“Saturday Night Live” veteran and first-time Emmy host Kenan Thompson told The Associated Press that he was planning to open the show “with a bang” ... but don’t expect Oscars slap-level drama in the Microsoft Theater. It should be, producers promised, a conflict-free night.
AP Television Writer Lynn Elber has a helpful overview of the show, which could see some historic wins if “Squid Game” and “Abbott Elementary” beat out “Succession” and “Ted Lasso” for best drama and comedy.
Follow along here for more on the night’s buzziest moments, coming to you live from the AP.
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9:40 p.m.
Geena Davis was on hand to accept the 2022 Governors Award on behalf of her non-profit organization, The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which she founded in 2004. The group researches and advocates for equal representation in film and television.
“Tonight’s about honoring the best of television, and as you know, as Lizzo knows, television can often directly impact how people see themselves,” Davis said. “In the time since I launched the institute, we’ve made a great deal of progress. But still there’s more work to do.”
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9:28 p.m.
Lizzo upset Emmys darling “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” winning best competition program for “Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls.” She was fittingly presented the award by fellow Prime Video stars from “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.”
“When I was a little girl all I wanted to see was me in the media: Someone fat like me, black like me, beautiful like me,” she recounted in her acceptance speech, saying she eventually had to be that person. Her competition series features women competing to be her backup dancers.
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9:21 p.m.
No awkward dancing here, Amanda Seyfried was emotional and sincere accepting her first Emmy for “ The Dropout ” in which she plays disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. She was up against several other ripped-from-the-headlines roles, including Lily James, for “Pam & Tommy” and Julia Garner for “Inventing Anna.”
Seyfried made sure to tell her kids to go to bed before thanking her family and her dog Finn.
Read more about Seyfried's performance here: https://apnews.com/article/elizabeth-holmes-technology-business-health-arts-and-entertainment-8d95cc7c6e805fc4e08274bcaa2f23db
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9:15 p.m.
Cheers! Jennifer Coolidge won her first Emmy for her turn as the grieving Tanya McQuoid in “The White Lotus,” in a category where she was up against four of her co-stars and two actors from “Dopesick.”
“I just want to say I took a lavender bath tonight and it made me swell up inside my dress and I’m having a hard time speaking,” Coolidge said.
As her time ran out, she rushed through thank yous and pleaded with the producers to “hold on” before resorting to simply dancing along to the play-off music. But she didn’t get to finish her speech and was escorted off stage.
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9:10 p.m. ET
Bowen Yang, self-anointed Emmys backup host, on what could happen to Kenan Thompson: “Did you see the Oscars?” he said. “You could straight up disappear like a show on HBO Max.”
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9:03 p.m. ET
With a win for Variety Talk Series, that’s 24 Emmys for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” but who’s counting?
Oliver nets the variety talk series award for the seventh year in a row. He and his staff took what’s become an annual stroll to the stage, as the onscreen text cheekily thanked and teased missing staffers over Oscar Isaac.
“It’s saying ‘Stop Now’ in big letters. I don’t know whether that’s to this speech or in general, but either way, fair point,” Oliver concluded.
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8:58 p.m. ET
“Thank you so much for what was in my head, a standing ovation,” said Martin Short, presenting alongside his “Only Murders in the Building” co-stars Selena Gomez and Steve Martin.
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8:57 p.m. ET
“Saturday Night Live” won yet again for variety sketch series, with only “A Black Lady Sketch Show” as a foe. “SNL” is the most nominated show in the history of the Emmys, with 315 nods. It’s nominated in nine categories this year alone.
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List of Emmy Award winners
Early winners Monday night at the Emmy Awards include Michael Keaton and Murray. Keaton won for best actor in a limited series or TV movie for his work in “Dopesick.” Bartlett won the supporting actor trophy in that category for “The White Lotus” and Julia Garner won best supporting actress in a drama Series for “Ozark.” Although HBO’s “Succession,” which won the best drama series award in 2020, and “Ted Lasso” from Apple TV+ are considered the frontrunners for top series honors, there’s potential for surprises.
