‘Veep’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Dominate the 2017 Emmy Awards

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the current climate of the United States, the 2017 Emmys took on a decidedly political tone on Sunday night, with the evening’s two biggest awards going to shows that wear their politics on their sleeves.

For the third year in a row, Veep, HBO’s Washington D.C., satire, took home the Outstanding Comedy Series award. On the drama side, Hulu’s dystopian The Handmaid’s Tail, which takes place in a near-future patriarchal world where women are subservient to men, took home the top prize. The two series also won acting awards, with Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus and The Handmaid’s Tale Elisabeth Moss taking home Lead Actress awards in comedy and drama, respectively. Louis-Dreyfus’ win was her sixth for Veep, setting a new record for victories by a performer in the same role.

In addition to Louis-Dreyfus’ record-setting win, several other Emmy categories also saw history made.

Riz Ahmed’s victory for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance in The Night Of makes him the first South Asian male to win an acting Emmy. Likewise, Lena Waithe’s victory in the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series category – shared with Aziz Ansari for Master of None – makes her the first African-American woman to win an award in the category.

Other big winners included HBO’s Big Little Lies, Saturday Night Live, Black Mirror, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. 

The full list of 2017 Emmy winners is below: