Colbert Opens Emmys With Song, Trump Jokes

Host Stephen Colbert opened the Emmy Awards Sunday night with a song urging people concerned about the state of the world today to just turn on the boob tube, because "everything is better on TV." The song featured cameos from quite a few TV stars including Allison Janney, who bemoaned the fact that not absolutely everything is better on TV: "I hear HBO is bringing back the Confederacy." There were, of course, quite a few references to President Trump during Colbert's opening monologue (at least eight so far by Newser's count), including a very specific call-out: "Hello, sir, thank you for joining us. Looking forward to the tweets."

Colbert also called Trump the biggest TV star of the year, and pointed out that while Trump was nominated multiple times for an Emmy for Celebrity Apprentice, he never won (because "unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote") and has complained repeatedly that the awards show is rigged. "If he had won an Emmy, I bet he wouldn't have run for president. So in a way, this is all your fault," Colbert said. But the host spread the jokes around, also noting, for example, that this is the most diverse Emmys in history and then joking about Bill Maher, "I assume he's black because he's so comfortable using the n-word." And he praised hurricane heroes, calling for viewers to donate to hurricane relief. There was also a surprise appearance by Sean Spicer; more on that here. (Click to keep up with the night's winners.)