Follow the award winners here: https://apnews.com/article/emmy-awards-entertainment-movies-tv-644ef4de2886ce7d4395765fb34b44fa
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8:53 p.m. ET
Brett Goldstein can’t help himself. The “Ted Lasso” actor and writer thanked the television academy for a second chance at giving an acceptance speech after his expletive-filled thank yous were bleeped out last year, before launching into another forcing the censors to cut the audio once more. Maybe next year his family will get to hear what he was to say.
https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569490396333461506
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8:49 p.m. ET
“Succession” star J. Smith-Cameron used her purse to make a political statement: She walked the gold carpet holding a red satin clutch with the words “bans off our bodies” prominently displayed in gold. It’s the slogan of the national abortion rights campaign led by Planned Parenthood in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
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8:47 p.m. ET
Sheryl Lee Ralph was stunned by her win for best supporting actress in a comedy series -- before turning around and stunning the audience with a song. She was treated to a standing ovation as she was visibly overcome by emotion while taking the stage. The “Abbott Elementary” star sung Dianne Reeve’s “Endangered Species” before delivering her speech to another standing ovation.
Her choice of song, “Endangered Species,” was originally by Dianne Reeves. Reeves is a jazz singer and five-time Grammy winner who has been releasing albums since 1987.
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8:39 p.m. ET
Viewers of Julia Garner’s acceptance speech were treated to a new innovation at this years Emmys, meant to cut down the time spent on a laundry list of thank yous. Nominees were allowed to submit ahead of time a list of people whose names would flash onscreen upon a win. Think agents, managers, significant others and anyone else who could fit into the 350 characters allotted. While Garner used the onscreen text to thank people like Netflix executive Reed Hastings, she used her 45 seconds on the stage to verbally thank the cast and crew of “Ozark.”
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8:38 p.m. ET
Sorry, “Saul” fans, Rhea Seehorn is going home empty handed. Julia Garner won the supporting actress in a drama series Emmy for “Ozark,” beating out Sydney Sweeney, Sarah Snook, J. Smith Cameron, Patricia Arquette, Jung Ho-yeon and Christina Ricci.
“Thank you for writing Ruth, she’s changed my life,” Garner said.
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8:32 p.m. ET
If it is to be said, so it be. So it is. Matthew MacFadyen won best supporting actor in a drama series and his first Emmy for his “bonkers gift of a role” as Tom Wambsgans in “Succession.” Co-stars Nicholas Braun and Kieran Culkin were also nominated in the category.
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8:29 p.m. ET
“Yellowstone” didn’t get any Emmy nominations this year, but the wildly popular show starring Kevin Costner was still prominently featured on the television drama sizzle reel.
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Ah, the obligatory Leonardo DiCaprio girlfriend joke, this time directed at Zendaya who just turned 26, which Thompson quipped makes her too old to date the actor.
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8:24 p.m. ET
Wishful ratings thinking? Kenan Thompson explained to the theoretical “under 20” viewers that, “NBC is a network that used to show ‘The Office’.”
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8:20 p.m. ET
Who hasn’t been caught mid-sip of wine on national television early in a long awards show? “The White Lotus” showrunner Mike White was not quite ready for his close-up when winner Murray Bartlett turned to thank him for his role as the stressed out manager of the luxury hotel.
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8:17 p.m. ET
Murray Bartlett beat out two of his “White Lotus” co-stars to win supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for his role as an uptight hotel manager who slowly and dramatically unravels. There were just three shows represented among the six nominees altogether.
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8:12 p.m. ET
Michael Keaton takes home the first award of the night -- and his first Emmy -- for lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie. The “Dopesick” actor is also nominated for producing the Hulu show.
“My face hurts so much from all the fake smiling I’ve been doing,” said Keaton, Emmy in hand.
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8:07 p.m.
“Hey, y’all seen ‘Living Single’? I think you’d like it,” Kenan Thompson said after dancing through an elaborate homage to the “Friends” opening credits, with backup dancers, the orange couch and a remix of “I’ll Be There For You.”
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8:03 p.m. ET
Donning a top hat, the self-described “mayor of television” Kenan Thompson opened the show from amid the audience:
“Tonight, we come together to honor the greatest invention in the history of mankind: television”
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8:01 p.m. ET
A full, ceiling-high bar is set up behind one of the stages but nothing’s on tap: “This bar right here is not real,” producer-writer Chris Spencer told the audience as he announced the rules for the show before the telecast. “This is a set. Do not touch this.”
