Emmys 2018: A live proposal, a weird disguise and an Aussie’s star-making moment
HANNAH Gadsby was only on stage at the Emmys for 90 seconds. Now, viewers are asking if she can host next year.
AN actor in bizarre disguise, an Aussie comedian nailing it and an acceptance speech that turned into “the best moment in Emmys history” - the 70th Emmy Awards were certainly eventful.
Saturday Night Live comedians Colin Jost and Michael Che were on hosting duties — but they didn’t open the show.
That was left to an appropriately diverse cast including Kate McKinnon, Ricky Martin, Titus Burgess and RuPaul, who surprised with a skit and song about diversity, claiming to have ‘solved’ Hollywood’s diversity problem, before finally conceding they had a long way to go.
Emmys red carpet: All the best and worst dressed celebs
Emmys 2018: The full list of nominees and winners
Watch the Emmys live on Foxtel’s Fox8
HANNAH STEALS THE SHOW
Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby, still riding a wave of adulation for her Netflix stand-up special Nanette, presented the award for Directing for a Drama Series - but got in a few well-received jokes beforehand.
Pardon my ignorance, I don’t know who this is. A comedian? She’s hilarious 😂😂😂😂😂#Emmys pic.twitter.com/obtCymZie2
— ð»ð‘’ð“‡ð‘€ð“Šð“ˆð’¾ð“ƒð‘”𓈠💬 (@flutterpolitely) September 18, 2018
She said presenting was a good gig “for somebody like me, a nobody from nowhere: gets this sweet gig, free suit and new boots…. just because I don’t like men!”
“Just jokes, fellas, calm down. Hashtag ‘not all men.’ But a lot of ‘em. Nobody knows what jokes are, but especially men. Am I right fellas? That’s why I’m presenting alone,” she said.
With those lines, Gadsby appeared to answer some critics of Nanette, who questioned its lack of traditional jokes in favour of more confessional, emotional storytelling. Fellow comic Norm McDonald was one recent critic, despite admitting he’d never seen the special.
And the Emmys’ own co-host Michael Che — who has also not seen Nanette — recently insisted that storytelling should not count as stand-up.
Having seemingly answered her critics, Gadsby got to the task at hand. After she announced The Crown director Stephen Daldry as the winner, she noted that he was not actually present.
“Stephen could not be here tonight to accept the Emmy on… his own behalf. SO I think I just leave now, and that’s… well done him,” she said, shrugging as she backed off the stage.
She was on stage for a grand total of less than 100 seconds, but Gadsby certainly made an impression – and gained a lot of new fans:
I don’t know who Hannah Gadsby is, but can she host next year? #Emmys
— Korynn (@Korynn_W) September 18, 2018
Move to restart this telecast with Hannah Gadsby hosting? #Emmys
— Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) September 18, 2018
Er, #Emmys — y'all should have had Hannah Gadsby host. Those 2 mins were the funniest/timeliest of the entire show.
— Nigel M. Smith (@nigelmfs) September 18, 2018
Who is Hannah Gadsby? Other than awesome??? #emmys
— Nicola Barton (@ozzythekiwi) September 18, 2018
Never heard of Hannah Gadsby, I'm now a fan. #NotAllMen #Emmys
— Jayne Marie (@Ms_JayneMarie) September 18, 2018
A CREEPY DISGUISE
There’s been speculation about whether Atlanta star and director Donald Glover - aka Childish Gambino, of This Is America fame - turned up to the awards in a super-creepy ‘whiteface’ disguise.
Here’s the rather odd-looking man in question:
And here’s what Donald looks like:
The reason for the conjecture? That creepy looking white dude is ‘Teddy Perkins’, a character from Atlanta who Glover plays. The context behind the character is that Teddy Perkins is a Michael Jackson-type fallen idol, so it’s not whiteface per se.
Wait is that Teddy Perkins on the front row?!!! #emmys #AtlantaFX #DonaldGlover pic.twitter.com/JTzbTqKWdK
— Kim Jordan (@ldykj) September 18, 2018
But wait: Glover’s also in the audience, looking dapper as hell. So who’s the creepy Teddy Perkins dude? Fans are speculating it could be fellow African-American Atlanta actor Lakeith Stanfield.
Yo — Donald Glover has me shook 🤯#Emmys pic.twitter.com/aZGApxYWKP
— TimÅthy (@thehalfrican06) September 18, 2018
So a running theory I'm seeing is that Lakeith Stanfield is actually dressed as Teddy Perkins and the main point of evidence? Bone structure.
— Trey (@treymangum) September 18, 2018
Who is it!? #EMMYS https://t.co/KPg5sG7zUR
‘BEST MOMENT IN EMMYS HISTORY’
You’d be forgiven for tuning out a bit when Glenn Weiss took to the stage to accept the award for Directing a Variety Special - surely this won’t be exciting, right?
Wrong. Weiss reeled off a list of thankyous but explained that it was a “bittersweet” time given the death of his mother just two weeks earlier.
“Mum always believed in finding the sunshine in things, and she adored my girlfriend Jan. Jan, you are the sunshine in my life, and mum was right, don’t ever let go of your sunshine. You wonder why I don’t like to call you my girlfriend — because I want to call you my wife.”
BOOM. There it is: A marriage proposal live on TV and front of a worldwide audience, and one that Jan - seated in the audience — clearly wasn’t prepared for:
Did someone say #EMMYS PROPOSAL? pic.twitter.com/z2epNdkaWz
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) September 18, 2018
the best moment in TV history ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ #Emmys pic.twitter.com/LpgzMKp5AJ
— GIPHY (@GIPHY) September 18, 2018
And Glenn came prepared. He produced his late mother’s ring, asking Janto join him on stage.
