CLOSE Here's a recap of who took home the hardware from the Emmy awards. USA TODAY NETWORK 
 
 Jimmy Kimmel delivers the opening monologue during 68th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater. (Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY) 
 
 You expect mean from Jimmy Kimmel. You just hope you'll also get funny. 
 
 When he hosted the Emmys in 2012, the balance was off. Sunday, making his return as ABC's host, he hit the mark right all night. 
 
 The first sign that things would go better came with his opening taped bit, which included a Carpool Karaoke stint with James Corden and climaxed with a shockingly funny cameo by Jeb Bush as a limo driver. "Were you nominated?," he asked Kimmel. "Wow, what's that like?" 
 
 The monologue that followed was short and, for Kimmel, almost sweet. Oh yes, there were jabs at Marcia Clark, Donald Trump (who was mentioned, perhaps, a bit more often Sunday than was wise) and Maggie Smith — a bit that paid off later when she won an Emmy — but they were more good-natured than nasty. He even let himself be made the butt of a joke, as Matt Damon came out to mock him for losing to John Oliver in the talk show category. 
 
 It was a pattern that held out through the show, from an amusingly silly bit involving peanut-butter sandwiches to a more pointed yet still funny joke built around using Bill Cosby as a presenter. That alone was an excellent example of why this Kimmel hosting stint went so much better than the last one: He had a better sense of where the “too much” line lies, and other than an ill-advised in memoriam joke, he avoided crossing it. 
 
 As for the awards themselves, the drama categories gave us two of the Emmys' best choices: wins for Mr. Robot's breakout young star, Rami Malek, and Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany (joined in the supporting categories by Downton Abbey's Maggie Smith and Bloodline's Ben Mendelsohn). It's a shame the Emmy voters didn't keep that streak going by picking either Robot or The Americans over HBO’s repeat winner Game of Thrones — but still, those other wins were almost enough to make you think they've finally actually started to watch television. 
 
 There were also a few surprises on the comic front, with Louie Anderson’s win for playing a mother in FX's Baskets followed by Kate McKinnon's even more surprising award for NBC's Saturday Night Live. I’m not sure how anyone is supposed to compare work in a sketch show to a sitcom or, in Transparent's case, a show that is closer to a drama than a comedy. But those are the kind of comparisons the often illogical Emmy categories force voters to make. 
 
 Jeffrey Tambor called for Hollywood to "give transgender talent a chance," accepting the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for 'Transparent.' (Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY) 
 
 The comic surprises stopped with the Best Actress and Actor categories: Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for the fifth time in a row for Veep — a repeat, sure, but a well-deserved one. (And who could be cruel enough to object, after she revealed that her father died Friday?) That was followed by another repeat winner, Jeffrey Tambor for Transparent, but in his case any other result would have been a miscarriage of justice. Oh, and there was a second-straight win for Veep — a good show, but not so good that it needed to repeat. 
 
 Sarah Paulson as embattled prosecutor Marcia Clark in FX's 'The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story' (Photo: FX) 
 
 The movie and miniseries awards went pretty much as expected — but then, shocks here would have been truly shocking. FX’s superb The People vs. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story won for Best Limited Series while also taking acting Emmys for Sarah Paulson (the night's one true lock), Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown, along with the Emmy for writing. The only downside? Seeing FX's also superb Fargo get shut out — and seeing PBS's shamefully weak Sherlock: The Abominable Bride win a shamefully weak movie category. 
 
 The Emmy broadcast is never going to be the world's most exciting: It's long, it lacks glamour, and it drags in the variety-show middle. Still, overall, you got some surprises, some coronations, some well-earned repeats, and some funny moments from a strong host. 
 
 Pretty much all you could hope. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2cwXQD7 ||||| Colin Jost and Michael Che opened the 2018 Emmy Awards with a monologue that took on this year’s biggest nominees as well as allegations of sexual harassment around Hollywood, television’s continued diversity issues and the dwindling industry itself. “We just want to say a quick hello to the thousands of you here in the audience tonight, and to the hundreds watching at home,” Jost cracked in the show’s first moments. 
 
