The 70th Annual Prime Time Emmys

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IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR THE TELEVISION ACADEMY - Regina King poses in the press room with the award for outstanding lead actress in a limited series, movie or dramatic special for "Seven Seconds" at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)
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The 70th Emmy Awards were broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on NBC. Hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che “SNL” head writers Michael Che and Colin Jost brought their late-night sketch comedy chops Monday to the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, spending their opening stint as hosts of the award show dunking on Roseanne Barr and making jokes about #MeToo. Che and Jost are best known as the co-hosts of Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live,” a job they’ve held for the past four seasons.

The Emmys actually started with another pair of “SNL” actors, Kenan Thompson and Kate McKinnon, who kicked things off a song about the Emmys this year are the most diverse ever. “We solved it,” McKinnon and Thompson sang, referring to Hollywood’s problem with diversity, in a number that featured Sterling K. Brown, Kristen Bell, Titus Burgess, Ricky Martin, Andy Samberg, RuPaul and John Legend.

The 70th Annual Emmy Awards were light on laughs and Black winners, but one of the night’s most entertaining moments came from event’s co-host Michael Che. The Saturday Night Live star took matters of representation into his own hands by awarding several of our favorite actors who have been overlooked by the academy with “Reparations Emmys” in a pre-taped skit. The “Reparations Emmys” saw Che find famous Black actors to give them the Emmys that they never received, or were even nominated for, in their heyday. Among the honorees were: Tichina Arnold for being the best sitcom actress thanks to her roles in Martin and Everybody Hates Chris. John Witherspoon was acknowledged for being a funny father figure in The Wayans Bros. Jaleel White was the quintessential man who can do both when he switched from Steve Urkel to Stefan Urquelle in Family Matters. Marla Gibbs’ impact as the Black maid on The Jeffersons was finally noticed.

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