The 67th annual Emmys kicked off Sunday night with celebrities strutting down the red carpet, anxious and excited for the evening’s award ceremony.

The award ceremony started with a video-musical skit. Host Andy Samberg joked about how he had never seen any of the shows that would be highlighted that night.

The video featured prominent actors and actresses, including Jon Hamm of “Mad Men,” who would win an Emmy later in the night for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

The night was full of newcomers and past Emmy nominees and winners. Among them were “Veep,” with a total of 26 nominations over the past four years and “Game of Thrones,” which had more than nominations this year alone.

The “Game of Thrones” cast and crew walked away with 12 awards, more than any other show has won in the Emmys’ 67 years.

“Game of Thrones” spearheaded the charge for HBO, which took away 43 Emmys; more than any other television network.

Samberg joked during the ceremony that “Game of Thrones” writer George R. R. Martin was turning 67 years old, along with the Emmys.

Winning 12 awards in one evening is certainly a splendid birthday present for the writer of such an important television series. Among the veteran crowd of nominees were Jon Stewart and his crew at “The Daily Show.” All together, the cast of writers and crew won three Emmys, shutting out other talk shows hosted by Stephen Colbert and David Letterman, who also left the air this year.

The night was not without the ever-present quips of Samberg, who joked about everything from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to Paula Deen’s appearance on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“[If] I wanted to see an intolerant lady dance, I would have gone to one of Kim Davis’s four weddings,” Samberg said.

This was also a good year for women of color after last year’s whitewashed award season.

Viola Davis made Emmy history by being the first woman of color to walk away with the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her work in “How to Get Away With Murder.”

“So congratulations, Hollywood, you did it. Racism is over! Don’t fact-check that,” Samberg said.

Samberg’s remarks were meant as a jab at Hollywood for being criticized for not including people of color at an acceptable level.

Uzo Aduba also won for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series with her work in “Orange is the New Black” and Regina King won for “American Crime.” Along with other prominent actresses, King celebrated the creativity and power of women in television.

King celebrated being a woman in the industry by thanking her mother and grandmother who taught her “the power and blessing of being a woman.”

The night was full of celebrities advocating for human rights, with many of them wearing green ribbons on their jackets and dresses to raise awareness for mental illnesses. Others, such as Davis, spoke elegantly on the topic of race in the media and Jeffrey Tambor dedicated his win for “Transparent” to the transgender community.

In “Transparent,” Tambor plays Morton/Maura Pfefferman, whose children have become aware that their father is transgender.

“Transparent” won five awards Sunday, including Tambor’s Outstanding Lead Actor award and Outstanding Directing.

“I’d like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for our inspiration. Thank you for letting us be part of the change,” Tambor said during his acceptance speech.

The night was full of inspiring and impactful speeches from actors and actresses all the way up to the very end of the show.

The final presenter of the evening, Tracy Morgan, made a triumphant return to the stage after suffering a traumatic brain injury, which put him in a coma.

“Last year, Jimmy Kimmel said on stage, ‘We’ll see you back here next year, Tracy Morgan.’ Well, Jimmy, thanks to my amazing doctors and the support of my family and my beautiful wife, I’m here standing on my own two feet,” Morgan said. 

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