 During the opening bit, Che welcomed the “many, many talented and creative people in Hollywood who haven’t been caught yet,” and noted that this was first year that Emmy attendees were allowed to drink in the audience. “Because the one thing Hollywood needs right now is people losing their inhibitions at a work function,” Jost joked. 
 
 The hosts also pointed out that, this year, Netflix was the most-nominated network, with Jost quipping, “If you’re a network executive, that’s the scariest thing you can possibly hear, except maybe, ‘Sir, Ronan Farrow is on line one.'” 
 
 The Weekend Update hosts also poked fun at nominees like The Handmaid’s Tale (“It’s Roots for white women,” Che cracked) and This Is Us (noting that the show’s next season would focus on one character’s experience in the Vietnam War, Jost quipped, “This was in response to viewers who wrote in and said, ‘Sadder, please.'”). They also pointed out that over the past year, several shows, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Last Man Standing, had been canceled and then swiftly revived. “And Roseanne was canceled by herself but picked up by white nationalists,” Jost added. 
 
 Jost and Che also mocked Hollywood’s historical lack of diversity, though they did note that TV networks were trying to remedy that problem with reboots of Magnum, P.I. and Bewitched that would feature a Latino man and a black woman in the starring roles, respectively. “But it’s gonna get balanced out by an all-white reboot of Atlanta called 15 Miles Outside of Atlanta,” Jost cracked. “And it focuses on white women who call the police on the cast of Atlanta.” 
 
 Hollywood’s attempts to rectify its diversity issues were also the subject of a pre-monologue musical number led by Jost and Che’s Saturday Night Live castmates, Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson. The pair performed a song that cheekily praised the Emmys for solving bigotry in Hollywood, singing, “We solved it, we’ve gotten with the times/ There’s room for all our voices, but mostly Shonda Rhimes.” 
 
 The number featured an array of guests — Kristen Bell, Sterling K. Brown, Tituss Burgess, Ricky Martin and John Legend — who helped McKinnon and Thompson belt the track’s “We solved it” refrain. Andy Samberg made a brief cameo as the token white man, though he quickly ushered himself off the stage. But after a performance by the “One of Each Dancers,” RuPaul appeared with a phone call for Thompson. 
 
