“The world’s a little better on TV!” sang host Stephen Colbert during a tuneful Emmys opening that included cast members from This Is Us, Veep and black-ish, among others. But the most surprising part of the opener was former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, on hand to show he was in on the joke by declaring that the awards show would have “the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period, both in person and around the world.” Saturday Night Live, where Melissa McCarthy played Spicer, won best variety sketch series, its first win since 1993 in a major variety category. Norman Lear and Carol Burnett got a standing ovation (and ear tugs) as they took to the stage to announce Veep as the winner of best comedy. Among other winners were The Handmaid’s Tale for Drama Series, Big Little Lies for Limited Series, Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) for Drama Actress, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) for Comedy Actress, Donald Glover (Atlanta) for Comedy Actor, Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) for Drama Actor, Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies) for Limited Series Actress and Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) for Limited Series Actor.
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