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8:00 p.m. ET
Inside the theater, most of the orchestra seats have been removed and replaced by dozens of tables. Six large trees line the perimeter of the room and window panels provide view of the LA skyline. Strings of tiny white lights, intermixed with green ferns, hang above a crowd that’s largely eschewed social distancing.
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Emmy Awards: Stars look to keep cool on sweltering carpet
By LYNN ELBER
Emmy Awards host Kenan Thompson and the ceremony’s producers are promising a feel-good event. That description doesn’t apply to several of the top nominated shows. Among the best drama contenders at Monday night’s ceremony are the violently dystopian “Squid Game” and “Succession,” about a powerful and cutthroat family. Even comedy nominee “Ted Lasso,” the defending champ, took a dark turn last season. But after several pandemic-affected awards seasons, Emmy producers say the night will be big and festive.
Read the full story: https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-show-74e969a265d171c2f990ce98074cf534
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7:58 p.m. ET
The stars are inside the Microsoft Theater so it’s time to roll up the gold carpet. We’ll take you through the highly anticipated show, so stick around for more!
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7:48 p.m. ET
Emmys host Kenan Thompson moved quickly along the carpet, making his way inside the Microsoft Theater to prepare for the show. “Sorry, we can’t stop,” a handler called to reporters out as Thompson strode by.
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7:47 p.m. ET
Last year seemed to be the year of the velvet suit for men, but if the Emmy carpet is any indication, white is having a moment: Andrew Garfield, Seth Rogen and Nicholas Braun all turned up in bright white suits.
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7:35 p.m. ET
Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham wears a pink corset gown on the #Emmys gold carpet. She is nominated for best supporting actress in a comedy series.
https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569469663855124480
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7:28 p.m. ET ' Photo
Rhea Seehorn, or Kim Wexler if you’re a “Better Call Saul” fan, made a grand entrance to the Emmy Awards where many onlookers have decided it’s her year to win. She’s up for supporting actress in a drama series, her first, for the recently wrapped show in an ultra-competitive category where she’s up against Julia Garner for “Ozark,” Sydney Sweeney for “Euphoria” and “Succession” actors Sarah Snook and J. Smith Cameron.
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7:27 p.m. ET
“This was Puff Daddy’s coat. He wore it in a video.”
Nominated for two Emmys tonight -- guest actor in a comedy series for “Saturday Night Live” and writing for a variety special -- comedian Jerrod Carmichael laughed at the heat and humidity, strolling the carpet in a long white fox fur coat with nothing on underneath.
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7:26 p.m. ET
Henry Winkler, nominated for his portrayal of Gene Cousineau in HBO’s “Barry,” is wearing his “lucky tie” tonight. He sported the light lime green neckwear in 2018, when he won his very first Emmy -- best supporting actor in a comedy series -- for the same role.
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7:19 p.m. ET
“Hire women!” – “Only Murders in the Building” director Cherien Dabis, to the AP, on how to get more women behind the camera in television.
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7:14 p.m. ET Twitter
At the #Emmys, #TheRingsOfPower star Cynthia Addai-Robinson says she isn’t paying attention to online trolls “review-bombing” the “Lord of the Rings” prequel series.
https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569464208206569473
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7:10 p.m. ET ' Full Story
Elle Fanning Old Hollywood for Emmys, others in red zone
By LEANNE ITALIE
The Emmys red carpet kicked off in sticky Los Angeles with a strong show of red on the fashion carpet. Natasha Rothwell of “The White Lotus” chose red for a gown with balloon short sleeves and a hot commodity on fashion carpets — pockets! Megan Stalter also went for red in a sheer dress that celebrated her curves. Jen Tullock of “Severance” was in the red zone, a thigh high slit and structured sleeve number by Thierry Mugler, worn with drop pearl earrings. Mark Indelicato was in the red club, sort of. Indelicato’s hair was bright red and his black tux sported long split tails like a train.
Read the full story: https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-fashion-photos-d8624fd7435099009be675646fd426d5
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7:01 p.m. ET ' Video
Ben Stiller isn’t worried about being banned from Russia, he told the AP on the Emmy carpet before the show. “I’ll take it,” he said. “It’s all right.”
