HBO Leads Creative Arts Emmys With 17 Wins

CBS follows with 13 nods; 'Game of Thrones' top program with six awards

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/15/2012 11:13:55 PM

HBO was the most-decorated network at the 2012 Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Awards, taking home 17 statues at the ceremony in Los Angeles Saturday night.

The premium cabler's fantasy epic Game of Thrones was also the most recognized program, taking six awards, while drama Boardwalk Empire earned three wins and the movie Hemingway & Gellhorn and documentary special George Harrison: Living in the Material World earned two apiece.

Its political movie Game Change and comedy Girls were both honored with outstanding casting awards for a movie and comedy series, respectively, while Showtime's Homeland took the equivalent win for drama series.

CBS earned 13 awards, the second-most overall and the most of any broadcast network thanks in large part to its awards telecasts. CBS' 65^th Annual Tony Awards received three nods while the 54^th Annual Grammy Awards and The Kennedy Center Honors each saw two.

Sitcom Two and a Half Men also took a pair of wins including a guest actress award for Kathy Bates as the afterlife version of Charlie Harper. Undercover Boss won for outstanding reality program.

Masterpiece series Great Expectations (four awards) and Downton Abbey (two awards) helped PBS' tally of 11 wins for the night.

The Discovery Channel miniseries Frozen Planet earned four nods, including outstanding nonfiction series, as did NBC's Saturday Night Live. History's record-breaking western miniseries Hatfields & McCoys took three statues to round out the night's top-winning programs.

Also of note, Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart took home another win for outstanding writing for a variety series. In children's programming, Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place won for outstanding children's program and Nickelodeon took the award for outstanding animated program with it's Penguins of Madagascar.

Among guest actor/actress nods, Raising Hope star Martha Plimpton was recognized for her turn on CBS drama The Good Wife, Jimmy Fallon won in comedy for his role as host of NBC's Late Night and Jeremy Davies took the statue for his work on FX's Justified.