It's hard to believe it, but the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards show was almost a whole year ago now. Frankly, it seems just like yesterday that presenter Jimmy Kimmel was prancing about on stage in a white tux, wheeling the Stranger Things kids out to hand out peanut butter and jelly snack break sandwiches to Emmy Award winners and bashing Donald Trump at every available
opportunity.
There is truly no denying that 2016 was an extraordinary year for television, with the arrival of The People Vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story,
Sherlock: the Abominable Bride and John Oliver's rendition of
Last WeekTonight, taking the reigns from the well-loved Jon Stewart. Not to mention audiences got to relish the return of Game of Thrones, Veep and Mr Robot. In fact, was there any bad TV at all in 2016?
The 68th Primetime show sure seems enough to wipe the hours you wasted watching diabolical
shows you discovered in the dusty backend of Netflix out of your brain. As we sit down with the popcorn to celebrate the coming of the 2017 Emmy Awards show on Sunday, September 17,
we take a look back at last year's Emmy Award Winners and what they've been up to since they took their trophies home.
Outstanding lead actor in a drama - Rami Malek, Mr Robot
Rami Malek brought a tear to everyone's eye when he reflected on his unexpected Emmy win in his speech, telling a star-studded audience of how his immigrant parents worked hard "so they could give their children the opportunity to be special." The actor, who plays cybersecurity whizz Elliot Alderdon, has had a busy year filming the third season of the show, as well as preparing to play Freddie Mercury in the forthcoming Queen biopic.
Outstanding lead actress in a drama - Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Fans rejoiced as Tatiana Maslany finally won an Emmy for
her role portraying numerous clones in series
Orphan Black. The 31-year-old had been passed over numerous times in favour of other actresses, but finally had her moment for what
named "Olympic-level acting". Although you'd think she'd be tired from playing dozens of clones over the years, Maslany has been busy filming Stronger, a drama film about the Boston Marathon bombing, in addition to the fifth and final season of the show, which aired in the US
on June 10.
Outstanding lead actor in a comedy - Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Jeffrey Tambor has won the Emmy for Best Comedy Actor for two years running now so it comes as no surprise that he's nominated yet again for the 2017 Awards. The Transparent actor has been honoured in more ways than one this year, with him gaining a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August and publishing a memoir named Are You Anybody? that chronicles his life in acting.
Outstanding lead actress in a comedy - Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Julia Louis-Dreyfus' 2016 Emmy win was only a drop in the ocean. The former Seinfeld actress boasts an impressive nine awards, alongside a total of 23 nominations throughout her career. So what has she been up to since? Winning more awards, of course! Not to mention the celebrated actress is on track to make Emmy history by winning a sixth consecutive Best Actress in a Comedy Series statuette, something that has never been achieved, at the 2017 Emmy Award show.
Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or TV movie - Courtney B. Vance, The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
Courtney B. Vance described playing Johnnie Cochran as a "thrilling ride" and an educational experience, as he hadn't actually watched the trial of the century when it was happening, blocking it out because he had grown up as a fan of Simpson's football career. His first piece of work after the OJ drama was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Oprah's movie about the daughter of the woman whose cells were stolen by doctors without consent, leading to treatments for diseases like TB, flu and herpes.
Outstanding limited series - The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
The fictional account of the OJ Simpson trial was a standout at the last awards show with a phenomenal 22 nominations. It swept the board, taking nine in total, opening the younger generation's eyes to the most watched celebrity trial in history, not to metion making them ponder if OJ was really innocent.
Outstanding reality competition series - The Voice
2016 was the year The Voice upset CBS's ten-time winner, The Amazing Race, again by reigning victorious for the second year running and taking home the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Series. With many predicting that the reality show is a shoo-in for the 2017 awards, producers could be running out of space on the shelf soon enough.
Outstanding television movie - Sherlock: the Abominable Bride
The special episode of British television programme Sherlock: the Abominable Bride saw Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman find themselves in 1890s London investigating a ghostly bride who appears to have committed murder.
After accepting the award, showrunner Steven Moffat stated that, while they still had love for the original, the best adaptions of Sherlock Holmes are the ones that "strike out on their own".
Outstanding variety talk series - Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
John Oliver's win in 2016 showed that he had officially taken over Jon Stewart's role as late night's sharpest dissenting voice. Since conquering the Emmys, John Oliver returned to the show's new season in February and has since been busy destroying President Donald Trump at any given opportunity. Nominated again this year, he faces tough competition from Jimmy Kimmel and Samantha Bee.
