64th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2011, until May 31, 2012, were held on Sunday, September 23, 2012, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California, where 26 awards were presented. ABC televised the ceremony in the United States. Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Primetime Emmys for the first time. Kimmel and Kerry Washington announced the nominations on July 19, 2012. Nick Offerman was originally scheduled to co-announce the nominations, but had to cancel due to travel delays. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards 64th Primetime [Creative Arts Emmy Awards|ceremony] was held on September 15 and was televised on September 22, 2012, on ReelzChannel.
The award for Outstanding Drama Series went to Showtime crime drama Homeland, the first for that network, and which broke Mad Mens four-year hold on the award; while the Outstanding Comedy Series award went for the third year in a row to ABC's Modern Family. This was the first ceremony that none of the four major American broadcasting TV networks were nominated in the categories of Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series|Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series]. For Britain, the ceremony was noted for the successes of actors Damian Lewis of Homeland and Maggie Smith of Downton Abbey.
Of the latter, Dame Maggie not only was PBS' first win in her category, she had won the previous year, for the same role Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie|in another category]. Hers was also the first win in a major acting category for a Drama Series for PBS since 1975.
Mad Men set a new record for the largest "shutout" in Emmy history, receiving nominations for 17 awards and winning none. This broke the previous record of 16 nominations without a win, set by Northern Exposure in 1993 and The Larry Sanders Show in 1997. This record was broken by The Handmaid's Tale in 2021, which did not win any of its 21 nominations that year.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Hosting

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

Program	Category	Network	No. of Nominations
Downton Abbey	Drama	PBS	9
Modern Family	Comedy	ABC	9
Mad Men	Drama	AMC	9
Game Change	Movie	HBO	7
Hatfields & McCoys	Miniseries	History	7
Breaking Bad	Drama	AMC	6
Homeland	Drama	Showtime	5
American Horror Story	Miniseries	FX	5
Hemingway & Gellhorn	Movie	HBO	5
Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia	Movie	PBS	5
Girls	Comedy	HBO	4
Luther	Miniseries	BBC America	4
30 Rock	Comedy	NBC	3
The Big Bang Theory	Comedy	CBS	3
Boardwalk Empire	Drama	HBO	3
Curb Your Enthusiasm	Comedy	HBO	3
The Good Wife	Drama	CBS	3
Louie	Comedy	FX	3
New Girl	Comedy	Fox	3
Parks and Recreation	Comedy	NBC	3
Saturday Night Live	Variety	NBC	3
65th Tony Awards	Variety	CBS	2
84th Academy Awards	Variety	ABC	2
The Amazing Race	Competition	CBS	2
Dancing with the Stars	Competition	ABC	2
Game of Thrones	Drama	HBO	2
Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater	Variety	FX	2
Nurse Jackie	Comedy	Showtime	2
So You Think You Can Dance	Competition	Fox	2
Veep	Comedy	HBO	2

Most major awards

Program	Category	Network	No. of Awards
Game Change	Movie	HBO	4
Homeland	Drama	Showtime	4
Modern Family	Comedy	ABC	4
Hatfields & McCoys	Miniseries	History	2

;Notes

Presenters

The awards were presented by the following:

Name	Role
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
	Introducer of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series winner Jimmy Fallon and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series winner Kathy Bates
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
	Introducer of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series winner Jeremy Davies and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series winner Martha Plimpton
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
	Presenters of the award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special
	Presenter of the awards for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special and Outstanding Variety Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenters of the awards for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Drama Series
	Presenter of the award for Outstanding Comedy Series

In Memoriam

Before the recorded segment, Ron Howard presented a tribute to Andy Griffith.
The people tributed in the segment included:

Televised ceremony ratings

The ceremony, which was televised by ABC on September 23, 2012, was watched by 13.26 million viewers. The event's red carpet proceedings were watched by 5.63 million.