Andy Samberg of Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine proved to be a fun host at the 67th Emmy Awards. He opened the star-studded night with a pre-taped opening number very much in the vein of his classic SNL Digital Shorts; I related to the sketch about a rabid TV binge-watcher a little too much. It was absolutely hysterical, and Samberg would go on to stretch that funny and quirky tone throughout the rest of the telecast. Later, another pre-taped segment aired featuring Samberg, his Lonely Island crew, and Parks and Rec‘s Jim O’Heir spoofing the Mad Men series finale. There was even a point where the host shared his HBO NOW login information; friends confirmed that it actually worked! Feel free to try it now–using the login khaleesifan3@emmyhost.com and password password1–though be warned that by now someone has likely changed that information to keep the account locked down for him or herself. All in all, though this year’s Emmys ran in a very traditional format (there weren’t any out-of-left-field surprises, unless you count Tracy Morgan’s comeback appearance at the end), Samberg managed to keep audiences thoroughly entertained as a welcome stage presence.
Moving onto the actual awards, this was a record-setting year at the Emmys for myriad reasons. First let’s start with the night’s big winners. HBO’s Game of Thrones and Veep were crowned Outstanding Drama and Comedy, respectively, taking home the most coveted awards of the evening. Thrones won a total of 12 Emmys this year–that’s the most wins in a single year for a series. The previous record holder was The West Wing which won 9 Emmys in 2000. In addition to Outstanding Drama, Thrones also won for its writing (David Benioff and Dan Weiss, “Mother’s Mercy”), directing (David Nutter, “Mother’s Mercy”), and acting (Peter Dinklage). Veep, meanwhile, broke Modern Family‘s winning streak just as the ABC sitcom was hoping to secure a record-setting sixth consecutive win. The HBO comedy took home trophies recognizing its actors (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale) and writing (Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche, “Election Night”). The premium cable network that airs these shows had the best night: HBO took home a grand total of 14 Emmys (thanks, in part, to Olive Kitteridge dominating the Limited Series categories) and it managed to do something that hasn’t been done in 13 years. The last time the same network had two series that won the Outstanding Drama and Comedy trophies in the same year was back in 2002 when NBC did it with West Wing and Friends.
Elsewhere, the incomparable Viola Davis became the first African American to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for her role as Annalise Keating in ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder. Her historic acceptance speech was the best and most memorable of the night; if you missed it, you must watch it now. In addition to eloquently quoting Harriet Tubman, she went on to say this amazing line. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity.”
Also of note, it was the cast of Mad Men‘s final year to win an Emmy and at long last leading man Jon Hamm got the statue. Though he was nominated for his iconic role as Don Draper seven times before, it took lucky number eight to finally break the mold and come out on top. His awkward crawl to the stage made the wait worth it.
Click here to browse all of the winners (and losers) from this year’s Emmy Awards. Spoiler alert: Amazon’s Transparent did well, too.