Sean Spicer takes stage at Emmy Awards

The 69th Emmy Awards got underway on Sunday evening with Hollywood's elite, and even Sean Spicer descending for the glittery awards ceremony.

This year's event was being hosted by late night comedian Stephen Colbert, who said US President Donald Trump was TV's biggest star in the past year.

Colbert kicked off the awards with a musical number including cameos from the "This Is Us" cast, a nod to "Stranger Things" and "A Handmaid's Tale" as well as an appearance from Chance the Rapper.

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Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer then made a surprise appearance, wheeling a podium out on stage in reference to Melissa McCarthy's memorable impersonation of him on "Saturday Night Live."

"This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period, in person and around the world," Spicer said, referring to his notorious appearance after Trump's inauguration.

"Wow," Colbert replied. "That really soothes my fragile ego."

Alec Baldwin later took the best supporting comedy actor for impersonating Spicer's old boss on his role on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," one of several the show won. 

"I suppose I should say, 'at long last Mr. President, here is your Emmy,'" Balwin quipped as he accepted his award,

Best supporting comedy actress went to Kate McKinnon for her impersonations of Hillary Clinton and Kellyanne Conway on the show, which also won the outstanding variety sketch series award. It was nominated for 22 awards.

Star of the political satire "Veep" Julia Louis-Dreyfus claimed the best comedy actress trophy for the sixth time. The show also won best comedy series.

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With HBO's seventh season of Game of Thrones out of contention for starting too late,  HBO bedfellow "Westworld," Hulu's dystopian "The Handmaid's Tale" and Netflix's 1980s-set horror series "Stranger Things" were all hot favorites.

"Not since 'Mad Men' began its four-year winning streak in 2008 has there been such a wide open field for the night's most prestigious trophy: best drama series," said weekly trade paper Variety.

"The Handmaid's Tale" was crowned best TV drama, also winning best drama writing and directing. Elisabeth Moss won best actress and Ann Dowd a best drama supporting actress award for their work on the show. "Veep" and "Saturday Night Live" were also big winners.

The first standing ovation went to a trio of presenters - Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, after they strolled on stage Sunday to the theme music of their 1980 hit movie "9 to 5."

Drama awards

Drama Series: "The Handmaid's Tale."

Directing, Drama: Reed Morano, "The Handmaid's Tale."

Writing, Drama: Bruce Miller, "The Handmaid's Tale."

Actress, Drama Series: Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale."

Actor, Drama Series: Sterling K. Brown, "This is Us."

Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Ann Dowd, "The Handmaid's Tale."

Supporting Actor, Drama Series: John Lithgow, "The Crown."

Comedy awards

Comedy series, "Veep"

Directing, Comedy: Donald Glover, "Atlanta."

Writing, Comedy: Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, "Master of None."

Actress, Comedy Series, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"

Actor, Comedy Series, Donald Glover, "Atlanta"

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Kate McKinnon, "Saturday Night Live."

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, "Saturday Night Live."

Variety awards

Variety Sketch Series: "Saturday Night Live."

Variety talk series, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."

Directing, Variety: Don Roy King, "Saturday Night Live."

Variety, Writing Series: "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."

Limited series/movie awards

Limited Series: "Big Little Lies."

Television Movie: "Black Mirror."

Directing, Limited Movie or Special: Jean-Marc Vallee, "Big Little Lies."

Writing, Limited Series, Movie or Special: Charlie Brooker, "Black Mirror: San Junipero."

Actress, Limited Series or Movie: Nicole Kidman, "Big Little Lies."

Actor, Limited Series or Movie: Riz Ahmed, "The Night Of."

Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie: Laura Dern, "Big Little Lies."

Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie: Alexander Skarsgard, "Big Little Lies."

Other awards

Reality Competition Program: "The Voice."

aw/jm (AP, AFP, Reuters)