Riz Ahmed, Aziz Ansari garner multiple Emmy nominations

In a scene in 'Master of None,' Aziz Ansari is lectured by his real-life father.

THE EMMY'S, television's equivalent to the Oscars, has always shown more diversity in its nominations and winners than the motion pictures awards. This year is no exception.

Master of None, the acclaimed TV series created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, received three Emmy nominations. 

The Netflix product was nominated for an Emmy in the Best Comedy Series category and Writing for a Comedy Series. Ansari also was nominated for Best Comedy Actor.

Riz Ahmed received two Emmy nominations: Best Actor in a Limited Series for HBO's The Night Of and as a guest actor in a comedy series for an episode of Girls. His costar, John Turturro was also nominated in the same category.

Riz Ahmed in 'The Night Of.'

BD Wong was nominated as a guest actor in a drama series for his role in Mr. Robot.

The Night Of, which depicted a Pakistani/American family and communitiy, also received a nomination Outstanding Limited Series category. 

Silicon Valley, which features two Asian/American actors in its ensemble: Kumail Najiani and Jimmy O. Yang, was also nominated in the Best Comedy Series.

Westworld's writing team of Lisa Joy and Lena Waithe was nominated for Writing for a Drama Series.

Nominated for Writing for a Nonfiction Program was Prashanth Venkataramanujam, who was part of the writing team including CeCe Pleasants, Sanden Totten, Mike Drucker & Flora Lichtman for Bill Nye Saves the World. 

Johanna Gaines and her spouse Chip were nominated for Best Structured Reality Program for their HGTV show, Fixer Upper. Johanna Gaines is half Korean. Although not considered one of the major categories, we need to bring attention to the casting teams for Master of None (Cody Beke & Teresa Razzauti) and Silicon Valley (Jeanne McCarthy, Nicole Abellera Hallman & Leslie Woo). Both shows are noted for their diverse casts. 

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AAPI entertainers represent at the Emmy Awards

Randall Park and Constance Wu presented the Emmys for best guest actor and actress in a comedy series

By Louis Chan
REPRINTED FROM ASAM NEWS

ASIAN/AMERICAN entertainers were present both on stage and on the red carpet at the 68th Emmy Awards in Hollywood Sunday.

For AAPI folk, the win by Master of None creators and writers Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari was one of the show's highlights.

Constance Wu and Randall Park of Fresh Off the Boat presented the awards for best guest actor and actress in a comedy series.

Wu pointed out that the Creative Emmys were presented over two nights.

Priyanka Chopra

“Wow, that makes three nights of Emmys,” responded Park. “So I guess that means Fresh Off the Boat will get our award on the fourth night?”

“Get over it, Randall,” said Wu.

Fans apparently still haven’t gotten over it, with many on Twitter giving shout outs to Wu, expressing dismay that she didn’t receive a nomination.

Quantico's Priyanka Chopra presented the award for best directing of a limited series, movie or special. Chopra dazzled in a Jason Wu gown, but it was how she wore her cherry-hued red lipstick that drew raves from fashion critics.

Padma Laskshmi was on hand to see if her show Project Runway would win for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. That honor went to The Voice.

(Views From the Edge contributed to this report.)

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Quest Crew tie for Outstanding Choreography Emmy

IT'S NOT OFTEN that anything Asian gets nominated for an Emmy so when anything Asian-related gets that prestigious nomination we tend to go overboard. Then, imagine our dilemma when Quest Crew and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend featuring our favorite Filipino/American bro, Josh as played by Vincent Rodriguez III, got nominated for the same award - Outstanding Choreography.

That dilemma was solved last weekend when the two contenders tied! So awesome!

The Creative Emmys awards are given a week before the Emmy telecast next Sunday when the major acting awards will be given. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend also won an Emmy for best editing with a single camera.

The all-Asian/American Quest Crew won their Emmy for a performances on America's Best Dance Crew reality competition.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's choreographer Kat Burns won her Emmy for the number she designed for “A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes” featuring Rodriguez.

RELATED: Why you should be watching 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'

Watch the amazing Emmy-winning dance performances below and enjoy.

Hey, as an aside, don't these performances by these dancers blow up to smithereens that old meek, unsexy Asian male stereotype?

The Week 4 performance "The Bench" was the most meaningful for the Quest Crew dancers: "D-Trix" AKA Dominc Sandoval, "Hok" AKA Okuto Konishi, "Dope Turtle" AKA Steve Terada, "Ryanimay" AKA Daniel Ryan Conferido, "Ru" AKA Rudy Reynon, II, "Feng" AKA Ryan Feng, "Jolee" AKA Joe Lee and "Hirano" AKA Brian Hirano.

RELATED: Quest Crews straight out of Artesia

“Basically the bench represented retirement as dancers,” Quest Crew member Terada  revealed to Yahoo news.

“It was really emotional for us, just because we know as we get older that we’re not going to be performing together, and as a dancer, you have a finite time to be onstage with your brothers. And since we are a crew and we’ve been together for so long, it really hit us in a different way that we never thought would be possible.”

“We have literally never been that emotional onstage ever in our careers,” Konishi said of the Emmy-winning piece. “So for that to be recognized for an award like this is just like a cherry on top, really. It’s amazing.”

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#EmmysAintSoWhite: Aziz Ansari garners a bunch of Emmy nominations

A scene with the "parents" from the Emmy-nominated episode Parents from "Master of None."

ACTOR and comedian Aziz Ansari was nominated for Emmys in a number of categories for his hit series Master of None - which might best described as Friends with friends of color.

The Netflix production, which Ansari created with Alan Wang, was nominated in the Best Comedy Series category.

Ansari was also nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. In addition, the heralded episode Parents, won nods in Best Writing in a Comedy and Best Direction of a Comedy.

In the heartfelt episode Parents, the lead characters - two single Asian/Americans living in New York City, acknowledged the sacrifices made by their immigrant parents, touching the heartstrings of a generation of Asian/Americans.

"It's been really incredible," Ansari told Vulture. "I think the show has definitely resonated with a lot of people who are like, 'I've never seen this perspective,' and a lot of South Asian people and people of color have said the nicest things about our show. I do feel like it's an underdog show, in a sense. For us to get the recognition like this is really super-flattering. We're really excited."

Actress Michelle Ang from Fear the Walking Dead was also nominated for outstanding actress in a short form comedy or drama series.
In the more esoteric categories, Quest Crew, made up mostly of Asian/American dancers, were nominated in the Best Choreography for their performance in America's Best Dance Crew. 

In the same category, Vincent Rodriguez III's performance in "A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes" in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was cited. If you haven't seen it, here it is:

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was also picked for the categories of Best Original Music & Lyrics for "I'm Going On A Date With Josh's Friend"/"Settle For Me;" Best Title Theme Music and Best Editing.

The nominations for the 2016 Emmys is noteworthy for its diversity and the many more opportunities for actors of color, which stands in stark contrast to the all-white nominations for the Academy Awards acting categories.

With the new version of Roots and several hit programs starring -- not just "featuring", but "starring" -- minority actors, such as The Good Wife, Blackish and Empire, the selections for nominations made it easier to make the nominations more racially diverse in more categories.

Constance Wu, from the groundbreaking comedy Fresh Off the Boat, was overlooked by the members of the industry despite being widely praised by critics and fans. Her nuanced depiction of Jessica Huang and comedic timing is perfect. Too much one way or the other and she could be accused of stereotyping or lampooning. But she is able to negotiate that fine line.

The Emmy's award ceremony will be held on Sunday, Sept. 18, at the Microsoft Theater, and will air live on ABC, with Jimmy Kimmel acting as host.

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