61st Primetime Emmy Awards
Promotional poster
Date	September 20, 2009 (Ceremony) September 12, 2009 (Creative Arts Awards)
Location	Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles,California
Presented by	Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Hosted by	Neil Patrick Harris
Highlights
Most awards	Major: 30 Rock Grey Gardens Little Dorrit (3) All:Little Dorrit (7)
Most nominations	30 Rock (13)
Outstanding Comedy Series	30 Rock
Outstanding Drama Series	Mad Men
Outstanding Miniseries	Little Dorrit
Outstanding Reality-Competition Program	The Amazing Race
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series	The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Website	http://www.emmys.com/
Television/radio coverage
Network	CBS
Produced by	Don Mischer
Directed by	Glenn Weiss
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The61st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 20, 2009^[1] onCBS. It took place atNokia Theatre inLos Angeles,California, where 28 awards were presented. The nominations were announced on July 16, 2009.^[2]

On July 13, 2009, theAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences announced thatNeil Patrick Harris would host the Primetime ceremony (even going so far as to playDr. Horrible at one point).^[3] TheCreative Arts Emmy Awards forprime time were hosted byKathy Griffin on September 12.^[4]

Afterthe previous year's lackluster performance in ratings, the Primetime Emmy Awards were hoping to achieve success by selecting Harris as sole host, as opposed to a group of hosts as in the previous year. The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards earned a 4.2 rating in the 18–49 demo and drew 13.3 million, 1.1 million more than the previous year's all-time low.^[5]

30 Rock became the sixth show to winOutstanding Comedy Series three consecutive years, winning three major awards on that night.30 Rock made history when it smashed the record for most major nominations by a comedy series with 18.The Cosby Show had held the record of 13 since1986, while30 Rock had tied this the previous year. The 18 major nominations became the third biggest record of all time, behindRoots' record number of 21 in1977 andNYPD Blue's mark of 19 in1994. These records still stand.

The drama field also crowned the defending champion,AMC'sMad Men. It won two major awards on that night. After airing for fifteen seasons,ER went out a winner as itsseries finale won forOutstanding Directing for a Drama Series. This was the first major win forER since2001.

Cherry Jones became the first from aFox network show to win the award forOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama series but also the second woman ever from Fox to win a Major Acting award sinceGillian Anderson in1997.

History was also made byThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart andThe Amazing Race. Both programs won their series categories for the seventh straight year, this broke the record for most consecutive victories in a major category of six that was held byThe Mary Tyler Moore Show andCagney & Lacey.The Amazing Race would lose the following year. However, in2013,The Daily Show's streak was finally snapped byThe Colbert Report, after a record of ten consecutive wins.

Winners are listed first and highlighted inbold:^[6]

Notes

The awards were presented by the following:

The singerSarah McLachlan performed the song "I Will Remember You" during the tribute:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to2009 Primetime Emmy Awards.

• Emmys.com list of 2009 Nominees & Winners
• Academy of Television Arts and Sciences website
• 61st Primetime Emmy Awards atIMDb
• 2009 Performer Nominating Ballots
• 2009 Writing Nominating Ballots
• 2009 Directing Nominating Ballots

• Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies
• 2009 television awards
• 2009 awards in the United States
• 2009 in Los Angeles
• September 2009 in the United States
• Television shows directed by Glenn Weiss

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