From Viola Davis’ historic win to Tracy Morgan’s return to Jimmy Kimmel eating a winner’s name and Game of Thrones winning a record-breaking 12 Awards, there were plenty of highs and lows from the 2015 Emmys.
BEST MOMENTS
Viola Davis’ Speech
Becoming the first African-American woman to win best actress in a drama, Viola Davis’ speech opened with a Harriet Tubman quote, paid homage to her peers and succinctly summed up why she’s the first to notch this historic win: “You can’t win Emmys for roles that don’t exist.”
Jimmy Kimmel Presents…Slowly
Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t afraid to take his time while presenting for lead actor in a comedy. When he took out scissors, cut out the winner’s name and ate it, the crowd was half-laughing, half-cringing — and the nominees probably wanted to kill him. It’s hard to endure awkward pauses in front of an audience of your peers, so kudos to Kimmel for having the boldest comedic moment.
Tracy Morgan Returns
Making his first major public appearance since the 2014 accident that left him comatose for eight days, Morgan was met by tears and applause when he took the stage toward the end of the ceremony. While he seemed emotional and not quite himself at first, he ended on a very Morgan moment: “I’ve only recently started to feel like myself again, which means a whole lot of young women are going to get pregnant at the after party.”
Andy Samberg’s Opener
The opening song was a nice mix between ridiculous gags and self-aware cracks about how Emmy jokes can’t be all that edgy. Still, his monologue was one of the best in recent years, commenting on age and wage gaps between men and women, Donald Trump (obviously) and Bill Cosby in a way that didn’t feel tired.
Richard Jenkins Gets Starstruck
Taking the Emmy for lead actor in a limited series for Olive Kitteridge, Richard Jenkins received his award from Lady Gaga — and he couldn’t seem to get over it. “That’s Lady Gaga!” he gushed at the top of his speech, before moving on to the real people he needed to thank: “I would like to thank the incredible women who made Olive Kitteridge happen — there’s about a thousand of them.
Jon Hamm Finally Wins
After 16 nominations, Jon Hamm finally won a much-deserved Emmy. Still, it’s crazy that he’s the only actor to win an Emmy from the AMC series.
Andy Samberg’s Mad Men Finale Parody
Spoofing the Mad Men finale — which itself references an iconic vintage Coke ad — Samberg sang about giving the world an Emmy before accidentally murdering someone with one.
Women won for writing and directing
The writing and directing categories are notoriously male — something that Game of Thrones’ dominance didn’t change. But there were some bright spots: Olive Kitteridge’s sweep meant wins for its writer Jane Anderson and its director Lisa Cholodenko, and Jill Soloway took the win for directing Transparent.
WORST MOMENTS
Amy Poehler Not Winning
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is incredible in Veep and otherwise, no arguments there. But a fourth consecutive win for lead actress in a comedy wasn’t necessary — Amy Poehler, up for Parks & Recreation for the final time, would have been a much more deserving winner.
Mad Men Not Winning
For as celebrated as it is, Mad Men never got the Emmy love it deserved over the years. The incredible final season being beat by Game of Thrones was another example of this.
So many awkward presenter moments
Must we constantly indulge Ricky Gervais and Jimmy Kimmel? Are presenters not allowed to rehearse their banter, Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard? Anything that drains the charm from John Stamos and Gina Rodriguez is doing something very wrong. Either play it straight and go for elegant efficiency, or make these intros funnier and less brittle.
Terrence kisses Taraji
This was one instance of life imitating art we didn’t need to see, but it happened anyway. (Any kiss that involves two hands fixing the recipient to the ground is probably a bad idea.) Sorry to say, but Terrence Howard was kind of the John Travolta of this year’s Emmys.
Source: Billboard and Vulture.com