HOLLYWOOD — History was made at the Emmy’s Sunday.
Viola Davis became the first African-American woman to be named outstanding actress in a drama for her role in ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder,” while Jeffrey Tambor became the first to win a lead-actor Emmy for playing a transgender character, in Amazon’s “Transparent.”
“In my dreams and visions, I seemed to see a line, and on the other side of that line were green fields, and lovely flowers, and beautiful white ladies, who stretched out their arms to me over the line, but I couldn’t reach them no-how,” said Davis, quoting abolitionist and escaped slave Harriet Tubman in her emotional acceptance speech.
“Let me tell you something — the only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” she said, as fellow nominee Taraji P. Henson (“Empire”) stood and applauded. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”
Diversity was a winner Sunday on multiple levels. Not only did Tambor’s win highlight how far Hollywood has come in terms of inclusiveness of TV characters, but black actresses Regina King and Uzo Aduba were also recognized for supporting actress in a limited series/movie and supporting actress in a drama respectively.
Aduba’s win for her role in “Orange is the New Black” marked the first time an actress won an Emmy in both the drama and the comedy categories for playing the same character. New Emmy rules redefined “OITNB” from a comedy (where Aduba won last year) to a drama series.
The return of Tracy Morgan
Former “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan brought Emmy attendees to their feet with a surprise appearance. The “SNL” alum took the stage to present the final award of the evening for outstanding drama series.
Morgan, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in June 2014 that killed his friend James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, expressed how happy he was to be back among his television peers.
“Last year Jimmy Kimmel said on stage, I’ll see you next year,” Morgan said. “Thanks to my doctors and my beautiful wife, I’m here standing on my own two feet. It’s been a long road back.”
He also joked that during his long road to recovery he “was just ecstatic to learn I wasn’t the one who messed up.”
A Walmart truck driven by Kevin Roper rear-ended Morgan’s limo van, which was carrying seven people. Federal investigators determined that Roper’s fatigue likely caused the crash and Walmart settled with Morgan and others involved for an unspecified amount.
Morgan, who is set to host “SNL” on October 17, even showed flashes of his old self.
“Only recently I’ve started to feel like myself again,” he joked. “So a lot of you women are going to get pregnant at the afterparty.”
King at last
It was an epic night for “Game of Thrones,” perhaps the most acclaimed current TV show that had never won the outstanding-drama Emmy.
When “Thrones” claimed the night’s final and most prestigious prize, upsetting critical darling and four-time winner “Mad Men,” it was the show’s 12th Emmy of 2015 — more than any other series has ever won in a single year. Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss brought the sprawling cast — and George R.R. Martin, who wrote the books upon which the show is based — onstage to celebrate.
Benioff and Weiss then thanked HBO for taking a chance on them, and “believing in dragons.”
(HBO is a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN.)
Even Samberg got in on the fun, tracking down Martin in the audience and saying, “Thanks for telling me during the commercial that Jon Snow is alive.”