By: Zenab Saeed ~Staff Writer~

ABC and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented the 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 18, in Los Angeles to honor achievements in television.

The award ceremony, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, brought not only talent but also humor and political awareness to the stage.

HBO series Game of Thrones, which was nominated for a total of nine awards, won three, including Outstanding Drama Series. These awards combined with the previous 35 awards the series has won in past years helped Game of Thrones take the title of the fictional television program with the most Primetime Emmy Awards, surpassing the record previously held by NBC sitcom Frasier.

“The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” the first season of the FX television series American Crime Story, took home five awards of the 13 for which it was nominated, the most of the night. In addition to Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special, actors Courtney B. Vance, Sarah Paulson and Sterling K. Brown won awards for their portrayals of characters in “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

The HBO political satire Veep won two of the 10 awards it received nominations for, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Julia Louis- Dreyfus, bringing her to nine total Emmy Awards, seven of which have been from her involvement with Veep.

In addition to the many awards presented at the ceremony, the host and presenters used the opportunity on stage to make jokes about the presidential campaign.

Republican politician Jeb Bush, featured in Kimmel’s opening sketch, alluded to his disapproval of the Republican Party nominee’s campaign, saying, “If you run a positive campaign, voters will ultimately make the right choice. That was a joke.”

Additionally, Master of None actor/ writer Aziz Ansari, who won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and was nominated for both Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Direction for a Comedy Series, jokingly stated his support for Trump’s proposed deportation of Muslims and Hispanics, saying “After careful consideration, I decided I’m going with Trump, which is why I’m also recommending we get rid of all Muslim and Hispanic nominees in the ceremony immediately.”

Ansari also used the opportunity to compare the racial diversity present in the nominees of the Emmy Awards with the lack of diversity in February’s Academy Awards. In his opening monologue, Kimmel noted that many female actors and actors of color were represented in this year’s Emmy nominations, and many actors of color won awards, including Egyptian-American actor Rami Malek for his role in Mr. Robot.