The Tote Board

It was HBO's year for the Emmys, even more this year than in the recent past. On Sept. 19, HBO won 16 of the 27 awards handed out at 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, including 11 for its miniseries adaptation of Broadway's AIDS drama, Angels in America. Altogether, cable won 18 awards on the Sunday telecast, 48 in total.

Only four scripted broadcast shows won Emmys in the top categories: Fox's Arrested Development, ABC's The Practice and NBC's West Wing and Frasier.

Arrested Development, which barely hung on for a second season on Fox, won three Emmys, more than any other broadcast show.

The Emmys are given out in two ceremonies—one televised in prime time to showcase the more exciting awards, the other a few days earlier to honor the more technical awards. Either way, HBO ruled: The premium-cable channel won a total of 32 Emmys.

The now virtually mandatory delay on awards shows—thanks to Bono's f-word on the Golden Globes—was used at least once.

Elaine Stritch, the veteran Broadway actress not known for reticence, had a "Jesus Christ" blanked out of her acceptance speech for best variety performance (the FCC has said it may now go after profanity). Her "f'n" variant on the f-word was left in.

Host Garry Shandling commented on Stritch's speech, saying it was close to a "wardrobe malfunction" and speculating that the delay had probably been employed.

To the right, B&C notes all the winners from the telecast, plus several from the earlier ceremony, held Sept. 12. The Emmy Totals chart tallies up the networks.