Tracy Morgan Ends Show With After-Party Warning

Andy Samberg held his own as host and Viola Davis nabbed the first Emmy for an African-American actress in a drama series in an evening that started off super-hot and ended up heartwarming. Highlights included:

• Jeffrey Tambor offering an emotional acceptance for best lead actor in a comedy series for his portrayal of transgender retiree Maura Pfefferman on Transparent. "Not to repeat myself, but to specifically repeat myself, I'd like to dedicate my performance and this award to the transgender community," he said. "Thank you for letting us be part of the change. God bless you."

• Jon Hamm literally climbing onto the stage to accept his award for best actor in a drama series.
• Ex-Daily Show host Jon Stewart imploring everyone on television to "cling to it, like death. I've been off television six weeks ... whatever it is [and] this is the first applause I've heard. It's a barren wasteland." Out in the world, "there are tables with food, but you can't take it."

• Late-night host James Corden giving a surprising (and likely unprecedented) high-energy introduction to the Ernst & Young accountants, with a rousing "I want you to separate your hands, and put them back together, and then open [them] again, I want you to do that a million times. Get on your feet—LL Cool J, start this off!"
• A nervous-looking Tracy Morgan taking the stage to present the final award for the evening, receiving a standing ovation for his fight back after the 2014 car accident that left him severely injured. "I've missed you guys so much," he said. "Thanks to my amazing doctors and the support of my family, my beautiful new wife, I'm here, standing on my own two feet." In trademark Morgan style, he added he was "ecstatic" to find out after he awoke from his eight-day coma he "wasn't the one who messed up" and that he's starting to feel like himself again, meaning "a whole lot of young women gonna get pregnant at the after-party."

(More Emmy Awards stories.)