HE’S THE DON! 

 

Jon Hamm has been nominated for an Emmy — wait for it! —  16 times. Eight of those nominations were for his suave anti-hero Don Draper in Mad Men. As the curtains came down on the iconic AMC series after seven seasons this May, this was the 44-year-old actor’s last chance to take home the golden statuette. On Sunday night, in Los Angeles, Hamm was the crowd (and bookmakers’) favourite, with even fellow nominees like Bob Odenkirk and Kevin Spacey rooting for him! As his name was announced for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, a visibly surprised Hamm scrambled onto the stage on all fours (above) and said: “There has been a terrible mistake clearly, thank you for that. This is impossible to be named with all of those extraordinary gentlemen, it’s impossible to be standing here, up here.” The awww moment of his speech? A heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to “Jen” aka Jennifer Westfeldt, his girlfriend of 18 years, who he broke up with earlier this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GIRL (OF COLOUR) POWER

Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson created Emmy history when they were nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the first time two women of colour have made the cut in the category. Davis went on to win the award for her role as the morally ambiguous Annalise Keating in How To Get Away With Murder (a t2 girl gang favourite), making it the first time a black woman has won the award. In her inspiring acceptance speech Davis said that all that separates women of colour is “opportunities” and went on to thank all those people who created roles for them. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there. So here’s to all the writers... who have redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black. And to the Taraji P. Hensons, the Kerry Washingtons, the Halle Berrys, the Nicole Beharies, the Meagan Goods, to Gabrielle Union, thank you for taking us over that line.” It was a night for women of colour as an emotional Uzo Aduba (right) took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren in Orange is the New Black.

 

 

WE ARE AMY! 

We’ve always seen the fun side of her, but Amy Schumer (right) showed a more serious side on stage, accepting the Outstanding Variety Sketch Series for Inside Amy Schumer. The 34-year-old, who is all set to star in a film with Jennifer Lawrence, blinked back tears as she tried to put together the words for her unprepared acceptance speech. But she quickly recovered to crack some trademark Schumer jokes: “Thank you to my head writer who had a baby like 10 seconds ago. She got drunk and told me I had to make my dream show!” She also thanked “the girl who gave me this sort of smoky eye. I love it.” But our favourite Emmy 2015 moment was when Schumer shared the spotlight with another Amy — Poehler — to kick off the evening the way only two talented comics can. They had us at “We are Amy!” 

 

 

THE OBVIOUS CHOICES

In some categories, the Emmys chose familiar over flair. Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her fourth Emmy in a row for Veep, while Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss, both frontrunners for Mad Men, lost out. Jon Hamm apart, the most deserving winner of the night was Jeffrey Tambor (inset) who won Outstanding Lead Actor in A Comedy Series for his role of a transgender in Transparent. Dedicating his win to the transgender community, Tambor kept it short and simple:  “Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for your inspiration.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GAME, SET, MATCH!

Everyone thought Mad Men was going to sweep the Emmys, but it was HBO’s larger-than-life fantasy drama series Game of Thrones that not only won big, but created Emmy history winning 12 awards — surpassing the political drama The West Wing, which had won eight. For its fifth season, GoT won four awards in the main categories — Outstanding Drama, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. David Nutter won the directing prize for the fifth season finale, Mother’s Mercy, as did showrunners David Benioff and Ben Weiss. Peter Dinklage (above), who plays fan favourite Tyrion Lannister, swagged away with the Supporting Actor trophy, his second for the series, sporting a glorious man-bun. Before Sunday night, GoT had notched up eight wins at the Creative Arts Emmy. 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series — Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Viola Davis (How To Get Away with Murder)
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series — Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series — Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie — Richard Jenkins (Olive Kitteridge)
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie — Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series — Tony Hale (Veep)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series — Allison Janney (Mom)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie — Bill Murray (Olive Kitteridge)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie — Regina King (American Crime)
• Outstanding Variety Talk Series — The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
• Outstanding Variety Sketch Series — Inside Amy Schumer
• Outstanding Limited Series — Olive Kitteridge
• Outstanding Reality-Competition Program — The Voice