LOS ANGELES -- Game of Thrones conquered the Emmy kingdom Sunday, honored as top drama for the second consecutive year and becoming the most honored prime-time TV series ever on a night of surprises and political jabs.
Veep repeated as best comedy series, and its star, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, won a record-breaking sixth Emmy as best comedy actress, breaking a three-way tie with Candice Bergen and Mary Tyler Moore. Jeffrey Tambor's trophy as top comedy actor for Transparent was his second.
But the top drama acting trophies were far from predictable: Rami Malek of Mr. Robot and Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black were the winners, both overcoming heavyweight competition.
"Oh, my God. Please tell me you're seeing this, too," said a stunned Malek, who plays an emotionally troubled engineer caught up in a dangerous hacking conspiracy on the USA Network series.
Game of Thrones, the HBO fantasy saga based on George R.R. Martin's novels, received a total of 12 awards Sunday and at last weekend's technical arts ceremony for a cumulative 38, besting Frasier by one to claim most prime-time series awards ever.
Trophies went to minority-group actors and behind-the-scenes artists including writers Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang of Master of None.
Louis-Dreyfus used her victory for her HBO show to take a dig at GOP contender Donald Trump in a ceremony loaded with election-year asides.
"I'd also like to take this opportunity to personally apologize for the current political climate," she said. "I think that Veep has torn down the wall between comedy and politics," promising to "rebuild that wall and make Mexico pay for it."
Louis-Dreyfus ended her speech by dedicating the trophy to her father, who she said died Friday.
Maggie Smith was honored as best supporting actress in a drama series for the final season of Downton Abbey. It was her third win for playing the formidable dowager. As has become her custom, she didn't attend the ceremony.
Ben Mendelsohn of Bloodline won as best supporting drama actor and also was a no-show.
John Oliver captured the best variety talk series award for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, ending Comedy Central's 13-year run of wins in the category. Comedy Central won the best variety sketch series award for Key & Peele, which is now off the air.
American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson, which earned the second-highest number of nominations, converted five to trophies Sunday.
FX's dramatic retelling of the football star's murder trial was honored as best limited series and for writing, and earned awards for stars Courtney B. Vance, Sterling K. Brown and Sarah Paulson.
Regina King claimed the award for supporting actress in a limited series for American Crime, her second trophy for the program.
Louie Anderson was honored as best supporting actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of a loving but tough mom in Baskets.
"I have not always been a good man, but I play one hell of a woman," Anderson said, dedicating the award to his late mother, Ora Zella Anderson.
Saturday Night Live cast member Kate McKinnon won the trophy for best supporting actress in a comedy for, officially, playing various characters. But she knew whom to credit.
"Thank you, Ellen DeGeneres; thank you, Hillary Clinton," she said, naming two of the famous people she's caricatured on the show.
The Democratic presidential contender responded with a tweet: "Congratulations on your Emmy, Kate! Big fan of yours, too."
McKinnon upset Allison Janney, a seven-time winner of Emmys including lead actress, guest actress and supporting actress.
The ceremony started out with a political edge. In a video bit, Kimmel was shown trying to get to the ceremony and encountering former GOP presidential contender Jeb Bush as a limo driver.
"Did you know you could make $12 an hour working for Uber?" Bush asked, smiling. He advised Kimmel, who was nominated for the best variety talk series award, that "if you run a positive campaign, the voters will ultimately make the right choice"-- then told Kimmel curtly that it was a joke.
Kimmel also needled reality show producer Mark Burnett -- a creator of The Apprentice, the NBC show that made Trump a television star -- saying that if Trump is elected president, Burnett will be responsible. Later in the night, after The Voice won the best reality show, Burnett, a producer for that show as well, shot back, saying Kimmel gave "another five minutes of free publicity" to Trump.
Information for this article was contributed by Lynn Elber of The Associated Press; and by John Koblin of The New York Times.
A Section on 09/19/2016