'30 Rock,' 'Men' take top Emmys

HBO nabs most wins for ninth-consecutive year

By BRIAN LOWRY

Baldwin

Chenoweth

NBC's "30 Rock" and AMC's "Mad Men" made it a three-peat and repeat night, respectively, at the 61st annual Primetime Emmys on Sunday, in an evening that simultaneously extended record-breaking streaks and recognized familiar faces with first-ever prizes.

The awards contained a strong international flavor, bestowed Emmys on eight first-time acting recipients (in a dozen categories), spread the 28 honors among 10 networks -- and still managed to dish up plenty of repeat and low-rated winners, reflecting the inherent challenges the show faces annually.

This year's expansion of major-category nominees -- fielding seven contenders apiece for comedy and drama -- ultimately didn't appear to affect the trajectory of the outcome.

"Rock" maintained its vice-like grip on comedy voters -- including a second Emmy for Alec Baldwin in the comedy actor category -- despite challengers that included Fox's "Family Guy," the first animated best-comedy nominee since "The Flintstones" nearly 50 years ago.

The period drama "Mad Men" -- the only basic-cable series ever thusly honored -- also scored another successful campaign, as did the star of sister AMC drama "Breaking Bad," Bryan Cranston, and Glenn Close for FX's "Damages."

Because of the Emmy presentation's structure -- dividing the night by genre -- the most-nominated network, HBO, didn't win its first award until 75 minutes into the three-hour telecast. It then proceeded to claim five of the eight movie/miniseries trophies -- but that was it for the pay cable net, with the other three longform prizes going to PBS' eight-hour "Little Dorrit."

That "Masterpiece Theater" adaptation -- having entered the evening with four awards from the earlier creative arts ceremony -- totaled seven awards in all, meaning a miniseries (following 2008's "John Adams") has emerged as the most-honored program for consecutive years.

HBO's "Grey Gardens" fell right behind, with six, including honors for best movie and its star, Jessica Lange. Brendan Gleeson also became the latest HBO player to win for playing Winston Churchill (as Albert Finney did so seven years earlier).

With fewer competitors aggressively pursuing the movie category, HBO's dominance has mushroomed to best-picture Emmys in 15 of the last 17 years. 

Already the recipient of 16 Emmys at the Sept. 12 event, HBO emerged as the most-honored channel for the ninth year in a row, including a pair of ties with NBC back when the streak began in 2001 and 2002.

Nevertheless, the pay service was shut out in key series voting, and its aggregate tally slipped from last year, when "John Adams" commanded a record 13 Emmys and accounted for half of HBO's total.

Then again, FX and AMC recorded key triumphs -- a further sign of basic cable's arrival -- and the major networks actually showed up, with NBC equaling HBO's five wins Sunday and amassing 16 for the current season -- five of those to "30 Rock," the most for any series. ABC, Fox and host CBS finished with 11, 10 and nine, respectively.

As for repetition, "The Daily Show" and "The Amazing Race" continue to explore uncharted territory with a staggering seven uninterrupted wins as outstanding variety series and reality competition -- having previously eclipsed "Frasier's" series record of five straight in comedy.

"I don't know what to say anymore," exec producer Bertram Van Munster said, in what qualifies as understatement. (TV's top-rated show, "American Idol," did earn recognition for directing in the variety category, to go with three earlier tech awards.)

In addition to Baldwin, Cranston's meth-cooking dad and Close's ruthless attorney, supporting actor Michael Emerson nabbed his second Emmy, this time as supporting actor for "Lost." (He previously won as guest actor in a drama for "The Practice" in 2001.)

After that, every other actor took home their first statuette. Toni Collette claimed lead actress for her multiple-personality role in the new Showtime comedy "United States of Tara," Jon Cryer finally struck gold after four tries for "Two and a Half Men," and a tearful Kristin Chenoweth broke through for "Pushing Daisies" -- one of four awards bestowed upon the canceled ABC series, including a trio of creative arts nods. And Cherry Jones was elected for her role as the latest extremely unfortunate U.S. president on "24."

The writing categories yielded scant suspense, inasmuch as "30 Rock" and "Mad Men" each took four of five bids in their respective spheres, and won as expected. By contrast, Rod Holcomb was feted for "ER's" finale, providing a gilded sendoff to the long-running NBC drama.

Jeff Probst also repeated in the fledgling reality host award -- and, having co-hosted last year's critically panned presentation, lauded Neil Patrick Harris' emceeing work during the broadcast, as did Jon Stewart and Ricky Gervais.

The only real politics in the show, meanwhile, was of the inside-Hollywood variety. Screen Actors Guild presidential candidate Ken Howard won a supporting Emmy for "Grey Gardens" -- and made a reference to looking forward to renegotiating the guild's contract.

This year's Emmys caused ample consternation within the industry before any statuettes were etched, as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and CBS outlined a plan to tape eight awards and "timeshift" them, effectively crunching the presentation and acceptance in order to save time. A pushback from the major talent guilds -- including threats to withdraw waivers for the use of clips -- ultimately led to the abandonment of that scheme.

Beyond the timeshifting flap, HBO officials were also privately steamed by a procedural change to the voting that prevented fulltime employees from voting in any category in which their network is nominated. Because HBO amasses so many nominations, the perception was that the amended rule might penalize the pay service -- though it's virtually impossible to determine whether that proved the case, other than its muted showing Sunday.

Ratings will be watched closely for this year's telecast, which had the burden of facing NFL football in most of the country. Next year marks the final Emmys under an eight-year broadcast deal in which the show has rotated among the major networks.

Related:61st Emmy Awards: Complete list of winners
Emmys backstage notes
61st Annual Primetime Emmys Reviews: From the Nokia Theater, From Your Couch
Emmys photo galleries: Arrivals, Show Photos