Modern Family triumphed with trophies for best comedy, best supporting actor and writing, while Mad Men won its third consecutive Emmy for best drama at the 62nd Primetime Emmys, held Sunday in Los Angeles and broadcast on NBC.

HBO, as usual, ruled in the movies categories, with multiple wins for Temple Grandin and the miniseries The Pacific. Al Pacino also won for You Don’t Know Jack.

Wins for ABC’s freshman comedy began early with trophies for creators Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd for writing, and co-star Eric Stonestreet (Cameron Tucker), who accepted the prize for supporting actor by saying “all I wanted to be was a clown in the circus when I was a kid growing up.” When accepting the Emmy for best comedy, Levitan gave a shout-out to all the show’s fans, big and small. “We are so thrilled that families are sitting down together to watch a television show, and we just wanted to say we are so happy that you have let us into your families,” he said on stage, with the full cast behind him.

In contrast, the creator of Mad Men behaved as if he never left the stage when accepting the Emmy for best drama. Having already won the gold earlier in the night for writing, Matthew Weiner took the stage at ceremony’s end by saying ”So where was I?” Remarkably, the actors on the drama have never won an Emmy, though castmembers like Jon Hamm, John Slattery and Elisabeth Moss have received multiple nominations.

Though Glee was a huge favorite going into tonight’s Emmys, the only prizes given to the Fox dramedy went to co-star Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) and creator Ryan Murphy, who won for directing the pilot that first aired last May but ran again — as a director’s cut — at the start of the 2009-10 season.

Edie Falco, an Emmy favorite because of her work on The Sopranos, won for starring in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. Falco was a critic pick but clearly, she wasn’t expecting to take home another statue and as a result, is now the first woman in Emmy history to post wins for a comedy and a drama. “Oh, this is the most ridiculous thing that has ever, ever happened in the history of this lovely award show,” she said on stage. “I’m not funny.”

Jim Parsons earned a statue for Big Bang Theory while Kyra Sedgwick finally took home her first Emmy for The Closer. And Breaking Bad ruled in the male actor categories, with nods for star Bryan Cranston – his third consecutive win – and co-star Aaron Paul.

Other surprises for the night included Archie Panjabi, who was awarded the supporting actor prize for The Good Wife, and Bravo’s Top Chef for winning in the best reality category. The show’s producers were so convinced they weren’t going to win (probably because The Amazing Race has dominated the category for the last seven years) that executive producer Dan Cutworth said on stage that “this is something that we never expected, and I think a lot of people come up here and say this. I really mean it.”

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won again in the variety show category – a well-deserved honor, even though there was some sentiment for a win for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. In the days leading up to the telecast, there was lots of speculation over what the ex-NBC employee would and wouldn’t say if he were to win an Emmy. O’Brien starts his TBS late show in November.

The three-hour show began with host Jimmy Fallon kicking off an inspired riff on Glee, with celebrities like Tina Fey, Jorge Garcia, Joel McHale and Jon Hamm joining in on a sing-along of “Born to Run.”  The gang — which included a surprise appearance by Kate Gosselin — ended up on stage and was met with huge cheers from the audience inside the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Other highlights included Ricky Gervais distributing bottles of beer and Fallon impersonating Elton John and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, while crooning a genius redux of songs like “Candle in the Wind” and “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)“ as a way to say goodbye to 24, Law & Order and Lost. See below for list of winners: READ FULL STORY »