Last night was a big one for the olden days on ABC, as the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards cast a lugubrious eye backward on TV history and made HBO's John Adams miniseries its most honored program.
And it was big for Upper Darby native Tina Fey, who won three Emmys. Her NBC series, 30 Rock, was named best comedy series for the second year in a row, and she was named best lead actress and writer in a comedy series. Her costar, Alec Baldwin, netted the lead comic-actor Emmy.
Fey thanked her parents for giving her confidence that transcended her looks and abilities.
AMC's deliciously evocative Mad Men won the Emmy as best drama, one of two prizes last night for the little cable network.
Well-deserved Emmys for lead actor and actress in a drama series went to Bryan Cranston (surprise!), who left the comedy Malcolm in the Middle for the dramatic insanity of AMC's Breaking Bad, and to Glenn Close for her searing performance as a dangerously ambitious lawyer in FX's Damages.
Aside from being named best miniseries, HBO's John Adams won four other awards last night, adding to its haul of eight in such areas as Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special at the so-called creative arts Emmys, handed out Sept. 13.
Counting those awards, HBO led the Emmy hit parade with 26, followed by ABC (12), and CBS, NBC and PBS, all tied with 10. Don't try doing business at AMC for the rest of the week. The network, which had never won an Emmy, snagged eight this time around, and the party won't end till next Monday.
Jeremy Piven of HBO's Entourage won his third straight Emmy as best supporting actor in a comedy - what a surprise. It was a surprise when veteran Jean Smart won as supporting actress for ABC's Samantha Who? Her other two Emmys came for guesting, in two different roles, on Frasier in 2000 and 2001.
Two more shocks in drama support: Zeljko Ivanek, who played an ethically compromised lawyer, bested his Damages costar Ted Danson, as well as William Shatner from Boston Legal, a show and a man who have a soft spot in judges' hearts. Dianne Wiest, therapist to the therapist in HBO's In Treatment, took the actress award.