She took to the stage - amid a standing ovation from the stunned A-list crowd - to stand in front of Glenn as he knelt before her, properly proposing.
It’s a yes! And sure, he totally hijacked the award show for his own purposes, but in this often dark and depressing world, wasn’t it just a little bit magic? Viewers certainly thought so:
Glenn Weiss really made us have all the feels with this acceptance speech. It was down so low talking about his departed mom and then up so high with a proposal. YOU GO GLENN WEISS. #Emmys
— Danielle Turchiano (@danielletbd) September 18, 2018
Maybe the greatest Emmys moment ever??!!
— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) September 18, 2018
A proposal! Wow!! Even I’m tearing up...#Emmys pic.twitter.com/fvMMPqGq85
#Emmys: a proposal on live television between 2 people whose names I don't know and whose relationship I have no investment in.
— JW (@Jesst_Lovely) September 18, 2018
Me: pic.twitter.com/IEFTPp60kI
Find someone who looks at you the way Benedict Cumberbatch looked during that #Emmys proposal. pic.twitter.com/gWnAQVt4l1
— Frank Pallotta (@frankpallotta) September 18, 2018
COLIN AND MICHAEL’S BEST OPENING MONOLOGUE JOKES
“This year the audience is allowed to drink in their seats — because the one thing Hollywood needs right now is people losing their inhibitions at a work function.”
The pair said hello to the “thousands in the audience, and the hundreds watching at home.”
“Our network, NBC, has the most nominations of any broadcast network — which is kind of like being the sexiest person on life support. It’s not good.”
They said the swath of Netfix nominations is the scariest thing you can hear as a network exec — except, ‘Sir, Ronan Farrow is on line one’.”
The Handmaid’s Tale is “what black people call history. It’s Roots for white women. Roots with bonnets!”
On Netflix’s reputation for churning out productions: “How is Netflix getting all that money? It’s $9 a month and everyone I know shares an account. Netflix is like that Instagram model that’s always in Dubai and you’re like, yeah — but what do you REALLY do?”
“TV has always had a diversity problem. They did 15 seasons of ER without ONE Filipino nurse? Have you BEEN to a hospital?”
THE AWARDS:
DRAMA
The Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award went to Peter Dinklage for his work in Game of Thrones.
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series went to Thandie Newton for Westworld - something of an upset, given three women were nominated in the same category for Handmaid’s Tale, AND the award was presented by Handmaid’s stars Elisabeth Moss and Samira Wiley.
Writing for a Drama Series was awarded to Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg for The Americans.
Directing for a Drama Series went to Stephen Daldry for The Crown.
The fab five from Queer Eye presented the award for Lead Actor in a Drama Series to Matthew Rhys for The Americans, who paid special thankyou to his co-star - and real-life partner - Keri Russell. “She said, ‘If you propose to me, I will punch you clean in the mouth’,” he quipped.
The winner of one of the night’s most hotly-contested categories, Lead Actress in a Drama Series, was Claire Foy for The Crown. She dedicated her award to co-star Matt Smith.
And the night’s biggest award – the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series – went to Game of Thrones.
COMEDY
The first award of the night, Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, went to Henry Winkler for his work in Barry. He finished his speech by telling his children they could go to bed now.
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series went to Alex Borstein from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel , who used her platform to ask women in the crowd to use the public rest rooms correctly: “Stop peeing on the seat.”
Amy Sherman-Palladino won both the Writing and Directing Comedy awards for The Marvelous Mrs Maise l, quipping: “My panic room is going to be so pretty!” as she collected her second award.
Angela Bassett and Tiffany Haddish presented the award for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series to Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (sensing a theme here?).
Michael Douglas presented the Lead Actor in a Comedy Series with some advice to the “losers”: “Carry that rage. Let it fuel you from this night forward. Know that you were cheated. You were robbed.”
A visibly stunned Bill Hader won the award for Barry. Take that, losers!
Will Ferrell presented the award for Outstanding Comedy Series, earning laughs with his long, slow walk to the podium as he complained it was “much further than it looked on television – 100 yards.” The award went to The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, making it a clean sweep for the show by the creator of Gilmore Girls.
LIMITED SERIES
A Limited Series is when a movie actor “reaches the limit on all of their credit cards and has to do TV,” the hosts explained.
Supporting Actress, Limited Series or a Movie: Merritt Wever, Godless.
Supporting Actor, Limited Series or a Movie: Jeff Daniels, Godless. Jeff thanked his horse wrangler on the show, and gave some advice to young actors: “When they call you up and ask if you can ride a horse - don’t lie.”
Writing, Limited Series or a Movie: William Bridges and Charlie Booker, Black Mirror.
Directing, Limited Series or a Movie: Ryan Murphy, Assassination of Gianni .
Best Actress, Limited Series or a Movie: Regina King, Seven Seconds.
Best Actor, Limited Series or a Movie: Darren Criss, a well-deserved win for his incredible work in The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
Outstanding Limited Series: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
VARIETY
Writing for a Variety Special: John Mulaney, who thanked his wife, noting that she was in New York and told him she wouldn’t “fly across the country to watch me lose.”
Directing for a Variety Special: The Oscars, and our old mate Glenn with his amazing proposal to girlfiend Jan.
Outstanding Variety Sketch Series: Saturday Night Live.
Outstanding Variety Talk Series: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. John thanked Glenn Weiss’s girlfriend “for saying yes. It could’ve been a VERY different evening.”
REALITY
The award for Outstanding Reality Competition Program went to RuPaul’s Drag Race, with Ru himself accepting the award “on behalf of the 140 drag queens we have released into the wild.”
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