'SNL,''Big Little Lies,' 'Handmaid's Tale' rule at Trump-flavored Emmys

LOS ANGELES -- "The Handmaid's Tale" and political comedy "Veep" won the top prizes at the Emmy awards on Sunday, but satirical sketch show "Saturday Night Live" won the most Emmys overall on the back of a season of Donald Trump spoofs.

The new U.S. president, who never won an Emmy despite his reality show past, was also the butt of multiple jokes at the ceremony honoring the best of television.


"If he (Trump) had won an Emmy, I bet he wouldn't have run for president," host Stephen Colbert told the A-list audience.

"It's your fault! He never forgave you and he never will. But unlike the presidency, the Emmys go to the winners of the popular vote," Colbert quipped, referring to the 2016 election result.

Alec Baldwin won the comedy supporting actor Emmy for his withering impersonations of Trump for "Saturday Night Live" on NBC.

After its most-watched season in 23 years, "Saturday Night Live" won nine Emmys, including best variety sketch series, for actress Kate McKinnon and for Melissa McCarthy's turn as former White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

With HBO's medieval series "Game of Thrones" out of the running this year because of a later airdate, there were a slew of new faces among Sunday's winners.

Many of them were for women, who scored with female-centric shows like "Big Little Lies," "A Handmaid's Tale" and "Veep," and rare wins for women directors, writers and producers.

'MORE ROLES FOR WOMEN'

In the first major awards wins for streaming service Hulu, "The Handmaid's Tale" star Elisabeth Moss was named best drama actress for playing a woman forced into sexual servitude. The show also won awards for writing, directing and for supporting actress Ann Dowd for a total of 8.

Other new faces included Donald Glover, the best comedy actor and also director for his hip-hop themed show "Atlanta."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her sixth consecutive Emmy for playing a female egotistical presidential candidate on HBO's "Veep," one of the few repeat winners.

"We did have a whole storyline about impeachment but we abandoned that because we were worried that someone else might get to it first," said Louis-Dreyfus, accepting her trophy.

Sterling K. Brown won best dramatic actor for his role as an African-American who is adopted into a white family in heart-tugging NBC family drama "This Is Us."

In a crowded limited series category, HBO's murder mystery "Big Little Lies" came out on top, winning eight Emmys including for best series, for Nicole Kidman's abused wife character, for Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard, as well as for writing and directing.

Kidman said the show "was created out of frustration because women weren't getting great roles. So now, more roles for women, please!"

Britain's Riz Ahmed beat presumed front-runner Robert De Niro to take his first Emmy for his role as a man who falls foul of the U.S. judicial system in HBO's crime limited series "The Night Of."

Some of the night's biggest losers included two new Netflix shows. Fan favorite "Stranger Things" won just five of its 18 nominations, mostly in technical categories, and British royal series "The Crown" came away with three out of 16 nominations.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Queens, nerds, and feel-good families vie for Emmy crown

LOS ANGELES -- A British queen, a group of nerdy kids, a defiant handmaiden and a heart-tugging trio of siblings vie for the top prize on Sunday when the Primetime Emmy Awards will crown the best in a booming era of television.

The television industry, already disrupted by streaming platforms Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., is on edge.

A drama series Emmy for Netflix's supernatural mystery "Stranger Things" or its royal series "The Crown," or Hulu's terrifying "The Handmaid's Tale," would mark the biggest breakthrough in the television industry so far for a streaming service.

Holding out hope for traditional broadcasters is Comcast-owned NBC's emotional family drama "This Is Us," which would be the first drama series from one of the four main U.S. broadcasters to take home the Emmy since thriller "24" in 2006.

"It's like the last gasp of broadcasting in the top Emmy race," said veteran awards watcher Tom O'Neil, founder of goldderby.com.

"This Is Us" also has acting nods for stars Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz and Milo Ventimiglia.

Elisabeth Moss looks a sure bet for playing a woman forced into sexual servitude in "The Handmaid's Tale," which would mark the first big award for Hulu, a joint venture between Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney Co., Fox and Comcast Corp.

HBO's two-time Emmy champ "Game of Thrones" is out of the running this year because of a later broadcast date for its seventh season.

Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles is also likely to feature a slew of familiar faces on the winner's podium as A-list stars flock to the creative freedom offered by streaming and cable television.

Robert De Niro is competing for his first Emmy for his role as disgraced financier Bernard Madoff in HBO's "The Wizard of Lies."

Nicole Kidman's battered wife in HBO's "Big Little Lies" is seen as leading the field in the limited series category that features three other Oscar winners: Reese Witherspoon (also for "Big Little Lies"), and "Feud" stars Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange.

"This is the battle of the Oscar queens," said O'Neil.

Several records are up for grabs on Sunday. Julia Louis-Dreyfus looks headed for a sixth win as a self-absorbed presidential loser in HBO's "Veep," which is also favorite to win best comedy series for a third year.

At 13 years old, Millie Bobby Brown, the breakout supporting star of the young cast of "Stranger Things," could become the youngest person to win a Primetime Emmy for acting.

source: news.abs-cbn.com