2015 Primetime Emmy Awards
The stars aligned for the 2015 Primetime Emmy Awards. Brooklyn Nine-Nine star and SNL alumni Andy Samberg took on hosting duties for this the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, and he had big shoes to fill. The ladies, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler killed it when they took the reigns and by doing so, reset the hosting standard and entertainment factor for the broadcast.
The show opened with a video of Andy Samberg sitting at a dinner table. He got up and sang about all the TV shows. He was locked in a volt for a year to watch every TV show nominated and comes out unwashed a year later. ‘Have you seen Castle, he asked. He freaks out and goes back in the volt to watch the show and comes back out over a hundred hours later.
He came out and sang again. He then said he’s going to run through all the shows like Billy Crystal and he rattles off all the show titles during the song. The punch line is he’s qualified to be the host of the broadcast, because, “I watch every damn show.”
He then took the stage in front of a completely packed audience. He welcomed everyone to the broadcast and said Justin Timberlake is not coming, “Now that we put that to bed.” He continued saying he loves the futuristic set for the program and joked about getting the sports almanac back from Biff. He made a bad joke about Billy Cosby and Robert Blake, and a few others.
His monologue was pretty lengthy, over ten minutes. And if the winner’s speeches go too long they will have to deal with the mean Nun from Game of Thrones. Jane Lynch played the role.
“The big story is diversity this year” and he said and, “Congratulations Hollywood you did it. Racism is over … don’t fact check that.” He joked about Donald Trump and mentioned Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over on the Apprentice. He joked about Kim Davis too.
The first two presenters were Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer. They presented the award for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and the Emmy Award went to Allison Janney for Mom. She read her speech very quickly and thanked all of her supporters and crew for the award.
The next presenters were Anthony Anderson and Tracy Ellis Ross from black-ish. They presented the award for Writing for a Comedy Series, and the Emmy Award went to Simon Blackwell.
Ricky Gervais was the next presenter and said he’s back. He said no one remembers. He asked for an Emmy so he could pose with it and cry and act like he won it and said, ”Tweet that.” His whole bit was a little on the awkward side, but he presented the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and the award went to Tony Hale for Veep.
The next award went Transparent creator, Jill Soloway who promoted support for the Trans Equality Bill in her speech.
Andy followed by putting his face in the butt of the Emmy statue on stage before welcoming Jimmy Kimmel to present. Jimmy peaked at the name of the winner before announcing the nominees. He then cut the card with a pair of scissors. Oh no, and he cut the name out of the card and ate the winner’s name before reading the nominees names. There goes that keepsake.
He finally did announce that the winner for Best Lead Actor was Jeffrey Tambor for Transparent. It was Jeffrey’s first nomination as the lead actor. He dedicated his award to the transgender community and said, “Thank you for letting us be part of the change. “
Andy and Seth Meyers came out together and congratulated Lorne Michaels while giving him a World’s Best Boss mug. They actually awarded the mug to Shondra Rhimes but said at least Lorne won the Emmy for the SNL 40th Anniversary Show. Lorne Michaels still got the mug, because Shondra wasn’t there. The skit was a little awkward, but OK.
Seth then presented the nominees for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and the Emmy went Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep. She has won 6 Emmy’s and has 20 nominations. She ended her speech by saying, “Thanks you guys, this is just mind-blowing.”
Key and Peele were the next presenters for Reality-Competition Program and the Emmy went to The Voice. This was the second Emmy win for The Voice. Mark Barnett accepted the award and said, “Sorry Amazing Race this year.”
Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard were next and they stumble a bit but announced the nominees for Writing a Dramatic Series. Jane Anderson for Olive Kitteridge took the Emmy. Her second win. She was the first to be played off the stage during her acceptance speech.
They also presented the Emmy for Supporting Actress for a Limited Series Movie or Dramatic Special and the award went it Regina King America Crime. Her first Emmy nomination and win. Taraji and Regina hugged really hard. What a special moment for them both. She thanked everyone she could think of including her son and said, “Cheers.”
