Jimmy Fallon hosted the 62nd Primetime Emmys Sunday night. Overall the awards show proved to be underwhelming. Fallon brought his ecclectic musical abilities to the table; the opening Glee-inspired number and the tribute to shows that ended last season (24, Lost, Law & Order) were the most entertaining parts of the show. There was also a humorous Modern Family segment that coughed up plenty of laughs. Despite the lack of exciting bits and jokes, 13.5 million viewers tuned into the telecast; that’s the largest audience for any non-sports telecast this year since American Idol‘s season finale in May. The awards show also saw the highest adults 18-49 rating (4.1) for any telecast since the Glee season finale in June.
But let’s move on to the winners and losers, shall we? Modern Family and Mad Men took home the top prizes for outstanding comedy and drama series, respectively. It was certainly a nail-biter between Modern Family and Glee, but the voters made it known that the more grounded sitcom was worthy of the Emmy. This is the third win in a row for Mad Men in the top category; they beat out the fantastic final season of the beloved Lost. Speaking of Lost, the show was completely shut out. Dexter‘s Steve Shill beat out Lost‘s Jack Bender for best directing; Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) topped Matthew Fox for best actor; Terry O’ Quinn (Lost) and Michael Emerson (Lost) likely split the vote and lost against Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) for outstanding supporting actor; and Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse did not win for writing the final episode “The End”–that award went to Matthew Weiner & Erin Levy for Mad Men‘s “Shut the door. Have a Seat.”
Let’s look back at the comedy categories. Modern Family continued to impress when Eric Stonestreet (he plays Cameron) won outstanding supporting actor against costars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Ty Burrell. Showrunners Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd won outstanding writing for the pilot episode. Though it did not win best comedy, Glee did have its time to shine. Jane Lynch won outstanding supporting actress for her awesome portrayal as the snarky Sue Sylvester, beating out Modern Family‘s Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara in the process. Glee creator Ryan Murphy won for his direction of the captivating pilot episode. Moving on… Jim Parsons finally won best actor for playing the nerdtastic Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory and Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) surprised us all by claiming the best actress award.
Other honorable mentions include: Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) beat out Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) for best actress in a drama; Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) beat out Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss for best supporting actress in a drama; the HBO movie Temple Grandin took home outstanding movie, directing for a movie, lead actress in a movie (Claire Danes), and supporting actor (David Strathairn) and actress (Julia Ormond) in a movie; another HBO movie You Don’t Know Jack won for outstanding lead actor (Al Pachino) and outstanding writing; The Pacific was crowned outstanding miniseries; Top Chef won best reality show over The Amazing Race; and finally, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart won the outstanding variety, comedy, or music series award for the seventh year in a row unfortunately beating out the favorite The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.
That’s a wrap for this year’s Emmys. Lost lost. Modern Family, Mad Men, and Glee proved to be worthy contenders. And Jimmy Fallon sang. Look after the break for the full list of winners.
[Via EW-HollywoodInsider, here & here]
OUTSTANDING COMEDY
WINNER: Modern Family
Glee
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Nurse Jackie
30 Rock
The Office
OUTSTANDING DRAMA
WINNER: Mad Men
Lost
Breaking Bad
Dexter
True Blood
The Good Wife
OUTSTANDING MOVIE
WINNER: Temple Grandin
OUTSTANDING MINISERIES
WINNER: The Pacific
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A MOVIE
WINNER: Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A MOVIE
WINNER: Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A MOVIE
WINNER: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MOVIE
WINNER: Adam Mazer, You Don’t Know Jack
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE
WINNER: David Strathairn, Temple Grandin
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE
WINNER: Julia Ormond, Temple Grandin
OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
WINNER: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
The Colbert Report
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL
WINNER: Bucky Gunts, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony
In Performance At The White House
The Kennedy Center Honors
63rd Annual Tony Awards
The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert
Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL
WINNER: 63rd Annual Tony Awards
82nd Annual Academy Awards
Bill Maher “But …I’m Not Wrong”
The Kennedy Cener Honors
Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
WINNER: Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
Mariska Hargitay (Special Victims Unit)
Glenn Close (Damages)
January Jones (Mad Men)
Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING IN A DRAMA SERIES
WINNER: Dexter (The Getaway): Steve Shill
Breaking Bad (One Minute): Michelle MacLaren
Lost (The End): Jack Bender
Mad Men (Guy Walks into the advertising agency): Lesli Linka Glatter
Treme (Pilot): Agnieszka Holland
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
WINNER: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Hugh Laurie (House M.D.)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Matthew Fox (Lost)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
WINNER: Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
Sharon Gless (Burn Notice)
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Rose Byrne (Damages)
Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
WINNER: Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
John Slattery (Mad Men)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
Martin Short (Damages)
Terry O’ Quinn (Lost)
Michael Emerson (Lost)
Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age)
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
WINNER: Mad Men (Shut the door. Have a Seat): Matthew Weiner, Erin Levy
Friday Night Lights (The Son): Rolin Jones
The Good Wife (pilot): Michelle King, Robert King
Lost (The End): Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse
Mad Men (Guy Walks into a advertising agency): Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner
OUTSTANDING REALITY SHOW COMPETITION
WINNER: Top Chef
Project Runway
Top Chef
The Amazing Race
Dancing with the Stars
American Idol
OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
WINNER: Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Lea Michele (Glee)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Toni Collette (The United States of Tara)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
WINNER: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Matthew Morrison (Glee)
Steve Carell (The Office)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Tony Shalhoub (Monk)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
WINNER: Glee (pilot): Ryan Murphy
Glee (Wheels): Paris Barclay
Modern Family (pilot): Jason Winer
Nurse Jackie (pilot): Allen Coulter
30 Rock (I do I do): Don Scardino
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
WINNER: Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
Chris Colfer (Glee)
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)
Jon Cryer (Two and A Half Men)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
WINNER: Modern Family (pilot): Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd
Glee (pilot): Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan
The Office (Niagra): Greg Daniels, Mindy Kaling
30 Rock (Anna Howard Shaw Day): Matt Hubbard
30 Rock (Lee Marvin vs. Derek Jeter) Tina Fey, Kay Cannon
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
WINNER: Jane Lynch (Glee)
Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live)
Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
Holland Taylor (Two and A Half Men)