Emmys 2017 set to be political with Stephen Colbert in the driving seat
Saturday Night Live, House of Cards and Veep are some of the political TV shows nominated for the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held in Los Angeles.
Show host Stephen Colbert (C), executive producers Ricky Kirshner (L), Glenn Weiss (2-L), Jack Sussman (2-R) executive vice president, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment and Hayma Washington, chairman and chief executive officer of the Television Academy, roll out the red carpet during preparations for the 69th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, September 12, 2017.
The 69th Emmy Awards promise more political satire and more in-your-face humour targeting the Trump administration with Stephen Colbert manning the stage in Los Angeles on Sunday.
The Emmys are a celebration of TV, "and the biggest television star of the last year was Donald Trump," Colbert said at last week's ceremonial red-carpet rollout outside Los Angeles' Microsoft Theater. Colbert is known for lambasting the US president on The Late Show on CBS.
A slew of TV shows dissecting American society or politics have been nominated, promising more fodder for the post-Trump humour.
Led by Alec Baldwin's withering impersonations of Trump and Melissa McCarthy's winning turn as former White House spokesman Sean Spicer, Saturday Night Live earned 22 Emmy nominations after its most-watched season in 23 years.
Netflix's dark Washington drama "House of Cards" and its stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are competing in the drama series category. Others nominated for drama series include fan favourite "Stranger Things," dystopian series "The Handmaid's Tale," lawyer show "Better Call Saul", sci-fi drama "Westworld," British royal series "The Crown" and front-runner family show "This Is Us."
Which amazing actor will win? #Emmys
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 15, 2017
Matthew Rhys.@MrBobOdenkirk@KevinSpacey@LievSchreiber
@sterlingkb1@MiloVentimiglia@AnthonyHopkins pic.twitter.com/3uqmcWVoj6
Two-time Emmy champ "Game of Thrones" is out of the running this year because of a later broadcast date for its seventh season.
Among networks, HBO again had the highest overall tally, with 110 nods, mostly because of multiple nominations for crime drama "The Night Of" and female-driven murder mystery "Big Little Lies."
The comedy series race features more familiar faces, with two-time Emmy-winning political satire "Veep" nominated again.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is expected to win her sixth consecutive Emmy for playing an egotistical, losing presidential candidate on the Time Warner's HBO comedy.
Who should win Outstanding Lead Actor, Comedy? #Emmys@DonaldGlover@galifianakisz@AnthonyAnderson@AzizAnsari@WilliamHMacy@JeffreyTambor pic.twitter.com/VTFlMg4Qr8
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 16, 2017
Millennial hip-hop show "Atlanta," family racial comedy "black-ish," "Modern Family," "Master of None," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and tech comedy "Silicon Valley" round out the competition.
First-time Emmy nominees included Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro for his role as disgraced financier Bernard Madoff in "The Wizard of Lies," 13-year-old newcomer Millie Bobby Brown for "Stranger Things" and Britain's Claire Foy for her portrayal of a young Queen Elizabeth II in "The Crown."
Hayma Washington, Chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, left, and Patrika Darbo pose with Emmy nominees for a group photo on stage at the 2017 Performers Nominee Reception Presented by the Television Academy at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Emmys not brown enough?
It could be a big night for African-American performers.
There are a record 12 black actors competing for lead or supporting honours in continuing comedy and drama series, including "Atlanta" creator and star Donald Glover.
But no Latinos and only one Asian-American – "Master of None" star and co-creator Aziz Ansari – were nominated.
The Emmy awards will be shown live on CBS television starting at 0000 GMT (8 pm ET/5 pm PT).
TRT World’s Susannah Orchard reports from Los Angeles.
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