The two-night Creative Arts Emmy Awards conclude Sunday evening at the Microsoft Theater with awards in 43 categories to be presented, including as outstanding host for a reality or reality competition program.
RuPaul, the winner the past two years for VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” is among the nominees, along with Jane Lynch of NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night,” the 2014 and 2015 winner; Ellen DeGeneres of NBC’s “Ellen’s Game of Games”; W. Kamau Bell of CNN’s “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell,” and the entry of Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn of Lifetime’s Project Runway, the 2013 winners.
Klum and Gunn announced Friday they would be leaving “Project Runway” for a new fashion reality series to be streamed by Amazon Prime Video in what was only described as “a fresh take in the reality space and will appeal to a global audience who are entertained by competition, storytelling and authenticity.”
Reality, variety, animation, nonfiction and interactive programming will be honored Sunday.
The late Anthony Bourdain is a nominee as an executive producer of “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown,” nominated for outstanding informational series or special, and for outstanding writing for a nonfiction program.
Other prominent nominees include Morgan Freeman and Carl Reiner, nominated as outstanding narrator for “March of the Penguins 2” and “If You’re Not In The Obit, Eat Breakfast,” respectively.
Awards were presented at the Microsoft Theater for scripted, animated and streamed short-form programming in 43 categories Saturday.
The awards were mainly in obscure technical categories, such as picture editing, costuming, hairstyling, makeup and sound, but there were also awards for guest acting.
All four of the guest acting winners are black.
Tiffany Haddish won for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for hosting NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
Katt Williams won for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of Earn’s (Donald Glover) charming but troubled Uncle Willie, known as “Alligator Man” by the neighborhood’s children because of his pet alligator, Coach, on FX’s “Atlanta.”
Ron Cephas Jones won for outstanding guest actor in a drama series for his role as the cancer-stricken biological father of Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown) on NBC’s “This Is Us.”
Jones received an outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for the role in 2017, when he appeared in 16 of the 18 episodes. He was shifted to the guest actor category in the series’ second season when he appeared in seven of the 18 episodes.
To be eligible for a guest acting Emmy, an actor can appear in no more than 50 percent of a series episodes that season.
Samira Wiley won for outstanding guest actress in a drama series for her role as Moira in Hulu’s dystopian drama “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Wiley received an outstanding supporting actress in a drama series nomination for the role in 2017 when she appeared in seven of the 10 episodes. She appeared in four of the 13 episodes in the second season.
The Emmys were the first for all four actors. Haddish and Williams were first-time nominees.
“Game of Thrones” topped the field with seven Emmys, increasing its record total for a comedy or drama series to 45.
The HBO fantasy drama won for prosthetic makeup for a series, limited series movie or special; special visual effects; music composition for a series (original dramatic score); stunt coordination for a drama series, limited series or movie; costumes for a fantasy/sci-fi program; production design for a narrative period or fantasy program (one hour or more); and sound mixing for a comedy or drama series (one hour).
The FX true crime anthology series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” was second with four Emmys.
Winning three Emmys each were “Atlanta,” “The Crown,” “The Handmaid’s Tale”; “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “USS Callister (Black Mirror).
HBO led among networks and streaming services with 13 Emmys, followed by Netflix, which had 10, and FX Networks which had seven.
Awards in the top 26 categories of comedy, drama, limited and variety sketch and talk series will be presented at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards Sept. 17, also at the Microsoft Theater.
The awards were for programs that initially aired between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. from June 1, 2017, to May 31, 2018.