Laughter, standing ovations, and tears of joy: the 2015 Emmy Awards, hosted fearlessly by Andy Samberg at the Microsoft Theater in L.A. on September 20, were not an event to be missed. Samberg opened the night with a hilarious video showcasing him spending months on end in his Kimmy Schmidt-style “TV Watching Bunker” (something I believe we all wish we could do), followed by his appearance on stage and a slew of jokes about everyone and everything, from gender equality in Hollywood to Donald Trump.
While I always enjoy awards shows, I found this one particularly exciting. About halfway through the three-hour show (and it really was exactly three hours, unlike many shows that tend to go over the allotted time), I realized that this was one of the most diverse awards shows I have ever had the pleasure to watch – and one of the funniest.
There were an incredible amount of people of color and women nominated in acting, directing, and writing categories – a welcome breath of fresh air after February’s incredibly frustrating and controversial Academy Awards. I love movies as much as the next person, but this just furthers my belief that television is truly the place to go now for diversity, open-mindedness, and new ideas. This was clear as Jeffrey Tambor took home an Outstanding Actor award for his work in Amazon’s "Transparent," in which he plays a transgender woman, and as Viola Davis and Uzo Aduba, took home both actress Drama awards for their extraordinary work in ABC’s "How to Get Away with Murder" and Netflix’s "Orange is the New Black," respectively.
Davis – making history as the first African American woman to ever win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – drew extended applause as she made a phenomenal speech, quoting Harriet Tubman and then stating “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Aduba’s win was also historic, as last year she won for "OITNB" when it was considered a comedy, and this year she won with it nominated as a drama.
Other notable winners were Jon Hamm (finally) winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for "Mad Men," Peter Dinklage winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for "Game of Thrones," Jon Stewart’s "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" taking most of the Variety Series categories, "Veep" unseating "Modern Family" as Outstanding Comedy Series, and "Game of Thrones" winning Outstanding Drama Series and breaking the Emmy record for winning the most Emmy awards in one year (a record previously held by "The West Wing") with a total of 12 Emmys (four at Sunday night’s show and the other eight at the Creative Arts Emmys).
This was, as usual, an extremely quotable and hilarious awards show. From Amy Schumer and Amy Poehler getting a glam fix before going on stage to present to Jimmy Kimmel eating the piece of the envelope with Jeffrey Tambor’s name on it, the show was not one that will soon be forgotten.
Though of course there were some low moments and poorly received jokes, overall it was a fun, exciting, satisfying show. The last thrilling moment of the night was when the presenter for the final award, Tracey Morgan made a surprise first appearance since a horrific accident last year. Emotions were clearly running high as he was welcomed back with big cheers, and it was a wonderful, uplifting way to end this year’s Emmy Awards.
