By Adrienne Papp
TV’s brightest stars were aligned at Sunday night’s 60th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theater, a celebration of television’s biggest talents and the best in televised shows in the ever-expanding world of network and cable TV. Attendees ranged from industry legends like Don Rickles to glamorous model/reality show host Heidi Klum.
After several hours of red carpet fashion commentary and interviews, Oprah Winfrey kicked off the show as part of the new 5 co-host format. As the presentations continued, highlights included Rickey Gervais taunting Steve Carrell about giving back his 2007 Emmy award (Carrell had accepted in Ricky’s place last year), Jimmy Kimmel presenting the award for the best reality show and then leaving the nominees hanging until after the break (how do you like it now, Seacrest?),Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart talking NOT about politics, but instead referring to prunes as a personality reference, winner Glenn Close championing “…complicated, powerful mature women who are also sexy …and can carry a show,” Tina Fey crediting Julia Louis-Dreyfus for her win, Bryan Cranston looking at his award and saying “She’s bold too, I guess the restraining order has been lifted,” and gorgeous Heidi Klum reigning as the sole woman in the heavily contested reality show host category, proving that beauty and brains do go together. There were also tributes to popular shows from television history throughout the night, including Laugh In, with original stars Ruth Buzzi, Gary Owens, Jo Anne Worley and Lily Tomlin socking it to the audience. Martin Sheen also reprised his role in the Oval Office from the highly regarded Westwing series (and reminded everyone to vote).
Another highlight of the show was crowd favorite Don Rickles winning the Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for HBO’s Mr. Warmth, the Don Rickles Project, based on his career. Rickles accepted the award, his first Emmy, with sincere appreciation and also some of his legendary quick-witted acerbic humor. “It’s a mistake,” Rickles said. “I’ve been in the business 55 years and the biggest award I got was an ashtray from the Friar’s in New York.”
The big winner was the HBO historical miniseries John Adams, which racked up a record 13 overall awards, an unprecedented breakthrough for a period piece about American politics. It was followed by 30 Rock with 7 Emmys and Mad Men with 6. 30 Rock picked the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, while Mad Men, a well-appointed and costumed 50s period show about the advertising industry, won in the Outstanding Drama Series category, the first basic-cable series ever to take the award,
Ever-dapper Alec Baldwin won for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and saluted Tina Fey as “The Elaine May of our generation.” Fey herself took Best Actress for 30 Rock. Industry vet Glenn Close was the winner of the Emmy for as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for the FX show Damages,” and Bryan Cranston’s performance in AMC’s Breaking Bad earned him a surprise win as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama.
Other key winners included Paul Giamatti for his role as John Adams in the miniseries of the same name (who quipped that it shows that anyone can play the President), Laura Linney as a Lead Actress in a Miniseries for John Adams, and Jeremy Piven and Jean Smart for supporting roles in Entourage and Samantha Who? respectively.
In the popular Reality category, The Great Race was the series winner, while Jeff Probst saw Heidi Klum and the competition voted off and took the Emmy as best reality series host for Survivor.
Josh Groban provided the evening’s sole musical performance, singing a medley of well-known television themes that ranged from Mission Impossible to The Jeffersons to South Park.
The night was lavish and fun. The 60th Emmys glamorous presentation ended with the Governor’s Ball’s everlasting Cinderella’s glass slipper – galas galore.
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About the Author of This Article: Adrienne Papp is a recognized journalist, economist and feature writer, who has written for many publications including Savoir; The Westside Today Publications ; such as Beverly Hills 90210; Malibu Beach; Santa Monica Sun; The Beverly Hills Times; Brentwood News; Bel-Air View ; Celebrity Society ; Celeb Staff ; It Magazine; Chic Today; LA2DAY; West Side Today among many others. She is the President and CEO of Los Angeles / New York-based publicity company, Atlantic Publicity and publishing house, Atlantic Publisher. Adrienne writes about world trends, Quantum Physics, entertainment and interviews celebrities, world leaders, inventors, philanthropists and entrepreneurs. She also owns Atlantic United Films that produces and finances true stories made for theatrical release or the silver screen. Spotlight News Magazine is owned by Atlantic Publicity that just opened a new extension to it : PublicityLosAngeles. Adrienne Papp is a member of the International Press Academy.She is the Founder, CEO and President of Youthful & Ageless ™, Bringing Information to Billions™, An Honorable Cause™ www.LatestAgeless.com. www.OurMediaVenuesAndCompanies.com, Atlantic Publicity Articles, Latest Ageless, Events Photo Collection, Linked In Profile, Movie Data Base Profile, Twitter, Instagram, Youthful and Ageless Google+, Atlantic Publicity Google+, Atlantic Publisher Google+, Adrienne Papp Google+, Adrienne Papp Personal Google+, Spotlight News Magazine, Atlantic Publicity Productions, Atlantic Altitude, Altitude Pacific, Atlantic Publicity Photography and Filming, About Adrienne Papp What Others Say AtlanticPublicitySEO, BrilliantMarketing365, An Honorable Cause, Academic Research, Knighthood Today, Youthful and Ageless™. She was knighted and became a Dame in 2010. Her official name is Lady Adrienne Papp and Dame Adrienne Papp. Voting Member of The International Press Academy and The Oscars: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She is the Managing Editorial Director of The Beverly Hills Times Magazine, and Hollywood Weekly. She has a Master of Science in Economics majoring Logistics; an MBA Degree; An International Law, Trade and Finance Postgraduate: Marketing and Advertising Postgraduate from NYU and UCLA. Guest Professor at Oxford University; Director and Producer of TV and Airline On Camera Editorials; Adrienne Papp Enterprises
