A look at the moments that took place during the 2015 Emmys.
History was made Sunday night.
Viola Davis, the absolute boss who runs every Thursday on How To Get Away With Murder, became the first black woman to win the Outstanding Lead Actress award at the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” Davis said in her speech. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there. So here’s to all the writers — the awesome people that are Ben Sherwood, Paul Lee, Peter Nowalk, Shonda Rhimes, people who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black. And to the Taraji P. Hensons, the Kerry Washingtons, the Halle Berrys, the Nicole Beharies, the Meagan Goods, to Gabrielle Union, thank you for taking us over that line.”
This was the first year two black women were nominated for the award. For her role as Olivia Pope in Scandal, Kerry Washington has broken a nearly 20-year dry spell when a black woman couldn’t even get nominated in the category. Thankfully, a change has been made.
via giphy.com
Game of Thrones also made history as it has become the show to win the most awards for any series in a single year. It was a title previously held by The West Wing with its eight wins. Thrones received 12 this year.
Orange is the New Black’s Uzo Aduba became the new Ed Asner as she was the first woman to win an Emmy in the comedy and drama categories for the same character. Asner did so in the ‘70s and ‘80s for his wins as Lou Grant in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then its spinoff Lou Grant.
She also should receive an award for delivering the most sincere acceptance speeches of all time. The emotion is so pure.
Surprisingly, there was a second tie-in to Ed Asner: Allison Janney. Janney has now tied with Asner for the record for most Emmy wins: 7. Think of Janney as the “Meryl Streep of TV shows.” No one can get discouraged when Janney — or Streep — wins, even if it is a consecutive win against solid new nominees.
As for host Andy Samberg, the night wasn't so historic. The comedic actor made several great jokes ("I'll have to admit, I haven't seen Olive Kitteridge, I've only seen half of Kitteridge"), but his timing was way off. Everything felt awkward.
Although, that Taxi joke was everything anyone could have ever asked for.
via buzzfeed.com
In seeing his jokes in listicles afterwards, most will probably enjoy Samberg's stints, but while sitting through the three-hour broadcast, the charm wasn't as immediate.
Among Thrones, Veep and Olive Kitteridge, HBO took home the most Emmy statues Sunday, continuing its domination at the award show each year. To help with the comparison, HBO received 14 statues Sunday. Comedy Central came in second place — it only took home four.
Not only did Thrones take home the big prize for Outstanding Drama Series, but it also won awards for writing, directing and supporting actor for Peter Dinklage. Everyone, sing along. Peter Dinklage! Though, the fact that Thrones won for writing for the finale, “Mother’s Mercy,” isn’t as heartwarming. It was the episode that featured Cersei’s highly debatable walk of shame — a scene that could have been filmed several other ways that would have made it more bearable and less degrading to women. Thrones deservedly won, but the specific episode that was submitted for Academy review is disheartening.
Veep also proved to be glorious Sunday as it won some of the top prizes in the comedy categories: best series, best actress and best supporting actor. This was Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ fourth consecutive win for her role as Selina Meyer.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="5e144d20-5e7b-11e5-bd36-ff509320214e"}}
Everyone is probably asking, "What's Olive Kitteridge?" now that the limited series won six awards — both lead acting categories and limited series overall.
HBO also had a starring role in one of the biggest bits of the night. At one point, Samberg joked about how most users share passwords for streaming services.
Rivaling Aduba and Davis for the best acceptance of the night is Jeffrey Tambor for when he won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Amazon’s Transparent. “I'd like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community. Thank you for your patience,” Tambor, repeating his moving Golden Globes tribute, said.
The Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category was probably the most contested. It was hard not to walk away disappointed when every single nominee was incredibly deserving and iconic. Lily Tomlin, Lisa Kudrow, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Amy Schumer, Amy Poehler, Edie Falco. There’s no way to really lose there, though it’s disappointing neither Poehler nor Schumer took it home.
Schumer did thankfully win at least once for her groundbreaking, sidesplittingly funny show Inside Amy Schumer. And yes, Amy, your smokey eye does look amazing. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Poehler of Parks and Recreation, which aired its last season, meaning Poehler’s chance to win as Leslie Knope are forever gone.
via buzzfeed.com
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series also left some personal scars. As amazing as it was for Davis to become the first black woman to win the award, it still is OK to feel hurt that Tatiana Maslany didn’t win for Orphan Black. After two years of being snubbed, Maslany finally garnered a nomination this year, and fingers turned black and blue for being crossed so hard for her win. Again, it’s a very good thing to have one incredibly deserving actress lose out to another incredibly deserving actress. That’s a good situation to be in.
It still stings. Though, we do have that odd bit she did with Tony Hale.
via giphy.com
However, the opposite occurred for the male actor who has been wrongfully snubbed for several years. Jon Hamm finally took home the statue for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Mad Men after being nominated seven times. It’s the AMC show’s only acting win out of more than 30 nominations total.
