After trying to catch a ride with James Corden and the cast of “Modern Family,” Emmy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel instead wound up in a limo with GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush in the show’s opening skit.
In a strange interraction, Bush gave Emmy-nominated Kimmel some solid advice while driving to the show.
“If you run a positive campaign, the voters will ultimately make the right choice,” Bush said before adding, “Jimmy, that was a joke, and shave that wig off your face, you godless Hollywood hippie.”
This was one of the many political jokes and statements of the night. Kimmel, and even a few of the night’s winners, set their sights on GOP candidate Donald Trump, whereas others gave Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton a shout out.
As for the winners, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her fifth Emmy Award for best comedy actress for her role in “Veep.” This was a no-brainer, but throughout the night, there were some shocking wins. For example, best drama supporting actor went to Ben Mendelsohn for his role in “Bloodline” as Danny Rayburn. I was totally convinced the award would go to Peter Dinklage for his work in “Game of Thrones.”
Aziz Ansari was received a ground-breaking nomination for best comedy actor in his series, “Master of None,” – the first nomination for the award ever given to a South Asian actor – but unfortunately, lost. However, he did walk away with the Emmy for best writing for a comedy series.
Kate McKinnon won the Emmy for best supporting actress on a comedy series for her role on “Saturday Night Live,” in which she plays, among other characters, Hillary Clinton, whom she thanked in her acceptance speech.
The best acceptance speech of the night definitely belonged to Jeffrey Tambor, who won best comedy actor for his role in “Transparent” as a transgender woman.
“Please give transgender talent a chance,” Tambor said. “Give them auditions. Give them their story.”
This is Tambor’s second consecutive Emmy for his role in “Transgender” and this year he used his speech as an opportunity to plead the case for transgender performers trying to break through in Hollywood.
Tambor finished his speech by adding: “I would be happy if I were the last cisgender male to play a transgender female.”
Another show that had a great night was “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” which won nine awards, including best limited series.
Sarah Paulson walked away with best lead actress in a limited series with her work in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” as Marcia Clark, O.J. Simpson’s former prosecutor. Paulson also won the best plus one award because she had Clark accompanying her.
Overall, “Game of Thrones” was the big winner with a total of 12 wins out of 23 nominations. I expect next year to look pretty similar with the season seven premiering in the summer of 2017.
Outstanding Drama Series: Game of Thrones (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Tatiana Maslany, “Orphan Black”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Ben Mendelsohn, “Bloodline”
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Margo Martindale, “The Americans”
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Hank Azaria, “Ray Donovan”
Outstanding Comedy Series: “Veep” (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeffery Tambor, “Transparent”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Kate Mckinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Louie Anderson, “Baskets”
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Peter Scolari, “Girls”
Outstanding TV Movie: “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride” (PBS)
Outstanding Limited Series: “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (FX)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series: Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series of Movie: Courtney B. Vance, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Sterling K. Brown, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Regina King, “American Crime”
Outstanding Reality Competition Series: “The Voice” (NBC)
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program: RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Variety Talk Series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series: “Key & Peele” (Comedy Central)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: “Master of None” (Netflix)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: “Game of Thrones” (HBO)
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special: “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special: “Talking for Clapping” (Netflix)
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series: “Making A Murderer” (Netflix)
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance: “Family Guy” (FOX)
Outstanding Animated Program: “Archer” (FX)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series: Jill Soloway, “Transparent”
Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special: Susanne Bier, “The Night Manager”
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special: Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski, “Grease: Live”
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series: Miguel Sapochnik, “Game of Thrones