I literally came into this year’s Emmys telecast with no expectations. You know why? Because last year’s show sucked so hard with Andy Samberg as host. The 2015 telecast felt like it went on forever and Samberg was just The Worst. I never thought I’d say this, but… Jimmy Kimmel did a good job as host. Not every joke was perfect and there were some uncomfortable moments, but Kimmel mostly kept the show going at a quick pace and his bits didn’t go on for TOO long, thankfully. The cold open featured Carpool Karaoke, Veep, dragons, Malcolm Jamal Warner and, most importantly, “Jeb Exclamation Point!”
As for the opening number… there were no songs, no dances, just straight up jokes. Interestingly enough… there were no Tom Hiddleston jokes. Which just goes to show you that while we obsess about certain people on the internet, they might not even be well-known enough to joke about at the Emmys. My favorite jokes involved Kimmel calling Melania Trump “Malaria.” I also loved the super-controversial trolling of Maggie Smith:
Here’s Kimmel trying to copy Elle DeGeneres’ bit from the Oscars from a few years ago, where Ellen bought pizzas for everyone. At the Emmys, Kimmel’s mom made PB&J sandwiches for everybody.
After Kimmel lost to John Oliver in Best Variety/Talk show, Matt Damon came out and made fun of Kimmel. This is why some of us do forgive Matty D for some of his bullsh-t: Damon agrees to dumb, funny skits like this.
Okay, you can see the full list of 2016 Emmy winners here, and here are some other highlights from the show:
*Keegan Michael Key lost to Louie Anderson. Like, I get it. Louie has been around for decades, but enough. Later in the night, Key & Peele finally won for the show though.
*Aziz Ansari won Comedy writing, but producers cut him off & wouldn’t let him speak.
*Kate McKinnon won for SNL, thanked Hillary Clinton in her speech.
*Peter Scolari: “No matter if you win or lose…you’ll still have your personal problems.”
*Jill Solloway won for Transparent and she made a speech about needing more diversity everywhere, and then “Topple the patriarchy” was trending on Twitter all night. Later in the show, Jeffrey Tambor wins again for Transparent, people love him, and he makes a plea for Hollywood to hire more trans people and tell more trans stories. Says he would be happy if he was the last cisgender person to play a trans person.
*Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her fifth consecutive Emmy for Veep, “Our show started out as a political satire, but it now feels like a sobering documentary”…then she apologized for “tearing down the wall between comedy and politics,” promises to rebuild the wall and make Mexico pay for it. She also choked up talking about her father’s very recent passing & she got a big hug from Keegan Michael Key.
*Kimmel had the Emmys announcer say that Bill Cosby was coming out next and everyone was freaking out when they thought Cosby was in the house.
*Leslie Jones came out with the accountants and made a joke about her Twitter being hacked. I’m glad she isn’t hiding at home, but I also hate that she was put in that position at all.
*The Night Manager won Best Director but lost everything else. No Emmys for Tom Hiddleston!
*Sterling K Brown, a journeyman actor who has been working consistently for 16 years and never been nominated for anything significant, won his first Emmy for playing Christopher Darden in the OJ miniseries.
*Sarah Paulson won Best Actress in a miniseries, paid tribute to her date, Marcia Clark, and said she loves Holland Taylor.
*Courtney B Vance won the Emmy, not Tom Hiddleston. He dedicated his award to his wife: “To the woman who rocks my chain… Angela Bassett, this is for you girl! Obama out, Hillary in.” Right after Vance left the stage, Jimmy Kimmel said this: “I have to believe Johnnie Cochran is somewhere smiling up at us tonight.”
*John Oliver won Variety/Talk Show, tried to say something about his wife’s chain and gives up.
*Game of Thrones won big… and yet, maybe not? Game of Thrones picked up awards for Best Direction (Battle of the Bastards), Best Writing & Best Drama Series, but…Kit Harington lost the Emmy. So did Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke. Why no love for the GoT actors?
*Surprise wins: Rami Malek won a surprise Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama for Mr. Robot. He’s so cute! Tatiana Maslany was also the surprise winner for Best Actress in a Drama.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Tom lost…Taylor wins… Again the snake prevails!
Yay snakes woo hooo
Yay Kiddo! Woo hooo!
YAY!! So happy to see Ben Mendelsohn win Best Support for Bloodline.
I missed that, awesome news. Loved him in Bloodline. In not so awesome news, I just read that Netflix is canceling Bloodline after the third season. Apparently it’s insanely expensive to make. Boo.
I feel like Toms love life will now forever be linked to TS drama because of a few weeks of relationship. Now that sucks!
I hope not–she isn’t worth that. I think that’s why he replied “Yes, yes we are” when he was asked if they’re still friends: to be positive about her robs her of power, nutralizes her snake venom, puts him in command of his own story.
And now if Taylor says they’re NOT still friends, it looks like she cares too much, which gives him all her power.
