The 67th annual Primetime Emmys featured no shortage of stars, snubs and the best in TV. As with every year, the awards show featured no shortage of memorable moments. Here is my rundown of some of the best of the night.
Best prerecorded segment
First time host Andy Samberg seemed comfortable with his duties, keeping audience members laughing at almost all of his jokes. Throughout the night, prerecorded segments aired that all fell inline with the sketches done by Samberg and The Lonely Island.
Though they were all hilarious, the best recorded segment of the night had to be Samberg’s opening video, which poked fun at the fact that these days there are just many shows to keep track of on TV. Featuring guest appearances from John Hamm, Will Forte, Bob Odenkirk and more, the opening video set the tone for the night and started things off on the right foot.
Best opening monologue joke
Samberg’s opening monologue featured tons of strong jokes. However, it was a clever cameo by Jane Lynch that made me laugh the hardest. “If you’re speech goes on for too long, tonight instead of being played off by the orchestra, you’re going to have to deal with the mean nun from Game of Thrones,” Samberg joked. Lynch joined him on stage as the character from the “Thrones” season finale who followed Cersei on her walk of shame by ringing a bell and shouting, “Shame!”
Most poignant speech
Former “Arrested Development” star Jeffrey Tambor received the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy series for his role on the Amazon original series “Transparent.” I’ve only gotten to see the pilot of the show, but Tambor’s performance in it was exceptional, and I’ve heard the rest of the season is great as well. “I had a teacher who used to say, you know, ‘When you act, you have to act as if your life depends on it.’ And now I’ve been given the opportunity to act because people’s lives depend on it,” Tambor said in his acceptance speech. Seeing him be genuinely thankful and dedicate his speech in the way he did absolutely made for the one most poignant moments of the night.
Most Deserving Win
It’s hard to believe "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm had never won before tonight, despite being nominated 16 times. Hamm received a standing ovation upon receiving the award and even joked that “a terrible mistake” had been made. Though I did not watch the show, I have always heard how excellent Hamm was on it and it was nice to see the actor finally be recognized for his work.
Most poignant moment
Though Tambor and Viola Davis both gave moving speeches, as a comedy fan the most poignant moment of the night was the return of Tracy Morgan to the stage. After being in a horrific car accident in 2014, the actor hit the stage to present an award and was greeted by a deserving standing ovation. "Thanks to my amazing doctors and the support of my family, I'm here, standing on my own two feet," Morgan said.
Biggest night
Man, oh man! What a night Sunday was for the entire cast and crew of “Game of Thrones.” The HBO series shattered the record for most wins in one year. Formerly held by “The West Wing’s," who won nine awards in 2000, “Game of Thrones” took home 12 awards this year including eight at last week’s Creative Arts Emmys. The show won for Outstanding Drama series, show runners David Weiss and D.B. Benioff won for Best Writing, star Peter Dinklage won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama and David Nutter won best directing for the fifth season’s finale “Mother’s Mercy.” Though the speeches by the cast and crew were fairly low key, it was great to see the show win so big, even if it did remind me that there are still almost seven months until it returns.
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