Outstanding variety sketch series - Key & Peele
Key
&
Peele ended on an almighty high after 53 episodes over five seasons last year. The duo made the decision to end the highly acclaimed sketch show as they both wanted to try out different projects, but - in what will be music to many fans' ears - have both expressed an interest in working together again. In the meantime, Jordan Peele is busy producing HBO series Lovecraft Country, after directing 2017 horror film Get Out, while Keegan-Michael Key launched Friends from College on Netflix in July.
Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series - Louie Anderson, Baskets
Louie Anderson describes his role as Christine Baskets as "the role of a lifetime" and it was hard to argue with him after he won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy series in 2016. As well as looking forward to filming season three of the show - which was renewed in March - Anderson has embarked on a series of stand-up shows across Minnesota, so rush down if you want to see him in the flesh.
Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series - Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Although season two and three of Bloodline received mixed reviews, Australian actor, Ben Mendelsohn, was always praised for his role as Danny Rayburn, the black sheep of the family. Despite his award success, Mendelsohn had a rough time in the months after his Emmy win, with his wife Emma Forrest filing for divorce in December,
citing 'irreconcilable differences' as the reason for the end of their four-year marriage.
Outstanding lead actress in a limited series or a movie - Sarah Paulson, The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
After five straight years of nominations, Sarah Paulson finally took an Emmy home in 2016. During her acceptance speech, she
professed her love for the real Marcia Clark, naming her as "The real Marcia: The complicated, whip-smart mother of two who woke up every day, put two feet on the floor and dedicated herself to defending the law." Since playing the prosecutor, Paulson has been named as one of the 100 most influential people by Time Magazine and has been working on an all-female spin-off of the Ocean's Trilogy, due to be released in June 2018.
Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie - Sterling K Brown, The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story
Looking back on last year’s Emmy triumph, Sterling K Brown told Goldberby, “When they called my name, I think my soul jumped outside of my body and I almost passed out.” The actor, who portrayed Christopher
Darden in the OJ drama,
currently stars as Randall Pearson on the critically acclaimed
NBC
drama,
This Is Us
.
Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series - Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
In 2016, Kate McKinnon shocked critics by becoming the first regular cast member on “SNL” to win an Emmy since variety performers were moved into the comedy acting categories in 2008. The comedian, who plays a myriad of hilarious characters on SNL including Justin Bieber, Hilary Clinton and Jeff Sessions, is nominated again this year, but her predicted win will surely not be that much of a surprise this time.
Outstanding Drama Series: Game of Thrones
The HBO blockbuster broke records at the 2016 Emmy Awards, becoming the most awarded scripted series in Emmy history with 38 wins. However, with the drama falling out of the eligibility window for this year's awards, we look forward to the already highly acclaimed series destroying all in its path at the 2018 show.
Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series - Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Smith, a nine-time Emmy nominated actress and four -time recipient ended her role on Downton Abbey with a bang as she accepted her Emmy, making it her third for the role of Violet Crawley. The 82-year-old star, who calls her celebrity status "awful", has been keeping a low profile in 2017 so far and has described the Downton Abbey film as "overkill".
Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie - Regina King, American Crime
Regina King beat out Kathy Bates, Olivia Colman and Sarah Paulson when she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie in 2016 and claimed she was "so proud to be a part of this show, to have the opportunity to tell stories that provoke necessary conversation" in her acceptance speech. At the moment, she's starring in Netflix comedy Naked, a show about a madly-in-love man who wakes up naked in an elevator and relives the same day over and over again.
Outstanding comedy series - Veep
The American political satire surprised no one at all when it won its 12th Primetime Emmy Award in 2016. With fierce competition from Atlanta, Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt this year, will the show be taken down or reign victorious once again?
Outstanding guest actor in a comedy series - Peter Scolari, Girls
After winning the Emmy for Guest Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, Peter Scolari revealed that he often felt like Lena Dunham was his real daughter when filming hit HBO show Girls. Now Girls has ended, there's no doubt Lena cheered him on like a proud daughter as he stared in Patricia O' Hara's invite-only industry play in July, as well as his role in Broadway production Wicked last year.
Outstanding guest actress in a comedy series - Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Emmy Award winners, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, broke new ground last year when they shared the win for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for their
co-hosting of
Saturday Night Live
on December. 19, in which the two friends performed a sketch of an imagined conversation between Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Nowadays Tina Fey is returning to TV
with the second season of her NBC sitcom
Great News, while Amy Poehler has just starred in Netflix follow-up series, Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later.
