From MODERN FAMILY’s Outstanding Comedy Win to Jim Parson’s equally deserving victory, one would be hard-pressed to find fault with last winners. And while we could quibble over the fact that Edie Falco performance on NURSE JACKIE is by her own admission “not funny,” THE CLOSER’s Kyra Sedgwick most certainly wouldn’t have been our choice for Outstanding Actress in a Drama, and Archie Panjabi’s win for THE GOOD WIFE was about as unexpected as her nomination…. the fact that Tony Shalhoub and Jon Cryer’s posteriors remained firmly planted in their seat more than made up for all all of it!
Proving it’s no accident that Jimmy Fallon has been able to parlay a role on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE into his own talk show, the savvy late night host played to his strengths last night, opting to go with memorable musical numbers featuring a bevy of famous friends (including Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Tina Fey and Jon Hamm to name a few) and impersonations (Dead Show montage, FTW!<) over biting one-liners more befitting a Ricky Gervais and/or Conan O’Brien.
Whether it was the real-life inspiration for HBO’s TEMPLE GRANDIN spontaneously hugging executive producer Emily Gerson Saines, Ryan Murphy giving a shout out to arts education in his acceptance speech or Eric Stonestreet and Jane Lynch delivering a heartfelt and tearful thanks to their parents, last night’s Emmy speeches — with the exception of MAD MEN’s pompous Matthew Weiner who is to Emmys what Jame Cameron is to Oscars — were everything acceptance speeches should be. Heavy on the inspiration and light on the thanking of agents, managers, and Craft service people who got them their.
When Bobe Hope Humanitarian Award Winner George Clooney isn’t making us feel guilty for spending what probably amounts to a little more time than we should watching TV, when we could be helping the people of [insert country here] rebuild following a [insert tragedy, war, natural disaster here], he’s stealing the show in the evening’s funniest moment. Seriously, is there anything this guy can’t do?
Usually the bain of our existence, last night’s commercials not only were a welcome reminder that fall TV is just around the corner. They gave COMMUNITY ample opportunity to show off why what the millions of viewers at home watching are missing. (See below)
For more EMMY highlights and videos, check out our EMMY Live Blog. Still not enough for you? Entertainment Weekly has a nice wrap up of 14 memorable moments. 
