Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards for the first time this past Sunday. The 64th annual awards were held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, Cali. The Emmys honored television programming aired from June 1, 2011 to May 31 of this year.
The program opened with a comedic video that features actresses such as Zooey Deschanel, Mindy Kaling, Kathy Bates and HBO’s Girls star Lena Dunham trying to console a crying Kimmel after he received some bad Botox. In order to make him show-ready, the girls punch his face to correct his plastic surgery faux pas. The funniest part of the sketch is when one of the ladies says to him, “You did great the year before last!” and he chokes through tears, “That was a different Jimmy,” referring to Jimmy Fallon. The video ends with Ellen DeGeneres lending Kimmel a hand by giving him her pants.
At one point, Kimmel brought up 30 Rock’s Tracy Morgan, and told him to lie on the floor. After promising viewers a prank, while Morgan layed on the floor Kimmel asked viewers to tweet, “Tracy Morgan just passed out on stage the Emmys. Turn ABC on now.” Morgan continued to lay on the floor for 10 minutes or so, and after a commercial break Kimmel announced that Morgan was okay, just beat from “exhaustion.”
The biggest surprise of the night was that, for the first time in four years, Mad Men did not win the award for Outstanding Drama Series. Another surprise, this was the first ceremony that none of the four major American broadcasting TV networks, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, were nominated in the categories of Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. The award instead went to Showtime’s Homeland. Not so shocking, ABC’s Modern Family won Outstanding Comedy Series for the third year in a row.
Other notable winners were Julianne Moore (HBO’s Game Change) for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Jimmy Fallon (Saturday Night Live) for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Kathy Bates (Two and a Half Men) for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (playing the ghost of Charlie Harper), and Louis C.K. (Louie) for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
The most disappointing win was Jon Cryer (Two and Half Men) for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and the fact that NBC’s comedy series 30 Rock went home without a win in any category.
Presenters included Amy Poehler, Jim Parsons, Ricky Gervais, and Louis C.K. The funniest presenters of the night were Melissa McCarthy and Mindy Kaling, who presented Jon Cryer with his award, after confessing their love to each of the nominees.
Kimmel confused audience members ever so slightly with the 2012 In Memoriam as people assumed it would be a reflection of individuals lost during the past year and not a comedic skit. Usually it is full of entertainers and artist who have contributed to the Hollywood community. Instead it was a reflection of Jimmy Kimmel’s career with lots of tape from his late night talk show. Josh Groban performed One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” during the skit, and later tweeted “Ok sorry had to keep it secret. So much fun!! Happy to sing the 1D to the not-late, great Jimmy Kimmel. Will miss you everyday. Eventually.”

By Taylor Zimmerman