The 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards awarded some of the best and brightest in television and said farewell to the shows and entertainers the industry lost this year on Sep. 20. Hosted by Andy Samberg, the Emmys this year were surprisingly poignant, as several winners broke records and made history.
HBO was the big winner of the night, with “Game of Thrones,” “Olive Kitteridge” and “Veep” taking home the most awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Miniseries and Comedy Series, respectively.
Jon Hamm finally — and deservingly — won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in his last year of eligibility for his acclaimed role as Don Draper in “Mad Men,” after previously being nominated and losing seven times in the same category.
Amy Poehler, another perennial loser nominated for her work in the last season of “Parks and Recreation,” was not so lucky, losing Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to reigning champ Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Poehler still managed to steal the spotlight, pretending to sleep through Louis-Dreyfus’ acceptance speech.
Unlike the Oscars, which was heavily criticized for its lack of diversity, the Emmys boasted a wide range of nominees and winners from a variety of backgrounds this year. Viola Davis made history when she became the first black woman to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in “How to Get Away with Murder,” and two of the four awards for directing went to women — Jill Soloway for Amazon’s “Transparent” and Lisa Cholodenko for “Olive Kitteridge.”
As host, Samberg felt a bit miscast — stand-up is clearly not his forte, and most of his jokes failed. His mediocre opening monologue, for example, recycled much of the same tired material used at countless other awards shows — the audience had to suffer through the usual unoriginal jokes about Bill Cosby, Donald Trump and discrimination in Hollywood. He lacked good comedic timing as well, pausing after each unfunny joke to wait for laughter and applause that weren’t there.
Samberg did manage to provide a few memorable moments throughout the night, however. His pre-recorded opening skit, in which he locks himself away for years to binge-watch every television show currently popular, was entertaining and all too relatable in an era when there is more quality content than ever on the air. He also moved the show along at a good pace, wrapping it up in exactly three hours — a rare feat.
Several presenters stole the show, like Poehler and Amy Schumer, who introduced themselves by saying, “We are Amy,” before commenting “What an exciting two to four hours for women in comedy.” James Corden turned the usually dull task of introducing the accounting firm, Ernst & Young, into one of the best moments of the night, hyping them up and asking the audience to “separate [their] hands and put them back together… a million times.”
Overall, the Emmys provided a solid night of entertainment and awarded many deserving actors, writers and directors. This year’s show was neither extraordinary nor innovative, but it was still a satisfying celebration of the year in television.
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