Well done, Emmy !
Yay, Nicole! Although when BLL won, I felt like she should have given Reese more time to talk. She practically interrupted her and grabbed the trophy--right after she had beaten her and already given a long-ass (but very good) speech. I'm being nit-picky, but I notice what I notice.
Sean Spicer moment was the highlight of the evening!
JOE: I think if you watched carefully, Nicole only interrupted after Reese asked for her help, "Nicole, help" thats what she said.
Wouldn't change a single win in the miniseries/movie categories. Wow.
My only peeve is that Tracee Ellis-Ross couldn't snatch the Emmy away from JLD, who just kind of seems greedy at this point tbh. I hope now that's she's made that record, she'll remove herself from the pool.
Nicole totally won me over after many years of being only a lukewarm fan of her acting and her eloquency (or lack thereof at some points in the past).
Was my beloved <I>Key and Peele</I> on so recent as last year?
I think those who gripe about JLD should consider that not submitting for consideration is likely sewn into actor's contracts at this point - we don't actually know that JLD is 'greedy', but she may have either official sanctions or unofficial pressure against withdrawing her name for the sake of publicizing her show.
I know, I know. It's not really her JLD's fault. But it is really frustrating and boring to watch the same person win the same award like twenty times.
Agree with Rebecca. Now the show can be marketed with JLD setting the record -- what kind of show would refuse that kind of publicity?
And while I get that people get tired of her winning all the time, and that she has extremely worthy competition equally deserving of a win, I really feel that people should at least watch JLD's Emmy consideration episodes for Veep. She kills it each and every time. She is one actress where yes, I'd love it if the wealth was shared, but once I see the work, I go 'huh, I totally get and respect why she won.' Her work in last year's 'Mother' episode alone I'd give 2 Emmys, I think.
NICOLE best dress best speech (after that lovely writer from Master of None gurl you nailed that one out of the park!) It was an almost perfect night but for The Voice winning ... The Voice? REALLY?? I would watch a wall dry before watching that sorry excuse for a show ...
I love that Nicole sit in the same row as Michelle Pfeiffer. Michelle even stood up when Nicole win. Love love love.
Donald Glover! Am only a few episodes in, but am loving what I've seen of ATLANTA so far.
I dont want to live in a world where The Voice is deemed better than RuPauls Drag Race!!! Wtf emmys?!?!
@Steve G - I'm also a few episodes in, and think "Atlanta" is truly great. I loved Donald Glover before, but damn, if he hasn't knocked it out of the park by creating this series. (and damn, if he didn't knock it out of the park style-wise with his purple tux and structured fade).
I really like Dolly. An enduring creative force. But nobody is better at walking the tightrope and keeping the polar opposites of her constituency happy. Everybody thinks that Dolly is on their side, and that's genius. But Dolly is on Dolly's side, first and foremost.
Ann Dowd did great work, but I can't believe she beat out Thandie Newton.
The way they cut off Sterling K. Brown was really inappropriate, he wasn't that far over (don't @ me for referencing how long Kidman went on, I was plenty happy for her, but there's no way they were cutting her off).
I understand that people want to spread the wealth in the comedy lead actress category but i also feel that JLD really earned these awards. I don't understand how someone would think she is greedy since it doesn't seem like she is campaigning that much. I think her wins are a culmination of a. She is really, really good on the show, b. She is in a show the academy loves c. I'm pretty sure, although i have no inside information, that the people industry adore and respect her.
I think it is great that there were so many great roles for women this year. And I especially loved all the trump comments. Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy were SO deserving for their hilarious work.
Jean Marc changed his tune on a 2nd season backstage! haha...he's all in now!
Melissa sure looked sheepish when Spicer came out with that lecturn,Genius!
"It's one of those roles... like Effie White or Mama Rose." Aw, tell that to Bette Midler.
So happy for Laura Dern but so mad for Tituss Burgess. His comedic timing/delivery is genius and Baldwin's Trump is merely fine. But they really loved SNL this year, huh? It won a lot.
So happy for the Handmaid's crew even if I think that show got more wobbly as the season went on (but still very good overall).
Right before they announced Kidman's name I was worried it was going to be Lange again but so happy that they got it right! Reese also would've been a worthy winner.
YAS NICOLE!
Mama Rose never won an Oscar though.
JLD rules my life always and forever.
Speaking of the Emmy's, here are a couple things that the Emmy's should do category wise:
Best Action Series (What is an "action" series? Any show with something that could be identified as an action scene in 50% or more of their count of episodes.)
Best First Season, ideally for both Comedy AND Drama (Yes, a first season category. I'd argue, if the Golden Age of TV is still a thing, a first season category should have been one of the first recommendations.)
