Praise be the Emmys for their big little prize

Trump, look what you made Sean Spicer do. After an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" last week, former White House Press Secretary Spicer made the second stop on his 'reputation redemption' tour at the 69th Emmy awards Sunday night. His controversial appearance was early in the show, just at the end of host Stephen Colbert’s monologue, where he declared the Emmys audience to be the largest ever (period), attempting to spoof his statements about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration. Sorry Spicey, but you’ll always be on the wrong side of history. Period.

Aside from this poor choice, the rest of the night ran pretty smoothly as far as the Emmys go, though Trump was a common thread throughout. Colbert delivered a solid, if not outstanding, opening song and monologue, including highlights such as callout of Bill Maher out for using the N-word earlier this year and his shot at Ted Cruz about streaming video, in reference to a tweet containing porn that had been liked on Cruz’s account. He also had a few good bits throughout the rest of the show, including one where he parodied "Westworld" (2016–).

The big winners of the night in terms of awards were "The Handmaid’s Tale" (2017–) and "Big Little Lies" (2017–). The former took home five awards, including Best Drama Series, while the latter also received five, including Best Limited Series. "Veep" (2012–) also did well — it won Best Comedy Series, and Julia Louis Dreyfus nabbed her sixth consecutive Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy, breaking the record for which she had previously been tied with Candice Bergen.

"Saturday Night Live" (1975–) unsurprisingly also did well, considering the election year that just passed. It won for Best Variety Sketch Series, and Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon received Emmys for Best Supporting Actors in a Comedy after portraying Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, respectively.Best Guest Actors also went to SNL guests Dave Chappelle and Melissa McCarthy.

Other winners of the night in terms of entertainment were Rachel Bloom of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (2015–) for her rousing song and dance introducing the accountants as the “best part of the show” and Dave Chapelle for his improvised bit as a presenter.

This also was a night of firsts. Hulu made history as the first streaming service to win the Emmy for Best Drama with "The Handmaid’s Tale." Sorry, Netflix. Donald Glover — clad in an awesome purple tux — became the first black person to win Best Directing in a Comedy with "Atlanta" (2016–). He also went on to win Best Actor in a Comedy. Lena Waithe of "Master of None" became the first black woman to win for Writing in a Comedy Series. In her acceptance speech, she also thanked the LGBTQIA community, saying, “The world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren't in it.”

There were a few other noteworthy speeches during the night. Laura Dern (Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie) quipped that in the time since she started acting at 11 years old, she had only acted with “maybe 12 women” and therefore thanked the Academy for honoring the women-filled "Big Little Lies." Nicole Kidman – also from "Big Little Lies" – addressed domestic abuse issues, which had played a large role in her character's plot line on the show, during her acceptance for Best Actress in a Limited Series.

Some of the winners referenced Trump during their acceptance speeches. Glover thanked Trump for “making black people number one on the most oppressed list,” saying, “He’s the reason why I’m probably up here,” and Baldwin took a shot at Trump for never winning an Emmy for "The Apprentice" (2004–), saying, “At long last, Mr. President, here is your Emmy.” Trump surprisingly made it all the way until Tuesday night before tweeting, in which he insulted the Emmys' low ratings.

There is one last pressing issue to discuss before this Emmys recap comes to a close. On Alexander Skarsgard’s way up to the stage after winning for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, he stopped to embrace Nicole Kidman, and then kissed her on the lips right in front of her husband Keith Urban. Newsflash, "Big Little Lies" wrapped (although hopefully there’s a second season on the horizon), so you two no longer have to act like husband and wife. Especially in front of poor Keith. The real crime, however, might have been Skarsgard’s mustache. Did he learn nothing from Joe Jonas at this year’s VMAs?

This year’s Emmys once again proved that television blows the movie industry out of the water when it comes to diversity, although as Shonda Rhimes commented, it still has a ways to go. Also, between "The Handmaid’s Tale," "Veep" and "Atlanta," the night revealed that in this cultural context, television no longer suffices as a distraction to our societal struggles, but rather functions as a reaction to it. Here’s to hoping that after watching all these shows, we turn off the television for a minute and engage as well.