Emmys

A DISPATCH FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV: Breaking Bad and Modern Family surprised very few people by winning Best Drama and Comedy series, respectively, on last night's Emmy Awards telecast. There were a few upsets, including Bad's Anna Gunn taking Best Actress, Drama, and The Newsroom's Jeff Daniels receiving Best Actor honors. HBO's Liberace docudrama Behind the Candelabra cleaned up, with star Michael Douglas and director Stephen Soderbergh, among others, picking up trophies; The Colbert Report won two in the Variety category. Consult this list of winners to settle your office-pool debts. Musical moments included a bespangled Elton John performing new song "Home Again" in tribute to Liberace (whom he admitted influenced his "dress style") and Carrie Underwood singing The Beatles' "Yesterday" after a remembrance of TV's role in watershed moments of the early '60s. Host Neil Patrick Harris hoofed and quipped with requisite charm. Winners were played off three sentences into their speeches, presumably to make room for the protracted dance numbers. Still, it was cool to see Bob Newhart—who won the very first Emmy of his career this time around—get a standing O. (9/23a)