2017 Emmys Recap

David Viefhaus

More stories from David Viefhaus

Tachevah 2018
May 17, 2018

Presented by “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. on Sunday, Sept. 17.

To start off the night, Colbert sang about what makes TV shows awardable, sprinkling politics here and there. Going along with the theme of politics, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made a cameo on stage directed at President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January.

The former press secretary was brought onto the stage to address the size of the audience. “This will be the largest audience to witness the Emmys, period — both in person and around the world,” Spicer said jokingly. “[Trump] thought I did a great job,” said Spicer.

The first award presented that night was for outstanding directing for a comedy series. It was given to Donald Glover for his TV show “Atlanta,” making him the first African American to win this award.

Following Glover’s appearance, Alec Baldwin was called to the stage to accept his award for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for “Saturday Night Live” for playing the role of  Trump in multiple skits.

Glover wasn’t the only one to break records during the special night. Reed Morano, the director of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is the first woman in 22 years to win the award for directing a drama series and is also one of the youngest directors in the business to do so at 40 years old.

Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe won the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series for the “Thanksgiving” episode in “Master of None.” Winning the award makes Waithe the first African American woman to win the award.

After a skit with RuPaul where he appeared on stage playing as a live Emmy statue, John Oliver was given an award for the writing on his show “Last Week Tonight” for the second year in a row. Oliver appeared on the stage and then paid tribute to Oprah Winfrey because “she’s sitting right there and it seems inappropriate not to,” he said in his acceptance speech.

Winning his second award of the night, Glover was granted the award for lead actor in a comedy series.

After a night of awards, laughs, and celebrity appearances, the final award was presented by Winfrey for outstanding lead actress in a drama series. It was given to Elisabeth Moss for her role in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which also won an Emmy of its own for outstanding drama series.