“I’m a Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR,” Stiller said referencing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “There’s over 100 million displaced people all over the world. So all of those people deserve a right to a home and be able to go back home and to be welcomed. That’s the message I like to put out there.”
https://twitter.com/AP/status/1569461288161386496
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7:00 p.m. ET
“Euphoria” star Colman Domingo said he’s been celebrating his first Emmy nomination “all week long” and even had to take a few ibuprofen this morning because of all the dancing he’s been doing.
Colman wore a shimmering suit by Dolce & Gabbana, who he’s been collaborating with all season. “I wanted to feel like a king,” he said. “They brought that out with this number.” One of their earlier looks was a cream tuxedo that he said was a cross between Cary Grant and Teddy Pendergrass.
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6:53 p.m. ET ' Photo
Comfort was key for “Dopesick” star and nominee Kaitlyn Dever at her first Emmy Awards, she told the AP. She came sporting a red off-the-shoulder Naeem Khan dress chosen for her by her stylist Ryan Hastings.
“It feels almost like a heavy nightgown,” she said.
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6:40 p.m. ET
Jamie Tartt and Roy Kent might be on tenuous terms on “Ted Lasso” but off-camera Phil Dunster and Brett Goldstein were happy to mug for the cameras. Goldstein played the curmudgeon at first, giving Dunster a suspicious side-eye as he neared and photographers shouted, “Pretend like you like each other.” But he soon broke character and both ended up laughing with arms linked.
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6:39 p.m. ET
It’s hot and humid in Los Angeles this afternoon, but Laverne Cox gets to chill. The E! host has an air conditioner unit pointing at her, nominee Seth Meyers revealed while being interviewed on the gold carpet. Meanwhile, AP reporters witnessed suit-clad men are pushing a wheeled cooler full of bottled water along the carpet, moving deftly between the logjam of sweating stars and stopping frequently to grab and pass out the cool beverages.
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6:32 p.m. ET
“While she doesn’t leave him, I think she will eventually.” – Alexandra Daddario weighs in on the ultimate fate of her “White Lotus” character’s troubled marriage while talking to E! on the gold carpet.
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6:32 p.m. ET ' Photo
“Ozark” nominee Laura Linney wore a white and black-trimmed Christian Siriano gown to the Emmy Awards Monday night. She told the AP that, “The whole entertainment industry is at a crossroads of trying to figure out how to proceed in a whole new world... Television has had to sort of absorb much of the film industry and consequently, they’ve had to change their culture to satisfy the artistic needs of a different type of community. But consequently, television is better because of that.”
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6:24 p.m. ET ' Photo
“Hacks” breakout Megan Stalter arrived to the show in a nearly naked red slip dress to support her nominated co-stars, Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Jane Adams, Harriet Samson Harris, Kaitlin Olson and Christopher McDonald.
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6:24 p.m. ET ' Photo
“Abbott Elementary” star and first time Emmy nominee Sheryl Lee Ralph said five days ago she didn’t have an outfit to the show, but designer Brandon Blackwood heard about it and came to her rescue.
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6:05 p.m. ET
Get your fashion fix on E! starting at 6 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Pacific for red carpet arrivals. Peacock’s stream from the carpet starts an hour later and NBC will air the show live while Peacock streams it in real time at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific. If you don’t have cable: Yes, Peacock has a seven-day free trial.
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6:03 p.m. ET ' Photo
Comedian Emily Heller was one of the early arrivals to the Emmy Awards with a statement outfit, literally: She had a sign with the words “Kick Me!” pinned to the back of her frock. It’s not a first for Heller who in 2018 carried a purse that said “gettyimages.”
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5:55 p.m. ET
There’s still more than two hours to get your own Emmys picks in, but if you’re stuck, take a leaf out of our experts’ book. AP’s Mark Kennedy and Lynn Elber discuss who will win and who should win from the highly competitive 25 awards presented during tonight’s telecast.
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5:52 p.m. ET
The gold carpet is ready for TV’s top stars at the #Emmys in downtown Los Angeles.
https://twitter.com/APEntertainment/status/1569437442180263939
