‘Master of None’ Wins Emmy for Comedy Writing

Aziz Ansari and Paul Yang accept their Emmy for “Master of None.” (ABC)

Rafu Staff Report

Among the winners at the 68th Emmy Awards program on Sunday at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles were Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, creators of the Netflix series “Master of None,” who were recognized for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for an episode titled “Parents.”

In his acceptance speech, Yang made it a point to discuss the lack of Asian American representation in the entertainment industry: “Seventeen million Asian Americans in this country, and there are 17 million Italian Americans. They have ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Rocky,’ ‘The Sopranos’; we got Long Duk Dong.”

The reference was to an Asian exchange student played by Gedde Watanabe in 1984 teen comedy “Sixteen Candles.” The character was denounced as a racial stereotype by Asian American watchdog groups.

“So we got a long way to go, but I know we can get there,” Yang continued. “I believe in us. It’s just gonna take a lot of hard work.

“Asian parents out there — if you could do me a favor — just a couple of you get your kids cameras instead of violins, we’ll be all good.”

The other nominees in the category were an episode of “Catastrophe” and two episodes each of “Silicon Valley” and “Veep.”

“Master of None” stars Ansari as Dev Shah, a commercial actor who tries to make his way through life in New York City. The cast also includes Kelvin Yu as Dev’s friend Brian Cheng.

As a presenter later in the broadcast, Ansari thanked his parents, Shoukath and Fatima, who were in the audience, for playing his parents on “Master of None.”

Ansari was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series along with directors of “Silicon Valley” and “Veep.” The Emmy went to Jill Soloway for “Transparent.”

Ansari was also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series along with Anthony Anderson for “black-ish,” William H. Macy for “Shameless,” Thomas Middleditch for “Silicon Valley,” and Will Forte for “The Last Man on Earth.” The winner was Jeffrey Tambor for “Transparent.”

“Master of None” was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series along with “black-ish,” “Modern Family,” “Silicon Valley,” “Transparent,” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” The Emmy went to “Veep.” (One of the nominees for “Transparent” was Victor Hsu, co-executive producer.)

Among the nominees for Outstanding Actor in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series was Lou Diamond Phillips for “The Crossroads of History.” The winner was Rob Corddry for “Childrens Hospital.”

Among the nominees for Outstanding Actress in a Short-Form Comedy or Drama Series was Michelle Ang for “Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462.” The winner was Patrika Darbo for “Acting Dead.”

Presenters at the ceremony included Randall Kim and Constance Wu, stars of ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat.”

Asian American Dance Group

From left: Ryanimay Conferido, Steve Terada, Brian Hirano, Dominic Sandoval, Ryan Feng, Joseph Lee and Hokuto Konishi of Quest Crew celebrate their Emmy win.

During the Creative Arts Emmys program on Sept. 10 and 11, there was a tie in the Outstanding Choreography category between Quest Crew for “America’s Best Dance Crew” and Kathryn Burns for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” Also nominated were choreographers for “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Quest Crew is an Asian American group named for the Quest Learning Center in Artesia. Members featured on Season 8 of “America’s Best Dance Crew” were Hokuto “Hok” Konishi, Steve “Dope Turtle” Terada, Daniel Ryan “Ryanimay” Conferido, Dominic “D-Trix” Sandoval, Brian “Hirano” Hirano, Ryan “Feng” Feng, Rudy “Ru” Reynon II, Aris “FreakinAris” Paracuelles, and Joe “Joleethal” Lee.

Their Emmy-winning performance was titled “The Bench,” a reference to the fact that their time together as professional dancers is limited.

Burns won for a number titled “A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes,” in which “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” co-star Vincent Rodriguez III danced as four versions of his character through the magic of special visual effects.

Asian Americans were part of production teams nominated in several categories:

Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Series — Akira Yoshimura, production designer, “Saturday Night Live.”

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series — Junko Tsunashima, supervising producer, “American Masters.”

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series — Easter Xua, camera, “Dancing with the Stars” (winner); Terrance Ho, senior video control, “The Voice.”

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series — Goro Koyama, foley artist, “Vikings.”

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special — Raj Desai, writer, “Triumph’s Election Special 2016.”

Outstanding Sound editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special — Paul Shikata, sound effects editor, “Fargo” (winner)

Outstanding Main Title Design — Paul Kim, designer, “The Man in the High Castle” (winner); Jeff Han and Paul Kim, designers, “The Night Manager”; Arisu Kashiwagi, lead designer, “Marvel’s Jessica Jones.”

Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program — Huy Truong, director of photography, “Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures.”

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-camera) — Joanna Fang, sound editor, “Cartel Land” (winner).

Outstanding Special Visual Effects — Yafei Wu, lead CG artist, “Black Sails”; Mai-Ling Lee, CG compositor, and Kyle Yoneda, FX lead, “Penny Dreadful.”

Outstanding Animated Program — Kelvin Yu, supervising producer, and Joel Kuwahara, animation executive producer, “Bob’s Burgers”; Jack Shih, animation producer, and Jenny Yu, director of animation, “South Park”; Carolyn Omine, writer, “The Simpsons.”

Outstanding Short-Form Animated Program — Tom Yasumi, animation director, “SpongeBob SquarePants”; Byung Ki Lee, animation director, “Steven Universe.”

Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series — Leslie Woo, casting director, “Silicon Valley.”

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie — C. Chi-Yoon Chung, editor, “The Race Card,” an episode of “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (winner).

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special — Tim Hatayama, re-recording music mixer, “The Voice.”

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Limited Series, Movie or Special — Kai-Lai Wong, senior video control, and Ernie Jew, camera, “69th Annual Tony Awards”; Ernie Jew, camera, “Adele Live in New York City”; Easter Xua, camera, and Terrance Ho, video control, “The Oscars”; Easter Xua, camera, “Grease: Live” (winner).

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program — Jane Cha, executive producer, “Project Runway”; Padma Lakshmi, executive producer, “Top Chef.”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Supporting Role — Winston Lee, comp supervisor, and Dominic Cheung, CG artist, “11.22.63”; Erin Kanoa, digital artist, “Better Call Saul.”

Outstanding Structured Reality Program — Dennis Kwong, producer, “MythBusters”; Kate Ryu, senior producer, “Shark Tank” (winner).

Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or Variety Program — Hiro Koda, stunt coordinator, “K.C. Undercover.”

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program — Niharika Desai, supervising producer, “Gaycation with Ellen Page.”

Outstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Movie — Anna Lau, costume supervisor, “Outlander.”

Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie — Helen Huang, assistant costume designer, “American Horror Story: Hotel” (winner).

Outstanding Short-Form Nonfiction or Reality Series — Trideev Dasgupta, producer, “Jay Leno’s Garage.”