Emmys: '30 Rock,' 'Mad Men' Win Top Awards
Complete coverage of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, Sept. 20 on CBS
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/20/2009 11:44:00 PM
Complete Coverage of the Primetime Emmy Awards
If there was a theme running through the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, broadcast Sept. 20 on CBS, it was one of wry desperation. From host Neil Patrick Harris' opening number--with its chorus imploring "Don't touch that remote!"--to Tina Fey's, tongue-in-cheek "thank you" to NBC Universal executives for keeping 30 Rock "on the air even though we are so much more expensive than a talk show," this year's Emmys played like an elegy to a dying business model.
Mathew Wiener, the creator and executive producer of AMC's Mad Men, which took home its second consecutive Emmy for outstanding drama series, asserted somewhat impoliticly in his acceptance speech for best writing that he "may be the only person in this room in some ways who has complete creative freedom."
Later, accepting the Emmy for outstanding drama series, he said he wasn't "afraid" of the tumult in the industry. "It means more choice and more entertainment. And it's better for viewers in the end," he said. "And I'm glad to be a part of it."
In fact, this year's Emmys, which had the misfortune to air opposite a close NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, was a much improved telecast over last year's debacle, which split hosting duties among reality hosts. Harris gamely kept the action moving along, and the show ended just a few minutes after 11 p.m.
But the winners looked a lot like last year's winners. Along with repeat wins for 30 Rock and Mad Men in the comedy and drama categories (both shows also won for writing), there were déjà vu moments in the actor and actress in a drama categories.
Glenn Close took home the lead actress in a drama statue for the second consecutive year for FX's Damages.
Close saluted her "category sisters," which included Holly Hunter, Sally Field, Kyra Sedgwick, Mariska Hargitay and Elisabeth Moss.
Her speech came soon after the In Memoriam montage, which seemed to go on especially long this year ending with Natasha Richardson, Paul Newman, Michael Jackson, Don Hewitt, Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett and Walter Cronkite.
Ever gracious, Close said she was honored to be in the company of her fellow television artists.
"Looking at who we lost this past year," she said, "you think what a legacy we have."
Bryan Cranston seemed genuinely surprised to have won a second consecutive statue for AMC's Breaking Bad. "I'm just a poor kid from the Valley. I don't know what I'm dong up here," he said. "I feel like Cinder-fella."
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series went to Alec Baldwin for his role in the NBC comedy 30 Rock. Baldwin chose to honor Lorne Michaels, who was also thanked earlier in the evening by fellow 30 Rock star Tina Fey and Justin Timberlake, who won for guest hosting Saturday Night Live.
Toni Collette won her fist Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series for Showtime's United States of Tara.
Kristin Chenoweth took home the award for supporting actress in a comedy series for the canceled ABC dramedy Pushing Daisies. Jon Cryer took home the best supporting actor in a comedy series for CBS' Two and a Half Men.
A tearful Chenoweth joked, "I'm unemployed now so I'd like to be on Mad Men. I also like The Office and 30 Rock," before adding, "Thank you so much to the Academy for recognizing a show that's no longer on the air."
Julia Louis-Dreyfus continued the "please watch" lament in her speech introducing the nominees for best supporting actor in a comedy, saying she was honored to be presenting "for the last official year for broadcast network television."
The Amazing Race once again took the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Program. This marks the seventh straight year that the program has won in the category. Survivor's Jeff Probst, who took home the Emmy for Outstanding Host in a Reality Competition Series, suggested backstage that it was time for Race to follow Oprah Winfrey's lead and withdraw from Emmy competition.
HBO's Grey Gardens picked up multiple awards including outstanding made-for-TV movie and outstanding actress for Jessica Lange and supporting actor for Ken Howard.
Howard, who starred in the '80s TV series The White Shadow and has had numerous supporting roles in television and film, pronounced his win "very encouraging" and noted that he would make his speech "as brief as possible in the hopes that it won't be interrupted by a rapper or a congressman."
Lange, who beat out her co-star, Drew Barrymore, said, "This part was a gift and they really don't come along that often for me anymore."
Brendan Gleeson won the award for actor in a movie for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in HBO's Into the Storm.
Ellen Burstyn and Michael J. Fox won for their work as guest actors in drama series for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Rescue Me, respectively.
Michael Emerson took home the award for supporting actor in a drama series for Lost. Calling the win a "character actor's dream," Emerson said his role as the evil Benjamin Linus, which began as a guest spot, has become the "role of a lifetime."
It was a good category for broadcast television, with Cherry Jones taking home the supporting actress in a drama statue for playing President Allison Taylor on 24. In her acceptance speech Jones said she shares the statue with the cast and crew of the Fox drama and "it would be on the craft services table tomorrow."
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart won a pair of key awards, winning for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy series, as well as for Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Series. Accepting the Emmy for outstanding variety program, Stewart thanked Harris for his deft hosting, saying "these shows they usually suck."
Click here for the complete list of Primetime Emmy Award winners.
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