The 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony has been held in Los Angeles. The HBO series 'Game of Thrones' walked away with the most awards. The Emmys are the TV series' equivalent of the Oscars.
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Emmy Awards 2015: Who are the winners?
Although the creators of "Game of Thrones" went upstage a record number of times, the 67th Emmy Awards were characterized by diversity - with a series on transgenders and the first black woman to win as lead actress.
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The Emmy winners are...
It's the most prestigious recognition in the television industry in the US, just like the Oscars are to films. During the 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held on Sunday (20.09.2015), fans criticized a video montage giving away the end of series they hadn't watched yet: Host Andy Samberg toyed with the viewers by quipping after a break: "Welcome back to the Spoiler Awards."
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Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
When his name was called out, Jon Hamm crawled onto the stage instead of going up the stairs to claim his award, joking, "There's been a terrible mistake, clearly." He's had 16 Emmy nominations, among which eight for his "Mad Men" character, the alcoholic womanizer Don Draper - but he hadn't won any until this year. It was also the first Emmy ever for an actor of the iconic series.
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Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Viola Davis became the first African-American to win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama, for "How to Get Away With Murder." In her emotional acceptance speech, she reminded that an Emmy can only be won when good roles for women of color are created, therefore thanking all the writers who have "redefined what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black."
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Supporting actresses
Other African-American actresses were called up on stage on Sunday: Uzo Aduba (pictured here) for her role in the series "Orange is the New Black" and Regina King for "American Crime" both won an award for their supporting performances. Host Andy Samberg hailed this year's event for recognizing diversity - sarcastically adding, "Congratulations Hollywood, you did it. Yeah, racism is over."
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Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeffrey Tambor won an award for his depiction of Maura Pfefferman, a transgender woman in "Transparent." "I've been given the opportunity to act, because people's lives depend on it," he said in his speech. The comedy series also took honors for directing, as well as three other trophies. Jill Soloway, who directed the series, thanked her mother - who also happens to be transgender.
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Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Julia Louis-Dreyfus rose from Vice President to President of the US in the HBO comedy series "Veep" - and got an Emmy for her performance. She mockingly quoted Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in her speech: "What a great honor it must be for you to honor me tonight," adding, "It's getting trickier and trickier to satirize this stuff." "Veep" also scored Best Comedy Series.
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Outstanding Variety Talk Series
He left the late night show earlier this year, so this Emmy for "The Daily Show" was John Stewart's bittersweet farewell. Also commenting on Trump's possible election, he confirmed backstage that he would not come back even if Trump were to become president. In fact, he would rather "consider getting in a rocket and going to another planet because clearly this planet has gone bonkers."
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A record for one night: 12 Emmys
"Game of Thrones" entered the race with 24 nominations and left the ceremony with a record-breaking 12 awards, including Best Drama Series, Best Writing and Best Director. The series' star Peter Dinklage also won the award in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category. And it happened to be the 67th birthday of the author of the novels behind the series, George R.R. Martin - a happy one, indeed.
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The fantasy series "Game of Thrones" received 24 nominations for Emmy Awards and took the record for the most number of wins for a series in a single year, taking home 12 Emmy awards. They included Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Supporting Actor for star Peter Dinklage.
"Game of Thrones" now equals "West Wing" and "Hill Street Blues" for the drama with the most wins over the course of its run.
Viola Davis (photo) became the first African-American to win Best Actress in a Drama Series for her work in "How to Get Away with Murder."
"Veep" was also a big winner at Emmys ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The HBO series set in the office of Selina Meyer, a fictional US Vice President and later President, bagged awards for writing and a Supporting Actor win for Tony Hale. Julia Louis-Dreyfus won best actress for the political comedy series, an award she described as "just mind-blowing."
Director of Amazon's "Transparent" Jill Soloway won a directing prize and actor Jeffrey Tambor dedicated his win to the transgender community: "Thank you for your patience, thank you for your courage, thank you for your stories, thank you for your inspiration, thank you for letting us be part of the change. God bless you."
"Olive Kitteridge" won the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series among other awards. "We're all here because of the power of the stories that need to be told. Sometimes that's enough. Thank you," said award-winning actress Frances McDormand.
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" took a series of awards including for its writing and direction. Recently-retired host Jon Stewart said "To everyone on television, cling to it as long as you can."
Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" finally won an Emmy - for Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