 “Long way to go?” Thompson deadpanned after being informed that they had not in fact solved the diversity problem. “Cart before the horse? Spiking the ball at the 50 yard line?” After hanging up, Thompson thanked RuPaul, and the Drag Race host put a fine point on the bit, cracking, “Wait, hold up, you call me up here for one line in a stupid skit? Y’all ain’t right.” ||||| "Modern Family" creator Steven Levitan summed up the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards telecast when he accepted another outstanding comedy award for the show."This may be the saddest Emmys of all time, but we could not be happier," he said.The CBS telecast, hosted with gusto by Neil Patrick Harris, was smothered by five "in memoriam" tributes to individuals as well as a montage late in the telecast. It was, in a word, a bummer.Harris tried to bring up the energy with jokes and a mid-broadcast song-and-dance number called "The Number in the Middle of the Show." But nothing seemed to help. Every time the show got moving, a tribute cast a pall over the proceedings.Most of the presenter banter was strained and only a few acceptance speeches drew laughs. Here are the night's best moments, which were few. (Click through the gallery at top of page for images from the telecast.)Accepting the variety series Emmy for "The Colbert Report," Colbert cracked, "It's a cliche to say it's an honor just to be nominated. It's more than that; it's also a lie. This is way better." When he accepted the writing award, he said, "Wow, the Emmys are so good this year." If only that were true.In a pre-taped howler, the cast of "How I Met Your Mother" do a commercial for the Ryan Seacrest Center for Excessive Hosting, where they send Neil Patrick Harris because he is suffering from Excessive Hosting Disorder.When Julia Louis-Dreyfus accepted her award for "Veep." fellow winner and costar Tony Hale followed her to the stage, standing behind her just like his "Veep" character does in the show. He whispered names and comments into her ear so she could complete her speech.Merritt Wever, a surprise supporting actress winner for "Nurse Jackie," was rendered pretty much speechless, thus delivering the night's most honest and brief acceptance. "Thank you so much," she said. "I gotta go. Bye."Amy Poehler and Tina Fey show why they are the funniest ladies of the moment, again. During Harris' opening skit in which past hosts offered him advice, the women cat call him from the audience with comments like,"Take your pants off! And twerk it!" When he said that would be degrading, Poehler responded, "It might be degrading, but we would be de-grateful."Diahann Carroll, who was the first African-American to win in Emmy way back when, showed she's still a pro. "It's been such a long time since I've been standing in this place, I don't know what to do," Carroll said. "But the men are much more beautiful than when I was doing television. I don't know where you came from, but I'm very happy to see you." ||||| The high point of Sunday night's telecast of the 63rd Primetime Emmys, hosted by Jane Lynch, came fairly early in the evening. As Rob Lowe and Sophia Vergara announced the nominees for lead actress in a comedy series, the women, beginning with Amy Poehler, took the stage as if they had already won. It was a moment both hilarious and poignant — as they stood together, arms linked, the actresses silently made the point virtually every winner subsequently repeated: That every category was so jampacked with talent, it was an honor to be included. (They also proved that one does, apparently, have to be precisely as tall as Tina Fey to be nominated.)Then, as if that weren't enough, underdog Melissa McCarthy won for "Mike & Molly," and stood, with a tiara on her head and a huge bouquet of roses in her arms, blinking back the tears — "sorry, I'm a crier" — and saying great acceptance speech things like "I'm from Plainfield, Ill., and I'm standing here and it's kind of amazing."At its best, last night's show celebrated the easy intimacy of the many diverse people who create television and their ability to take chances that surprise us. At it worst, it slid into long stretches of snoozy awards-parceling (Is there another comedy on the air besides "Modern Family"? Will "The Daily Show" or "The Amazing Race" ever lose? Shouldn't, at this point, Jon Stewart go on "The Amazing Race" and collapse the categories further?) These were, at times, dotted by moments of painfully bad judgment — Charlie Sheen presenting the award for lead actor in a comedy series so he could appear sober and conciliatory and wish "Two and a Half Men" luck, and yet another hijacking of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," this time for the in memoriam section.Fortunately, the host and the surprises kept things pleasant if not scintillating — in the evening's biggest double upset, the beloved but beleaguered "Friday Night Lights" beat out perpetual odds-on favorite "Mad Men" in both the writing and lead actor categories, and Barry Pepper won lead actor in a movie or miniseries for his astonishing performance as Bobby Kennedy in the controversial but little-seen "The Kennedys."Unlike other academies we could name, the television academy is filled with people who are both comfortable on television and willing to forsake mutual reverence for a little fun. If it doesn't work every time, well, at least they tried.Taking a page from last year's host Jimmy Fallon, Lynch opened with a big musical number in which she wandered through the apartment building in which all the TV people apparently live, singing (or rather lip syncing) an ode to this "vast wonderland where people spend most of their lives." "I hate it when musical numbers come through the apartment," groused Jim Parson's as "The Big Bang's" Sheldon. "Can you get me some coffee?" ordered Don Draper (Jon Hamm) before ordering Lynch out of the room when she tells him she comes from a time people can watch television and skip the commercials.In another similarly cross-pollinating bit, nominees from all manner of shows invaded the set of "The Office" to address the camera and act out odd moments — "Breaking Bad's" Aaron Paul arriving to "drop something off," "Two and a Half Men's" Ashton Kutchner showing up on the wrong set. Ricky Gervais, in his pre-taped introduction of the comedy writer nominees, apologized for not being there but claimed he was "not allowed. Not after the Golden Globes. In fact, during award shows, I'm not allowed in the states."Lynch made a sensible number of wardrobe changes and stayed on her toes. After losing to "Modern Family's" Julie Bowen for supporting actress in a comedy, she admitted that losing "really hurt, and that if I didn't have to host this show, I would be home eating a tub of turkey meatballs. In the dark." And after Kate Winslet's win for "Mildred Pierce," she noted that so many film actors are taking TV roles that TV actors were forced to voice video games, which then became movies starring the film actors who replaced the TV actors in the first place.As it should be but so often isn't, the best bits came from the winners, even the expected ones. "Modern Family's" Ty Burrell, after winning supporting actor in a comedy, gave a lovely funny acceptance speech in which he imagined what his father, who died before seeing his son ever perform, would think. Margo Martindale could not believe she won supporting actress in a drama for "Justified" even though every single person who saw her performance knew she would, and Peter Dinklage, winning for "Game of Thrones," thanked his dog sitter, which was wonderfully bizarre and just what you would expect from someone playing a character called "The Imp."Even when the jokes went flat and things got a bit boring, the Nokia Theatre remained, essentially, a happy place. The stakes are high, but the personal drama seems less so — many of the nominees have been nominated or won before, and even a few people who aren't Jon Stewart will no doubt be back again next year. So why not act like you've won when your name is announced as a nominee? Why not wear a tiara and cry or talk about your dad and thank your dog sitter? You get to work amid the pixilated pixie dust of television where, as Lynch warbled, "dancing with Bristol Palin…is dancing with a star." ||||| Celebs Swearing, Keaton's singing, a dig at Taylor Swift: Golden Globe burning questions answered Jan. 13, 2014 at 2:37 PM ET 
 
