The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story was the biggest winner at the Primetime Emmy Awards in the US on Sunday night, with Game of Thrones, Veep and Transparent also honoured in a number of categories.

Three of the stars of The People v OJ Simpson, Sarah Paulson, Courtney B Vance and Sterling K Brown, were named Best Actress, Actor and Supporting Actor respectively in the Limited Series categories. The true story legal thriller was also named Best Limited Series and completed its haul with a writing award.

Courtney B Vance savours his Emmys win for his portrayal of OJ Simpson defence lawyer Johnnie Cochran

Paulson, who portrayed Marcia Clark in the series, paid tribute to the former prosecutor in her acceptance speech. Addressing Clark, who was in the audience, Paulson said: "The more I learned about the real Marcia Clark, the more I had to recognise that I, along with the rest of the world, had been superficial and careless in my judgement. And I'm glad to be able to stand here today in front of everyone and tell you I'm sorry."

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For the second year running, Game of Thrones and Veep won Best Drama and Comedy respectively. Game of Thrones now holds the record for the most Emmys won by a scripted series, 38 in total. The HBO show also had wins in the directing and writing categories on Sunday night, bringing its total across the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmys this year to 12. 

There were surprises in the main acting categories with Tatiana Maslany winning Best Actress for her roles in Orphan Black and first-time nominee Rami Malek winning Best Actor for Mr Robot. Maggie Smith was named Best Supporting Actress for Downton Abbey with Ben Mendelsohn Best Supporting Actor for Bloodline.

While accepting his award for his portrayal of computer hacker Elliot Anderson in Mr Robot, Malek said: "I play a young man who, I think like so many of us, is profoundly alienated. The unfortunate thing is I'm not sure how many of us would want to hang out with a guy like Elliot. But I want to honour the Elliots, because there's a little bit of Elliot in all of us, isn't there?" 

Mr Robot's Rami Malek receives his Emmy from actress Allison Janney

Along with the Best Comedy award, the Veep team also celebrated star Julia Louis-Dreyfus winning Best Comedy Actress. In an emotional acceptance speech, Louis-Dreyfus paid tribute to her father, who passed away last Friday.

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There were also two wins for another comedy series, Transparent: Jeffrey Tambor was named Best Comedy Actor and the show picked up one of the directing awards.

Transparent director Jill Soloway and star Jeffrey Tambor celebrate their wins

Among the shows that had been fancied to win Emmys in the various categories but which went home empty-handed on Sunday night were The Americans, House of Cards and Fargo.

The awards air on RTÉ2 tonight at 7:50pm, with red carpet arrivals from 7pm.

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Host Jimmy Kimmel even joined in the carpool karaoke fun with James Corden - with a few more surprises along the way:

Other winners on the night included:
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Regina King for American Crime

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kate McKinnon for Saturday Night Live 

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Louie Anderson for Baskets

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Voice 

Outstanding Television Movie
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Outstanding Variety Talk Series
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver