HBO's Game of Thrones wasn't eligible for any 2017 Emmy nominations, but that doesn't mean the show and its legacy was absent from the awards ceremony on Sunday. (Let's be real, it's not a TV awards show without GoT, even when it's not allowed to win.) It turns out, the Emmys are just as obsessed with Game of Thrones as the rest of us. And it showed, with all these Game of Thrones references at the 2017 Emmys. The GoT references started early thanks to this year's host, Stephen Colbert. The host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert made sure to get a few GoT digs in early, telling several Thrones jokes in his opening song (yes, song) and monologue.
It's funny how big of an impact a show can have on the television landscape that, even when it can't win anything, it's still one of the most talked about shows of the evening. If this is how this year went, I can't even imagine what the 2018 Emmys will be like when the show and its actors can go back to winning. In case you forgot, the reason GoT wasn't eligible this year is that its season started in July, after the Emmys period ended. Next year, Season 7 will be up for everything again.
Funnily enough, none of the cast was even there on Sunday, but that didn't stop Colbert and others from referencing the show.
1. Thanks Game of Thrones
"Don't forget to thank everyone who helped you get up here, namely Game of Thrones for not being eligible this year," Colbert joked in his opening monologue, reminding us all that next year will probably be GoT's year to sweep up all the awards in the drama category. Enjoy it while you can, This Is Us.
2. Those Annoying AF Hackers
"I am sure HBO will take home a lot of Emmys tonight, which they will have to melt down to pay for next year's hacker ransom," Colbert quipped later in his monologue, adding, "Too soon?" If you remember, HBO suffered a data hack this year which lead to some GoT episodes leaking early. But, hacking aside, it didn't stop real fans from waiting until the episodes were supposed to air and enjoying Jon Snow's butt with the rest of the world in real time.
3. Game Of Thrones & Confederate
When HBO announced that the Game of Thrones' showrunners' next show would be imagining a world where the Confederacy won the Civil War, people were mad. Colbert poked fun at this in his intro when he and some guest stars (like Allison Janney) talked about how they were totally going to stop watching HBO because of Confederate... right after Game of Thrones was over of course. Gotta find out what happens.
4. HBO Go Watch Colbert's Account
"My HBO Go password is SEXBOT123," Colbert sang in his opening song. Cue the millions of people watching at home attempting to sign into the comedian's HBO Go account to catch up on all that GoT action. Unfortunately, unlike Emmys host Andy Samberg did in 2015 (#TBT to him basically crashing the HBO Go site when everyone tried to log in), Colbert didn't share his email too, so you can't actually log in to confirm if that's really his password or not.
So, while the stars and the show was missing from Sunday's ceremony and nominations list — that didn't mean the series was forgotten. Game of Thrones is a forever show; it's around even when it's not nominated. Now, let's sit back and wait for Season 7 to dominate in 2018. It's gonna be epic.
