By Natalie Forster
Contributing Writer
The 69th annual Emmy Awards took place on Sept. 17 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. Stephen Colbert hosted for his first time ever, following in the footsteps of previous comedians.
Colbert’s opening monologue was filled with Donald Trump jokes. Everything was put out there from Seth Meyers spitting out marbles, hinting at Trump’s old comment on former Emmy host Seth Meyers, to accusing the Emmys of being rigged.
The most questionable part of the night was when Colbert brought out former press secretary Sean Spicer. Spicer joked about it being the biggest audience ever, referencing the lie he told about the inauguration crowds. The audience was in shock that Colbert would go so far to make fun of the president, yet this brought about wonder to viewers on how far the presidential jokes could go.
This year was a huge for online streaming networks with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon ranking 125 nominations. Big series like Stranger Things and Transparent were the main frontrunners. Although the Emmys are meant for primetime television, 2017 brought about new ideas as to what primetime really is.
The most nominated shows of the night were Saturday Night Live and Westworld with 22 nominations each, making Saturday Night Live the most nominated show of all time. Stranger Things had the next most nominations with 18.
Unlike many award shows, the Emmys continued to have male and female categories instead of gender neutral. They did talk about the importance of inclusion and how the television industry is becoming much more diverse in terms of highlighting gender identity and ethnicity.
The show itself was more boring than in previous years. Even though Stephen Colbert attempted to try to brighten up the atmosphere with his nude sketches and jokes, he made it even more uncomfortable for the audience watching in the theater and through televisions. One of the stranger moments was when he started drinking urine in hopes of cracking up the audience, but he sadly only got dirty looks and cringes as a response.
Rachel Bloom’s song and dance was possibly the most enjoyable part of the show. With a sparkly suit, cane, top hat and back-up dancers, Rachel managed to steal everyone’s attention. She brought out Ernst & Young for a surprise pop-up and joked about how it’s “all downhill from here.”
Christopher Jackson, Broadway actor, sang a heart-warming song while they showed all the industry stars who have died within the past year, including big names like Adam West. American actress Cicely Tyson also warmed hearts by getting nervous on stage before presenting.
Black Mirror: San Junipero took home the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie and Big Little Lies won for Outstanding Limited Series. Sterling K. Brown from This is Us won for Outstanding Actor while Elisabeth Moss from The Handmaid’s Tale won for Outstanding Actress. The politically driven Veep won the Outstanding Comedy Season award for the third consecutive year. The Handmaid’s Tale took home the grand prize for Outstanding Drama Series to close out the night.
The most trophies were tied at five between HBO’s Big Little Lies and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, followed by Saturday Night Live with four.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus won Lead Actress in a Comedy for Veep for the sixth consecutive time.
forstena17@bonaventure.edu
