Los Angeles: Two period dramas set 200 years apart in American history – Mad Men and John Adams – claimed a place in the Emmy record books on Sunday while a satire of network TV itself, 30 Rock, dominated the comedy side of the awards.
Mad Men, the critically acclaimed new AMC series set in New York's advertising industry at the cusp of the 1960s social revolution, became the first show from a cable network other than HBO to win the Emmy for best drama.
Meanwhile, HBO's seven-part story of the nation's second president, John Adams, finished the evening with 13 Emmys, the most ever by a miniseries, surpassing the previous record of 11 set in 2004 by HBO's adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America.
Emmy voters repeated history in a big way by crowning 30 Rock as TV's best comedy series for a second straight year. The difference this year was that 30 Rock also brought its two stars, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, along for the ride.
Fey was named best actress in a comedy as the harried head writer of a TV variety show, a role loosely based on her past experience on Saturday Night Live. Baldwin won the prize as best comedy actor for playing her venal, egotistical boss. Fey, the creator and producer behind 30 Rock, also won the award for best writing for a comedy series.
"We're very grateful to be up here again and so grateful to have survived into our third season," Fey said on stage of her show, which struggled early in its run to build an audience.
"We are all very grateful to have jobs in this turkey-burger economy." On the drama side, five-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close was named best actress, as widely expected, for portraying a ruthless trial lawyer on the new FX legal series Damages.
But in the biggest upset of the night, the Emmy for best actor in a drama, went to Bryan Cranston for starring on another new cable TV show, AMC's Breaking Bad, as a terminally ill high school teacher who cooks crystal methamphetamine.
Cranston, who previously co-starred as a goofy dad on the long-running Fox family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, said he hoped his new show would benefit from his Emmy success. "We're on a small network, not a lot of people see it, so hopefully this will bring some attention to us," he said backstage.
History and politics
John Adams was the biggest winner overall with 13 awards, including best miniseries. The prize for best actor in that category went to its star, Paul Giamatti, the movie performer best known for playing the sad-sack wine enthusiast in Sideways.
His co-star, movie actress Laura Linney, was named best actress in a miniseries for playing Abigail Adams, the wife of the patriot who helped organize the American revolution and succeeded George Washington as president. She echoed a political undercurrent that run through much of the night.
"Our founding fathers were community organizers, and they were remarkable men," Linney said backstage, alluding to recent remarks by Republican politicians disparaging Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's past experience working for the poor in Chicago.
For the 60th anniversary of the Primetime Emmys, an annual celebration of US television's best, organisers recognized the rise of non-scripted programming by including a first-ever category for outstanding reality show host, a prize that went to Jeff Probst of the CBS's Survivor.
Emmy voters also showed their affinity for repeat winners by bestowing the prize for best supporting actor in a comedy on Jeremy Piven for a third straight year. He plays a sly Hollywood agent on the HBO series Entourage.
The award for best supporting actress in a comedy went to Jean Smart, the overbearing mother of a woman with amnesia on the new ABC series Samantha Who?
On the drama front, Zeljko Ivanek was named best supporting actor for playing a smooth-talking lawyer on the new FX legal hour Damages. And veteran screen actress Dianne Wiest was named best supporting actress as a psychotherapist's therapist on the HBO series In Treatment.
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