The most intriguing category of the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards was the battle between AMC’s Breaking Bad, Netflix’s House of Cards and long running show Mad Men.
Anna Gunn (Skyler in Breaking bad) had a promising start winning the Best Supporting Actress, lead actors Bryan Cranston (Walter White) and Aaron Paul (Pinkmen) were snubbed in their individual awards.
The series did take home the award for Best Drama at the event, which was held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
Then, Scandal star Kerry Washington presented the award for Best Supporting Actor to Bobby Cannavale for his work on Boardwalk Empire, beating Aaron Paul.
Bryan Cranston also lost to Jeff Daniels in the Best Actor category, Daniels was recognised for his portrayal of an idealistic TV anchorman in the Newsroom.
Tony Hale of Veep received the award for best supporting actor in a comedy, a category that has been owned by the men of Modern Family in recent years.
Laura Linney was named best actress in a miniseries or movie for The Big c: Hereafter.
The Voice won best reality- competition program and The Colbert Report was crowned best variety show.
The first few hours were all about memorable tributes and a heartfelt song by Elton John in honour of late musical star Liberace.
‘Liberace left us 25 years ago and what a difference those years have made to people like me,’ said John, who is openly gay in contrast to the closeted Liberace portrayed in the TV movie.
Robin Williams offered another tribute. ‘Jonathan Winters was my mentor,’ Williams said of the actor-comedian. ‘I told him that and he said, ‘Please, I prefer idol.”
Steven Soderbegh bagged the award of Best Director for the HBOTV movie Behind the Candelabra.
Michael Douglas won his first ever Emmy for his starring role as Liberace in the biopic. Douglas shocked the audience by thanking his wife Catherine – Zeta Jones (currently separated) and also said he hoped he would be allowed to see his son Cameron Douglas ‘soon’.
Glee star Cory Monteith was also honoured, the 31-year old died in July due to a drug and alcohol overdose.
‘Cory was a beautiful soul,’ said his co-star Jane Lynch. ‘He was not perfect, which so many of us here tonight can relate to. His death is a tragic reminder of the rapacious, senseless destruction that is brought on my addiction.’
There was silence too when the late Henry Bromell got an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama series for Homeland.
Edie Falco gave a touching speech about her late Sorpranos Co-star James Gandolfini, saluting him for being loyal to friends and family and his work with military veterans.
This year’s host was How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris, who provided the star-studded audience some light-hearted humour.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for Best Actress in a Comedy, beating out strong opposition like Edie Falco for Nurse Jackie, Tina Fey for 30 rockand Lena Denham for Girls.
Claire Danes won best Actress in a Drama for her role in the hit series Homeland, edging out the front runner Kerry Washington (Sandal). This is the third award Danes has taken home in four years.