The Handmaid’s Tale and political comedy Veep won the top prizes at the Emmy awards on Sunday, where Saturday Night Live was also a big winner on a night dominated by jokes about US President Donald Trump.
In the first major awards wins for streaming service Hulu, Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss was also 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.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her sixth consecutive Emmy for playing an egotistical presidential candidate on HBO’s Veep, one of the few repeat winners this year.
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.
Donald Glover won best comedy actor for his hip-hop themed show Atlanta.
In a crowded limited series category, HBO’s female-driven murder mystery Big Little Lies came out on top, winning for best series, for actors Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard, as well as for writing and directing.
Britain’s Riz Ahmed won his first Emmy for his role as a man who falls foul of the US judicial system in HBO’s crime limited series The Night Of.
Trump loomed over the ceremony as the target of multiple jokes.
“The biggest TV star of the past year is Donald Trump―and Alec Baldwin, obviously,” said Emmy host Stephen Colbert, who has relentlessly attacked Trump on his The Late Show.
Baldwin won the comedy supporting actor Emmy for his withering impersonations of Trump on Comcast Corp’s NBC’s satirical series Saturday Night Live.
Saturday Night Live was named best variety sketch series, and also brought wins for Kate McKinnon and Melissa McCarthy’s turn as former White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Following are winners in key categories:
BEST DRAMA SERIES
The Handmaid’s Tale; Hulu
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Veep; HBO
BEST LIMITED SERIES
Big Little Lies; HBO
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Sterling K. Brown; This is Us
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Elisabeth Moss; The Handmaid’s Tale
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Donald Glover; Atlanta
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Veep
BEST ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Riz Ahmed; The Night Of
BEST ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Nicole Kidman; Big Little Lies
VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live
REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Voice