You overestimate the attention span of the general public.
i’ll say….overthinking celeb quotes much? and maybe everybody chill on the “power” stuff that is often talked about. Power this power that……its not the bloody power tool section at the Hardware store! its L.O.V.E. lol
Matt Damon’s bit was really funny. I just had to wonder though if they knew in advance that Jimmy will lose or they had a back up bit if he won? Yay for Tatiana finally winning. And finally, not surprising at all that the GoT cast didn’t win. Mad Men had one of the finest casts ever assembled and they were nominated year after year but it was only Hamm who won and only on his last eligible year.
I wondered about what would happen if Kimmel won. I was thinking maybe Damon could bring out his Oscar to one-up him maybe?
I thought Jimmy was quite good, Kaiser. Honestly, I was kind of surprised by how well he handled the evening and kept things going. Thumbs up.
Same here. I found the pacing and the for the most part, the jokes to be on point and appropriate. A few minor missteps, but that’s all.
I liked Matty D’s bit in particular but my favorite was Jeb Bush. I laughed out loud at his bit… whodathunkit?
I agree and thought he did a good job. I chuckled and didn’t expect to. I like Jimmy & this (coupled with the post last week on him f-ing Ben Affleck) reminded me of that.
I didn’t watch the Emmys live but saw all of Kimmels’ bits on youtube. I laughed out loud over every single one. Getting Jeb to be the chauffer was priceless.
I am SO HAPPY Tatiana won for Orphan Black. She is amazing.
Same here. Why I don’t love the show as much anymore, her acting of all the different characters she portrays has always been superb. Tatiana is amazing.
The Maggie Smith bit was hilarious. Especially when she won.
Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Dame Smith would dress up as the Dowager Countess and film a bit for Kimmel where she shows up at the lost and found to claim her award?
Rami! Love him, so glad he won.
I think Rami Malek is very, very talented. He derserves to win
Shade court ruling:
‘There were no Tom Hiddleston jokes. Which just goes to show you that while we obsess about certain people on the internet, they might not even be well-known enough to joke about at the Emmys.’
Shade? This feels like delicious shade.
It does feel like shade, but, as you said, delicious shade. Also, it’s shade at Taylor a bit too, which makes me even happier.
Actually, an E reporter asked Jimmy about making a TayTom joke before the Emmys and he said he wasn’t going there because it’s awkward to have a breakup and have the world laugh at you, so he wanted to spare him. I thought that was very kind of him.
He did awesome!! I laughed hard at a few parts!!
I thought he was great!!!!!
Some major shocks. Tatiana and Rami were so deserving but I never thought it would happen. Ditto Ben Mendleson.
As an unapologetically huge Sherlock fan even I have to say…WTF?!?! I enjoyed it sure, but over All the Way? Confirmation? No campaigning and they still win…behold the power of the Batch! 😉
I think a lot of people were shocked at Sherlock’s win last night. I presumed “All The Way” would get it.
I really enjoyed Jimmy as host. He had a couple of jokes that made me wince (the Cochran joke being one of them), but I laughed quite a bit overall. I loved his cold opening too.
I was so happy for Sterling, Paulson and Vance’s awards. They really did turn in stellar performances and they made me want to tune into The People Vs. OJ Simpson week after week. They really channeled their characters and in particular, Vance’s performance was inspired.
He ACTUALLY didn’t do So Bad, Ty and Asiz Hugging it Up to congratulate on diversity Nearly choked me Out I couldnt Compose myself for good 15 minutes
He definitely hit em with the Hein!
I was surprised no GoT actors won. Maybe they end up splitting each other’s votes among the members. If only one had been nominated maybe it would have worked out. I’ve heard Mr. Robot is good.
Ha! A Stern reference for Kimmel, a huge Stern fan and bff. Very nice!
I thought the Jeb bit was pretty funny. Maybe Jeb will become one of those people who pops up for comedic effect periodically. I think he really REALLY didn’t want to be president so this can be his retirement gig.
Love Kimmel. He’s very talented.
I thought Kimmel was great. His bits were funny, the show didn’t drag. My one complaint: they need to stop cutting off the winners while they are speaking. I understand there are time constraints, but it is rude. Let the winner have his/her moment.
Aziz sort of got to finish his speech when he went up to present some award. I didn’t see him get cut off since I only watched the middle part of the ceremony but I did see him go “That was weird right?” And then go on to thank his parents who were both there in the audience who also play his parents in Master of None. I remember him saying he had to use his own parents for the show because he couldn’t find any Indian actors available in their age bracket.
I thought this was one of the best award shows in ages. I heard on Little Gold Men (love that podcast) that Jimmy wanted to do weird and I thought he did that well. I found the Cosby bit awesome and laughed so loud at Jeb! that I scared my dog. I also thought the entire show was like an FU to the Oscars – great recognition of diversity, with women directors and actors of color winning, and Jill shouting out to Topple the Patriarchy. I also agree with Lainey that the Leslie Jones bit was great. Good for her. Damon still annoys me (ever since Damonsplaining) but his bit was funny too.