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 A three-hour awards show can't possibly slip by without a few head-scratchers. From inside jokes to out-and-out bizarre moments, here are your burning questions about Sunday's Golden Globes explained — so far as we know. 
 
 Getty Images, AP 
 
 Were some of the winners seemingly seated in San Diego? 
 
 It sure seemed like some of Sunday night's victors had to hop a Greyhound bus to make it to the stage. The ballroom at the Beverly Hilton hotel is decent-sized, but not huge. Still, some of the winners were seated way in the back, some were blocked by closely-pressed-together tables, and still others stopped to chat with friends along the way, making their paths about as straightforward as Little Billy's dotted-line routes in the "Family Circus" comic strip. Robin Wright had to break into a jog to make it to the stage in time to claim her best actress prize for "House of Cards," while others, including original score winner Alex Ebert (also noted for his man bun — mun?) truly seemed stunned and in no real hurry to make the hike. Viewers noticed. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Were the speeches a little unprepared? 
 
 Winner after winner claimed they hadn't expected to hear their name, and seemed taken aback by finding themselves in front of a microphone. It didn't take long for the random babble to start — early winner Jacqueline Bisset's speech included numerous sighs, lip-smacks, a claim that she needed to see "Dancing on the Edge" co-star Chiwetel Ejiofor for inspiration, a swear word that wasn't quite bleeped, and a mention of her mother telling her "go to hell and don't come back." Bisset told Variety she was confused because she was expecting her category to come much later in the show. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Why was Jim Carrey talking about Shia LaBeouf? 
 
 When Carrey took the stage as a presenter, he quipped, “Dying is easy; comedy is hard. I believe it was Shia LaBeouf who said that. So young, so wise.” It might have seemed an odd reference, as the “Transformers” actor was nowhere to be seen at the show. The quote is generally attributed to 18th century actor Edmund King — so the mention is a backhanded way of referring to recent accusations that LaBeouf ripped off a graphic novel’s story to make a short film, and his Tweeted apologies were also reportedly plagiarized. On Jan. 10, the actor announced on Twitter he was “retiring from all public life.” But after Carrey's mention, LaBeouf tweeted a slam at Carrey's parenting, and later deleted the remark and apologized. 
 
 
 
 
 
 What’s with all the potty-mouth celebs? 
 
