Veep, Handmaid tops

Photo: Veep

The dystopian vision of "The Handmaid's Tale," the deeply cynical Washington comedy "Veep" and the ever-topical "Saturday Night Live" won top series honours Sunday in an Emmy Awards ceremony that took almost nonstop aim at President Donald Trump in awards and speeches.

"Go home, get to work, we have a lot of things to fight for," producer Bruce Miller said in accepting the best drama trophy for "A Handmaid's Tale," which also won best drama writing and directing awards and a best actress trophy for Elisabeth Moss. A beaming Margaret Atwood, the celebrated Canadian author whose 1985 novel is the show's source, was onstage and received a standing ovation. The Bravo series is shot in Toronto, Hamilton and Cambridge, Ont..

Sterling K. Brown, whose role in "This Is Us" earned him the top drama series actor trophy, paid tribute to the last African-American man to win in the category, Andre Braugher in 1998 for his role as a police detective in "Homicide: Life on the Street."

"Nineteen years ago, Detective Frank Pemberton held this joint," Brown, hoisting his Emmy and calling it his "supreme honour" to follow Braugher. He was good-natured as the orchestra cut into his speech, but it seemed a glaring misstep on a night in which the TV academy reveled in signs of the industry's increasing diversity.

Earlier, Nicole Kidman spoke uninterrupted for 2 minutes and 45 seconds, while Brown got 1 minute, 58 seconds, before he was played off, a significant difference given the short time winners get to say their piece.

Moss captured her first Emmy and thanked her mother in a speech that was peppered with expletives, while Ann Dowd won supporting actress honours for "A Handmaid's Tale."

Donald Glover won the best comedy actor for "Atlanta," which he created and which carries his distinctive voice, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus was honoured for a sixth time for her role as a self-absorbed politician in "Veep," named best comedy for the third time.

Combined with Emmys that Louis-Dreyfus has won for "Seinfeld" and "New Adventures of Old Christine," her latest trophy tied her with Cloris Leachman as the most-winning Emmy performer ever. She called "Veep" an "adventure of utter joy."