61st Primetime Emmy Awards

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 20, 2009
on CBS. It took place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, where 28 awards were presented. The nominations were announced on July 16, 2009.
On July 13, 2009, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that Neil Patrick Harris would host the Primetime ceremony. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards for prime time were hosted by Kathy Griffin on September 12.
After 60th [Primetime Emmy Awards|the previous year's] lackluster performance in ratings, the Primetime Emmy Awards were hoping to achieve success by selecting Harris as sole host, as opposed to a group of hosts as in the previous year. The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards earned a 4.2 rating in the 18–49 demo and drew 13.3 million, 1.1 million more than the previous year's all-time low.
30 Rock became the sixth show to win Outstanding Comedy Series three consecutive years, winning three major awards on that night. 30 Rock made history when it smashed the record for most major nominations by a comedy series with 18. The Cosby Show had held the record of 13 since 1986, while 30 Rock had tied this the previous year. The 18 major nominations became the third biggest record of all time, behind Roots record number of 21 in 1977 and NYPD Blues mark of 19 in 1994. These records still stand.
The drama field also crowned the defending champion, AMC's Mad Men. It won two major awards on that night. After airing for fifteen seasons, ER went out a winner as its series finale won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. This was the first major win for ER since 2001.
Cherry Jones became the first from a Fox network show to win the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama series but also the second woman ever from Fox to win a Major Acting award since Gillian Anderson in 1997.
History was also made by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The [Amazing Race (American TV series)|The Amazing Race]. Both programs won their series categories for the seventh straight year, this broke the record for most consecutive victories in a major category of six that was held by The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Cagney & Lacey. The Amazing Race would lose the following year. However, in 2013, The Daily Shows streak was finally snapped by The Colbert Report, after a record of ten consecutive wins.

WWW Official Site

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:

Programs

30 Rock * Entourage * Family Guy * Flight of the Conchords * How I Met Your Mother * The Office * Weeds	Mad Men * Big Love * Breaking Bad * Damages * Dexter * House * Lost
Grey Gardens * Coco Chanel * Into [the Storm (2009 film)\|Into the Storm] * Prayers for Bobby * Taking Chance	Little Dorrit * Generation Kill
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart * The Colbert Report * Late Show with David Letterman * Real Time with Bill Maher * Saturday Night Live	The Amazing Race * American Idol * Dancing with the Stars * Project Runway * Top Chef

Most major nominations

Program	Category	Network	No. of Nominations
30 Rock	Comedy	NBC	13
Mad Men	Drama	AMC	9
Grey Gardens	Movie	HBO	7
Into the Storm	Movie	HBO	6
Saturday Night Live	Variety	NBC	6
Damages	Drama	FX	5
Flight of the Conchords	Comedy	HBO	5
Little Dorrit	Miniseries	PBS	5
The Office	Comedy	NBC	4
Taking Chance	Movie	HBO	4
American Idol	Competition	Fox	3
Boston Legal	Drama	ABC	3
Breaking Bad	Drama	AMC	3
The Colbert Report	Variety	Comedy Central	3
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Variety	Comedy Central	3
Entourage	Comedy	HBO	3
Generation Kill	Miniseries	HBO	3
In Treatment	Drama	HBO	3
Late Show with David Letterman	Variety	CBS	3
Lost	Drama	ABC	3
Weeds	Comedy	Showtime	3
The Amazing Race	Competition	CBS	2
Coco Chanel	Movie	Lifetime	2
Dancing with the Stars	Competition	ABC	2
Dexter	Drama	Showtime	2
Grey's Anatomy	Drama	ABC	2
House	Drama	Fox	2
How I Met Your Mother	Comedy	CBS	2
Prayers for Bobby	Movie	Lifetime	2
Project Runway	Competition	Bravo	2
Real Time with Bill Maher	Variety	HBO	2
Top Chef	Competition	Bravo	2
Two and a Half Men	Comedy	CBS	2
Wallander: One Step Behind	Movie	PBS	2

Most major awards

Program	Category	Network	No. of Awards
30 Rock	Comedy	NBC	3
Grey Gardens	Movie	HBO	3
Little Dorrit	Miniseries	PBS	3
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Variety	Comedy Central	2
Mad Men	Drama	AMC	2

;Notes

Presenters

The awards were presented by the following:

Name	Role
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
	Introducers of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series winner Justin Timberlake and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series winner Tina Fey Presenters of the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Miniseries
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
	Introducers of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series winner Michael J. Fox and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series winner Ellen Burstyn
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Comedy Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Drama Series

In Memoriam

The singer Sarah McLachlan performed the song "I Will Remember You" during the tribute: