Now that we’re in the era of peak TV (and horrible movies), the Emmys may just be the most important awards show in American entertainment. And when it came to celebrating our medium of choice last night, they did fine. There were actual award winner surprises, a bad Bill Cosby joke and several emotional speeches.
The highlights, for you early-to-bed types:
It was a great night for genre fans
“Please tell me you’re seeing this too,” said a visibly shocked Rami Malek (Mr. Robot), who beat out the likes of Kevin Spacey and Matthew Rhys for Best Actor in a Drama series. Plus, Game of Thrones won Best Drama Series (amongst some writing and directing awards) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) picked up her long-awaited, well-deserved Lead Actress in a Drama award.
Jeffrey Tambor Gives the Best Acceptance Speeches
Winning the Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series award for the second year in a row for his work on Amazon’s Transparent, Tambor was at once funny, humble, proud and political: shushing the outro music prompter, he asked Hollywood to “please give transgender talent a chance, give them auditions, give them their stories … I hope I’m the last cisgender man playing a transgender woman.” (And five-time winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus gave a wonderfully emotional speech, thanking her father, who had recently passed away.)
Jeb Bush Found a New Job
“Did you know you can make $12 an hour driving for Uber?”
We’re Not Done With Stranger Things Yet
They danced to “Uptown Funk” at the Emmys pre-show and passed out peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches to the audience (on bikes!). Note: those sandwiches, supposedly made by Kimmel’s mother, were “the grossest PB&J I’ve ever had,” according to LA Times reporter Gerrick Kennedy.
Jimmy Kimmel Got Burned
After his late-night talk show lost to John Oliver for Best Variety Series, Jimmy Kimmel dealt with barbs from Matt Damon (their fake feud’s been going on for years): “Sorry, this is so humiliating! You lost, and you now you have to stand out here …” Damon gestured, chewing on an apple. After hugging the host and calling him a “big loser,” Damon left the stage and yelled “Tell your mom I like them apples.”
Main image: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images
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