It was a feat that certainly warranted Hamm’s odd, but hilarious stage ascension.
via nowthisnews.tumblr.com
One of the most emotional moments of the night wasn't even because of the In Memoriam segment or from a winner. It was when Tracy Morgan unexpectedly presented the award for Outstanding Drama Series. Morgan has visibly changed since his near-death accident, though it was heartwarming to hear him make a classic 30 Rock Tracy Jordan joke about getting everyone pregnant. It's crude in writing, but it was tear-inducing via the broadcast. Even Tina Fey and Jane Krakowski couldn't help but to laugh.
via giphy.com
Possibly the biggest surprise of the night was when Samberg managed to run a show that ended on time. He deserves a statue just for that.
And the 2015 Emmy Award winners are …
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="5fec70bc-5dc9-11e5-ae87-778e79176a73"}}
Outstanding Drama Series
- Better Call Saul
- Downton Abbey
- Game of Thrones
- Homeland
- House of Cards
- Mad Men
- Orange Is The New Black
Outstanding Comedy Series
- Louie
- Modern Family
- Parks and Recreation
- Silicon Valley
- Transparent
- Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Veep
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- Anthony Anderson in Black-ish
- Don Cheadle in House of Lies
- Louie in Louie C.K.
- Will Forte in The Last Man on Earth
- Matt LeBlanc in Episodes
- William H. Macy in Shameless
- Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep
- Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie
- Lisa Kudrow in The Comeback
- Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation
- Amy Schumer in Inside Amy Schumer
- Lily Tomlin in Grace and Frankie
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- Kyle Chandler in Bloodline
- Jeff Daniels in The Newsroom
- Jon Hamm in Mad Men
- Rob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul
- Liev Schreiber in Ray Donovan
- Kevin Spacey in House of Cards
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
- Taraji P. Henson in Empire
- Claire Danes in Homeland
- Robin Wright in House of Cards
- Viola Davis in How To Get Away With Murder
- Elisabeth Moss in Mad Men
- Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Andre Braugher in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Adam Driver in Girls
- Keegan-Michael Key in Key & Peele
- Ty Burrell in Modern Family
- Tituss Burgess in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Tony Hale in Veep
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Niecy Nash in Getting On
- Julie Bowen in Modern Family
- Allison Janney in Mom
- Kate McKinnon in Saturday Night Live
- Mayim Bialik in The Big Bang Theory
- Gaby Hoffmann in Transparent
- Jane Krakowski in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Anna Chlumsky in Veep
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
- Jonathan Banks in Better Call Saul
- Ben Mendelsohn in Bloodline
- Jim Carter in Downton Abbey
- Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones
- Michael Kelly in House of Cards
- Alan Cumming in The Good Wife
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Joanne Froggatt in Downton Abbey
- Lena Headey in Game of Thrones
- Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones
- Christina Hendricks in Mad Men
- Uzo Aduba in Orange Is The New Black
- Christine Baranski in The Good Wife
Outstanding Limited Series
- American Crime
- American Horror Story: Freak Show
- Olive Kitteridge
- The Honorable Woman
- Wolf Hall
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
- Adrien Brody in Houdini
- Ricky Gervais in Derek Special
- Timothy Hutton in American Crime
- Richard Jenkins in Olive Kitteridge
- David Oyelowo in Nightingale
- Mark Rylance in Wolf Hall
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Honorable Woman
- Felicity Huffman in American Crime
- Jessica Lange in American Horror Story: Freak Show
- Queen Latifah in Bessie
- Frances McDormand in Olive Kitteridge
- Emma Thompson in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Live from Lincoln Center)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
- Richard Cabral in American Crime
- Damian Lewis in Wolf Hall
- Bill Murray in Olive Kitteridge
- Denis O’Hare in American Horror Story: Freak Show
- Michael Kenneth Williams in Bessie
- Finn Wittrock in American Horror Story: Freak Show
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
- Angela Bassett in American Horror Story: Freak Show
- Kathy Bates in American Horror Story: Freak Show
- Zoe Kazan in Olive Kitteridge
- Regina King in American Crime
- Mo’Nique in Bessie
- Sarah Paulson in American Horror Story: Freak Show
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
- The Voice
- Top Chef
- Dancing With the Stars
- The Amazing Race
- So You Think You Can Dance
- Project Runway
Outstanding Variety Series
- The Colbert Report
- The Daily Show
- Jimmy Kimmel Live
- Last Week Tonight
- Late Show With David Letterman
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
- The Daily Show
- The Colbert Report
- Inside Amy Schumer
- Key & Peele
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
- James Hoskinson, The Colbert Report
- Chuck O’Neil, The Daily Show
- Amy Schumer and Ryan McFaul, Inside Amy Schumer
- Jerry Foley, Late Show With David Letterman
- Dave Diomedi, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
- Drunk History
- Inside Amy Schumer
- Key & Peele
- Portlandia
- Saturday Night Live
@buzzlightmeryl
mg986611@ohio.edu
