'Modern Family' wins big at Emmys

'Modern Family' thesp Ty Burrell wins the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Emmy Sunday night at the Nokia Theater.'Mad Men' creator Matt Weiner, center, and cast celebrate the show's Drama Series win Sunday night at the 63rd annual Emmy Awards.'Mike & Molly's' Melissa McCarthy wins the Best Actress in a Comedy kudo.Repeat wins for AMC's "Mad Men" -- joining an elite club of four-time drama champs -- and ABC's "Modern Family" belied an Emmy night characterized by more new faces and perceived upsets than the presentation has seen in years.Although ABC's "Modern Family" dominated comedy at the 63rd annual Emmy Awards -- with outstanding series and four of six other episodic awards -- the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences conspicuously spread the kudos wealth, including a horde of first-time winners among the high-profile performer categories.In so doing, the Emmys broke up what has become HBO's near-monopoly in certain areas and deprived the pay network's "Boardwalk Empire" its own piece of Emmy history. The new drama earned just one award Sunday, for director Martin Scorsese, and after winning seven technical honors at the earlier Creative Arts presentation fell one short of the record nine awards amassed by "The West Wing" in its first season.By contrast, "Mad Men" joins "The West Wing" and "Hill Street Blues" as winners of four consecutive drama awards, a total matched by "L.A. Law" over a five-year span.The Emmys have been criticized for predictability in the past, but that was hardly true of the latest voting.Indeed, despite "Mad Men's" series victory, producer Jason Katims took the writing Emmy for the swansong season of "Friday Night Lights," ending the AMC program's three-year reign over that category.Among eight series acting categories, the only previous recipients were back-to-backer Jim Parsons, for CBS' "The Bang Theory;" and Julianna Margulies -- whose Emmy for CBS' "The Good Wife" came 16 years after her supporting award for "ER," with a half-dozen nods in between.Having won its rookie year, "Modern Family" was anointed five times on Emmy night, taking home the first four prizes -- for writing, directing, and onscreen husband-and-wife Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell in the supporting categories.Other overwhelmed first-time honorees included Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"), "Mike & Molly's" Melissa McCarthy, and supporting players Peter Dinklage for HBO's "Game of Thrones" and Margo Martindale (FX's "Justified").Lead actor does come with what might be called a minor asterisk, inasmuch as AMC's "Breaking Bad" didn't air during the eligibility window, eliminating three-time winner Bryan Cranston from this year's ballot.The overall network totals highlighted how brutally competitive the awards landscape has become, with more networks offering quality fare. Despite being the overall leader counting the Creative Arts event -- as it has been every year since 2000, including a couple of ties with NBC -- HBO's 19 awards represented the cabler's smallest bounty since 2003.Similarly, even with "Modern Family's" gaudy near-sweep, the eight awards each for ABC and NBC marked the Alphabet network's lowest Emmy haul since 2004 -- the year "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" premiered -- and what appears to be the paltriest showing by the Peacock (which aired "Friday Night Lights" after DirecTV) ever.By contrast, PBS -- buoyed by the period miniseries "Downton Abbey" -- amassed 14 awards, the pubcaster's most regal Emmy display since 1985, before cable programs became eligible. CBS placed third, with 11."Downton Abbey" also won the battle of period miniseries over HBO's "Mildred Pierce," which did earn Emmys for Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce. The PBS and HBO programs finished with six and five honors, respectively.Nevertheless, the PBS mini's triumph in the newly consolidated movie/miniseries category represented only the third time HBO has been denied best movie in the last 19 years.One of the objections against merging the categories had been that movies would be mismatched against four- and five-part productions like "Downton Abbey" and "Mildred Pierce." It will be interesting to see if a movie can overcome those odds in the future.After ostentatiously sweeping movies and miniseries last year (to the chagrin of broadcasters, who saw that stretch as an extended commercial for the channel), HBO had a decidedly toned-down presence in 2011.The pay giant didn't nab its first Emmy until more than halfway through Sunday's three-hour presentation, claiming just four awards during the main telecast. That trailed ABC (for "Modern Family"), and tied PBS and CBS.In addition, Barry Pepper took lead actor for playing Robert F. Kennedy in "The Kennedys," a measure of redemption for a miniseries the History channel unceremoniously dropped before it landed on the little-seen ReelzChannel.Led by "Modern Family," the broadcast networks enjoyed their own monopoly in episodic comedy -- some compensation for the fact no broadcast drama has topped its side of the ledger since Fox's "24" beat the block in 2006."Welcome back to the 'Modern Family' awards," quipped host Jane Lynch after the ABC sitcom nabbed four straight trophies.Among other footnotes to the evening, a quartet of Oscar winners -- Scorsese, writer Julian Fellowes and Maggie Smith for "Abbey" -- added Emmys to their trophy case.In what has become even a surer thing than death and taxes, "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" also collected its ninth consecutive Emmy as variety/music/comedy series, claiming writing honors as well."The Amazing Race," meanwhile, has been only slightly less dominant: After having its own seven-year streak snapped by "Top Chef" in 2010, the CBS reality-competition show reclaimed that prize.Former "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen appeared as a presenter for lead actor in a comedy series, striking a gracious note regarding his old show after bashing the producers before his exit. "From the bottom of my heart, I wish you nothing but the best for this upcoming season," he said. The last word, however, belonged to "Men" co-creator Chuck Lorre, who immediately after Sheen's appearance watched the stars of his other two CBS sitcoms -- Parsons and McCarthy -- take home statues.Fox televised the awards, and as usual the host network -- shut out of the gold derby Sunday -- vigorously promoted its fall programs. Still, ratings could take a hit from a familiar source, "Sunday Night Football," which featured a marquee matchup -- Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick returning to Atlanta -- against the Emmys. Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

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