John Oliver was the next presenter because he had to follow the cast of Empire he said, “This day just got significantly less attractive.” He presented the category of Directing a limited Series and the award went to Lisa Cholodenko for Olive Kitteridge. She was the next to get played off during her acceptance speech.
The next category was Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for a Movie and the Emmy went to Bill Murray for Olive Kitteridge. He was not there, so the award was accepted for him.
Finally, another skit came with Andy singing a copy of the Coke song like the end of Mad Man. He tossed the Emmy to a man and it went into his chest as Andy screamed, “I killed him.” This was really awkward too.
Rob Lowe and Kerry Washington were next to present the award for Lead Actress in a Movie or Series and the Emmy went to Frances McDormand for Olive Kitteridge. Her first Emmy win and she also got the award for shortest acceptance speech of the night.
Lady Gaga was next to present the nominees for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie and the Emmy went to Richard Jenkins Olive Kitteridge. Olive Kitteridge swept the Emmy’s. Richard thanked many, including his wife of 46 years.
The next category was Outstanding Limited Series and the Emmy went to Olive Kitteridge. The program has a total of 13 nominations and 6 Emmy Awards so far.
The next award was for Variety Series Writing and the Emmy went to the team from The Daily Show and John Stewart. John didn’t speak for the show, but he was applauded.
Jane Lynch and Eric Stonestreet were the next presenters for Variety Sketch Series, and the Emmy went to Inside Amy Schumer. Amy was emotional at first but pulled it together. She thanked Comedy Central, the writers and, “The girl who gave me sort of a smoky eye.”
Variety Series Directing was up next and the Emmy Award went to my old friend Chuck O’Neil for The Daily Show. He has 12 consecutive nominations for The Daily Show in this category.
LL Cool J was next to present the nominees for Variety Talk Series and the Emmy went to The Daily Show with John Stewart. The series has 60 nominations to date. John spoke for The Daily Show this time and said, “These people I love desperately.”
The Emmy for Writing for a Drama Series went to David Benioff for Game of Thrones. They were the first and only to be blanked out for a censored word.
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series went to Uzo Aduba for Orange is the New Black. She was shocked and visually shaken. Uzo Aduba couldn’t hold back her tears but said, “I just want to say thank you a thousand times.” She thanked everyone and thanked her family for standing by her entire life.
The next category was Drama Series Directing and the Emmy went to Game of Thrones – the second Emmy win for David Nutter. He said he was literally shaking while giving his acceptance speech.
Viola Davis was the next presenter. She presented the award for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and the Emmy went to Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones. It was the second Emmy win and the 5th consecutive nomination for Dinklage. He said he wasn’t prepared at all to win this award, “I was even chewing gum.”
The In Memoriam segment always reminds us and surprises us of how many treasures we have lost.
Tina Fey came next for the nominees for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. The Emmy went to John Hamm for Mad Men. This was his first Emmy win out of 16 nominations. He skipped the stairs and crawled over the stage to accept his award. The audience gave him a standing ovation.
Adrien Brody was the next presenter for Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the Emmy went to Viola Davis for How to Get Away with Murder. She hugged Taraji before she took the stage.
Viola fought her tears as she recited a statement by Harriet Tubman and said, “You can’t win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Viola made history being the first African American woman to win the Lead Actress in a Drama Emmy. She had fellow nominees wiping their eyes during her powerful and emotional acceptance speech.
Surprise! Mel Brooks was the next presenter. He too got a standing ovation. He presented the award for Comedy Series. The Emmy went to Veep. The cast was surprised, hugged and cheered in the audience before they ever got to the stage.
The final award was presented by Tracy Morgan who walked to the stage on his own. He too got a standing ovation. He too was very emotional. He said, “I miss you guys so much.” He thanked his doctors, his family, and his wife for being able to be there. He told a few jokes just like the old Tracy Morgan. It was good to see him back. The Emmy for Drama Series went to Game of Thrones.
Andy closed the broadcast quickly after the final acceptance speech.
The broadcast wasn’t a home-run, but reviewers may not be too hard on Andy for this first time out.
See You Next Year!
Tanya Hart
