Emmys 2016: Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang on ‘Master of None’s ‘Parents’ Success

Master of None, Aziz Ansari
K.C. Bailey/Netflix
Master of None, Aziz Ansari

Master of None‘s Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang took home their first Emmys for writing the “Parents” episode of the Netflix series, an installment that was personal for both men.

“‘Parents’ was one of the first ideas we had for an episode,” Ansari—who also plays Dev on the series—told reporters backstage at the ceremony. “We were just walking around the city, and Alan told this story of how his dad had to kill his pet chicken. I was like, that’s incredible. We marveled at the fact that his dad lived in a hut, my dad grew up in a small town in India, and here we were, trying to think of funny stuff for a TV show. And then we really talked to our parents and heard their stories.”

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“It’s something we probably wouldn’t have done if we weren’t doing the episode; I probably wouldn’t have known some of the stories,” he continued. “So to hear that, and write about it and have people connect with it so much, it was a pretty incredible experience.”

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Ansari had his parents with him when he won the Emmy, and Yang heard from his father after the award was announced. “My dad texted me when we won the award tonight,” Yang shared. “And I texted him back and said, ‘Thank you, because I basically just transcribed your story and they gave me an award for it.'”