Maybe Julia won again because she was the best in a category that ignored Lena Dunham, Gina Rodríguez, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sharon Horgan, Issa Rae, Rachel Bloom, Emmy Rossum and Justina Machado.
I'm still dead after the glorious sights of both Jane/Lily/Dolly AND Carol/Norman.
Time for Nicole to get her butt on Broadway, win the Tony, claim that triple crown and put some daylight between her rivals (Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet) in the "best actress of the generation" discussion.
Winslet has the O and the E, but is never winning a Tony. Never performed on stage professionally, and doesn't want to get found out as only being capable as a "screen actress", so won't take the risk.
Blanchett does more stage than anyone, but has yet to bag a Tony. And doesn't have an Emmy either, so she's a long way away.
Nicole is really good on stage, so the T can happen when she pushes for it.
Steve_Man -- about that "best" comment, you're right. I was live blogging and the shock of it was a delight. But a few minutes later I was like "ew, that was gross. now everyone likes him and he's evil and helped promote evil.
so now i feel gross about it. especially after seeing photos of celebrities fawning over him. *VOMITS*
I'm so happy for Nicole, but Jessica Lange really should have won.
Nat - That was my reaction to Sean Spicer as well.
Peggy Sue - Sing it.
These were good awards overall. I agreed with far over half of them, and for me, that's a good percentage. Very happy for Ann Dowd, Laura Dern, and Black Mirror especially. Actually very happy for many of the winners.
The Oscars should take a cue from the Emmys and have some legends present this year. Lily, Dolly and Jane, Norman and Carol, Cicely, Oprah... all brought the house down.
I feel really fine actors/actresses do
Not think in terms of rivalry amongst themselves
It is overly zealous fans who do that. So much of that goes on on this site.
Be happy for them all.
I'm not mad that JLD won, considering her performance in that role is just amazing. What I do have a problem with is Veep winning, considering that the latest season was trash that had no purpose.
All proof that the Emmys are clueless can be found in them not giving one to the amazing Thandie Newton. They're now like the Oscars, throwing everything at the newest, shinier thing.
So glad that Westworld was shut out. It is just bad, you guys.
Also, it's patently ridiculous to say that Newton (in a new show) losing to Ann Dowd--an actress with a decades-long career in far superior new show--amounts to "throwing everything at the newest, shinier thing."
I was so certain they were going to throw a bone to Feud and give Alfred Molina the award for a simply good, but not great, performance and lo and behold they actually give it to Alexander Skarsgard. Shocked the hell out of me (in a good way). Was so happy for his win and dang he looked fine.
I would have preferred Louie Anderson over Alec Baldwin, as I think his work on "Baskets" is profoundly humane and hilarious. But he won last year, and I think Baldwin's win was as much an accolade for his civic duty as it was his performance.
NICOLE KIDMAN!!!!
Dern's win was a surprise, and her speech was lovely. I was so happy that so many of the BLL winners credited Liane Moriarity and that Margaret Atwood came out for The Handmaid's Tale's win. Let's hear it for authors!
Was The Handmaid's Tale ever in Oprah's Book Club? She seemed especially enthusiastic.
Jakey - No, because Oprah never had books by women in the club.
Jakey and beyaccount: The book club stopped being regular after 2001, and it was never exactly common, even before that, to spotlight books older than five years.
I wonder if Ms. Fonda ever regrets those two tragic & blah outfits she wore on her Oscar night wins. Back then it was not fashionable to be stylish. She loves getting glammed up. Good job.
I did not like Jane's get up. Her bangs and the long fake ponytail were wrong for a woman who is almost 80. Her body looks terrific but that look, including the cape, was pure Drag Race.
Reese's shiny blue outfit was terrible. She looked very uncomfortable, like she realized at the last minute that she forgot to wear the pants.
Nicole looked pretty (hair and makeup) but the red dress was a bit strange at the top and the abrupt length where it floated above her ankles was weird. Did not work for me.
If Sean Spicer is evil and who really knows if he is what does that make the celebs/
Frances Faye, I love your comment about Dolly! I remember when she did a fluff interview with Ohio Governor John Kasich back when he had a Fox News talk show called "Heartland". He asked her about "family values" and why they are so important. Knowing damn well that "family values" can be coded for multiple things, she replied that she agreed with the importance of family values but that "progress" was also important. She countered bullshit with bullshit and it was masterful. "Travelin' Thru" is such a well-written song that it could be interpreted as becoming a born-again Christian *or* affirming one's identity as transgender.
It´s curious that I never thought about it, being a HUGE fan of Michelle and a big fan of Nicole but how great would be to have these 2 amazing performers joining forces in the silver screen one day?
David Kelley, please tell me you thought about this too.