Emmys 2019: The best moments you might have missed from the show

Chris Hanna
Updated

The Television Academy handed out its trophies for their favourite programming and performances of the year. It was a host-less night with few surprises, some brow-raising looks and a lot of Girl Power.

Here are five moments you might have missed from the three-hour telecast — which gave the night’s top honours to Fleabag (in a sweep!) and Game of Thrones, the most nominated show tonight and the series with the most wins of all time.

‘Step out of line:’ Alex Borstein

Alex Borstein, a repeat winner for her supporting role on Amazon’s The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, set the bar high with her speech: Laughs, crass, a call-back to her previous win — and a shout-out to her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. The video of her speech quickly went viral shortly after the first commercial break.

Ava Duvernay’s very special guests

Director Ava Duvernay, nominated for her Central Park Five miniseries for Netflix When They See Us, brought the #Exonerated5 as her guests: Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Veep sendoff

The comedic legend that is Julia Louis-Dreyfus was close to breaking an Emmy record on Sunday. She’s won eight Primetime Emmys — as many as Cloris Leachman — including six for Veep. She couldn’t make it lucky No. 7 but the Emmys did give her and the cast of Veep a little extra attention when they, as a group, presented the award for Lead Actress in a Miniseries. Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale reprised one of the earlier bits from the show’s run that solidified the pair as awards darlings.

Tony Hale, left, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus present the award for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Tony Hale, left, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus present the award for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Women’s stories

And it was a night that highlighted women’s stories, seemingly more than ever. Michelle Williams, won for her role as Gwen Verdon on Fosse/Verdon and commented on the importance of her voice being heard and taken seriously on set.

Not to mention all the love for Amazon’s Fleabag, a show starring and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, about a woman seeking to have an affair with a priest. The series was honoured with the Comedy Series Award, as well as wins for Waller-Bridge’s acting and writing.

Kim Kardashian-West and Kendall Jenner’s awkward presentation

Two stars of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians franchise were mocked when they were presenting an award for reality TV.

Sisters Kim and Kendall said they know all about shows that are real and unscripted — to laughs from the audience, even though they seemed very serious. “I don’t think she was telling a joke,” one Twitter user remarked.