 “The Wolf of Wall Street” may have broken a record for 506 uses of the f-word, but it’s doubtful that Golden Globe producers meant to create an homage by letting a few naughty words drop through. Early on during Jacqueline Bisset’s speech, censors hit the bleep button, but not quite in time. Aaron Paul hollered out a good “hey b----!” at one point, and during the tribute to Woody Allen, Diane Keaton's taking of the Lord's name in vain also got a healthy bleep. Still, it’s hardly unprecedented to have a somewhat vulgar Golden Globes: In 2012, Meryl Streep dropped her own s-bomb while accepting her prize for “The Iron Lady.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Diane Keaton sings 
 
 Toward the end of her Allen tribute, Keaton sang a few verses of a song that had a rather childlike tone. "Make new friends, but keep the old/ One is silver, and the other's gold," however, is familiar to anyone who ever joined the Girl Scouts, so brush up for Keaton's next awards appearance by checking out the lyrics here. Apparently she was singing it to Allen, as a reminder that they'd eternally be friends. The Girl Scouts were pretty pleased. 
 
 
 
 Did Tina Fey get a dig in at Taylor Swift? 
 
 After show host Amy Poehler won her Golden Globe for "Parks and Recreation," co-host and pal Tina Fey joked, "I love you, and there's a special place in hell for you!" Some viewers thought the "special place in hell" mention was a dig at country singer Taylor Swift, who was in attendance. Last year, Fey and Poehler joked that Swift should "stay away from Michael J. Fox's son," a light joke based on Swift's frequent musical skewering of her exes. Swift later told Vanity Fair that there was "a special place in hell" for women who didn't help other women, and Fey's Sunday night mention sure seemed like a reference to that. 
 
 
 
 Not everyone was worried about being caught in the crosshairs of the funny hosts. “Girls” star Lena Dunham told TODAY in the ballroom Sunday night that she wouldn’t have minded being skewered by the hosts, saying “They can do whatever they want to us because they are geniuses,” she said. 
 
 
 
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 Taking the stage to present the Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series Emmy with Melissa McCarthy, Chappelle said he was honored, as a winner along with McCarthy, to be at the ceremony. 
 
 “It is an honor to be amongst you all,” Chappelle said. “And I’m truly amazed how many Black people are here. I counted 11 on the monitor.” 
 
 Also Read: Emmys: Stephen Colbert's 10 Best Jokes from His Opening Monologue 
 
 Colbert had earlier mentioned during his opening monologue that the Emmys had its most diverse group of nominees for the third year in the row. He mentioned several of the Emmys’ African American nominees, adding Bill Maher to the list in a reference to his controversial use of the n-word on “Real Time With Bill Maher” earlier this year. 
 
 As laughs rippled through the audience, Chappelle leaned into the microphone to add a quick caveat to his turn as an Emmys presenter. 
 
 “I should also tell you that I skipped rehearsal,” Chappelle admitted. 
 
 Also Read: Alec Baldwin Mocks Trump in Emmys Speech: 'Mr. President, Here Is Your Emmy' 
 
 “You can’t tell at all,” said McCarthy, quipping along with him. “This is going exactly how we planned it to go.” 
 
 Chappelle dispelled a little more of the magic of the Emmys in his last moments on stage before reading the nominees for the award. 
 
 “We’re dancing, Melissa. Now we’re going to read this teleprompter. Shout-out to DC Public Schools,” Chappelle said, referencing the fact he grew up in Washington D.C. 
 
 Also Read: Emmys: 'Big Little Lies' Stars Want to Do a Second Season 
 
 Donald Glover took home the Emmy for Best Directing in a Comedy Series for his work on his FX Network show, “Atlanta,” for the episode “B.A.N.” “Silicon Valley” directors Jamie Babbit and Mike Judge and “Veep” directors Morgan Sackett, David Mandel and Dale Stern were also nominated for the Emmy.
– Before Regina King won an Emmy Monday night, there were an awful lot of white winners, which could be why James Corden declared upon taking the stage before King's win, "Let's get it trending: #EmmysSoWhite." Or it could be because Corden took the stage after Betty White was honored. Either way, the New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum tweeted that the joke was met with "nervous laughter." "James Corden's #EmmysSoWhite joke was funny and unfunny at the same time," tweeted Black Girl Nerds after his joke, but many on Twitter had already started tweeting the hashtag and pointing out the proliferation of white winners before Corden's comment. (For more Emmys coverage: Read about the opener, the night's winners, a buzzworthy red carpet sweatshirt, host Michael Che's "Reparation Emmys," or a winner who used his acceptance speech time in an unusual way.)