LOS ANGELES – The Emmys keep buying what “Mad Men” is selling. The 1960s Madison Avenue saga won its fourth consecutive best drama series award Sunday, while big-hearted romp “Modern Family” claimed best comedy trophy for a second time.
“Modern Family” producer Steve Levitan, whose picture of the American family today includes gay couples and interracial families, told of being approached during shooting by a real-life gay couple who wanted to say thanks.
Additional Photos
“They said, ‘You’re not just making people laugh, you’re making them more tolerant,’ ” said Levitan, whose show received five awards.
While “Mad Men” gained the top comedy award, it couldn’t pull honors for stars Jon Hamm or Elisabeth Moss.
Kyle Chandler was the surprise winner in the best drama actor category for the last season of the Texas football drama “Friday Night Lights,” blocking odds-on favorites among his fellow nominees, including Hamm.
“I knew for a fact I would not be standing here. I did not write anything, and now I’m starting to worry,” said Chandler, who also beat out Steve Buscemi of “Boardwalk Empire.”
It was a fitting victory for Chandler and “Friday Night Lights,” which was critically acclaimed but struggled for an audience, and whose high school football team’s motto was, “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”
Julianna Margulies won top drama acting honors for “The Good Wife.” Margulies, who navigates politics, law and family in the show, added to her Emmy stash. As part of the “ER” medical drama cast, she won a supporting actress Emmy in 1995.
Melissa McCarthy of “Mike & Molly” was honored as best lead actress in a comedy series with an Emmy and a glitzy prom queen’s crown, while Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” earned his second trophy in the best actor category.
The ceremony, aired by Fox, opened with a pre-taped comedy sketch that generated controversy because Alec Baldwin’s part was cut after he included a joke about the News Corp. phone hacking scandal. Fox is a unit of News Corp. Baldwin tweeted that Fox killed the joke about the hacking scandal in Britain involving the now-closed News of the World tabloid. Fox said it believed the joke was inappropriate.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.