LOS ANGELES — Freshman television cable series showed up their more established broadcast brethren at the 60th Emmy Awards on Sunday, underscoring cable’s expanding role as the home of critically acclaimed programming.
Amid a ceremony intent on casting back nostalgically — with salutes to classic programs such as “Laugh-In,” “M.A.S.H.” and “Dragnet” — were constant reminders of the growing prestige of basic cable networks, once the purveyors of reruns.
“Mad Men,” AMC’s stylish, moody period drama about 1960s Madison Avenue, beat out such popular network shows as “Lost,” “House” and “Boston Legal” for best dramatic series — the first basic-cable show to win in that category. FX’s “Damages” took home two plum awards, including one for Glenn Close for best lead actress in a dramatic series, and Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad” was the surprise winner for best lead actor in the same category.
A quirky drama about a man dying of cancer who makes and sells methamphetamine so he won’t leave his family destitute, “Breaking Bad” ran only seven episodes last season, cut short because of the writers strike.
“Oh, my goodness, oh, man. I’m so proud of this show,” Cranston said as he held his statuette.
The night belonged to HBO, which continued its dominance by scoring 26 awards, including 13 for its meticulous historical drama, “John Adams,” a record for a miniseries.
“I’m living proof to kids at home watching that anybody can play the president,” Paul Giamatti joked in accepting the award for portraying the second U.S. president.
Laura Linney won for her role as Abigail Adams, the stalwart wife, and Tom Wilkinson won for supporting actor as Ben Franklin. Rounding out the winners was Kirk Ellis, who won for writing the mini series, which was produced by Tom Hanks.
Comedy remained largely the domain of the broadcast networks, however. NBC’s “30 Rock” nabbed seven awards, the second highest tally of any program, with stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin taking home Emmys.
Overall, cable channels won 59 Emmys while the broadcast networks took home 38. PBS scored 10.
The big winner was expected to be “Mad Men.” The low-rated, sophisticated drama went into the awards season with 16 Emmy nominations and ended up with six wins.
Although its breakout star, Jon Hamm, was passed over for best actor, the show did pick up an Emmy in the writing category for the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner.
The award for made-for-television movie went to “Recount,” HBO’s drama about the 2000 presidential election. The movie also won best director for Jay Roach, who warned viewers that “it’s going to get close again, this election,” in one of the many political references.
Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” won for variety, musical or comedy series.
