LOS ANGELES - Breaking Bad, the brutal, drug-fueled saga of an everyman's ambition turned evil, captured its first best drama Emmy Award on Sunday, denying the online series House of Cards a history-making honor.
Notably, Emmett actor Aaron Paul is a member of the cast.
He even helped out in a pinch Sunday night, handing out backstage Emmy awards to a swarm of producers who appoached the trophy table.
If there's one remaining, I'm taking the extra one, quipped Paul, who was nominated for best actor in a drama series but didn't win.
He also reportedly photobombed several pictures with co-star Brian Cranston. Read about Paul's latest adventure in Boise here.
I did not see this coming, said Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, tipping his hat to Netflix's political thriller House of Cards, the first digital contender for top Emmy honors.
Attention and acclaim for the AMC cable channel's Breaking Bad has built as it nears the end of its five-season run next Sunday, with the final eight-episode arc eligible for next year's Emmys.
Modern Family won its fourth consecutive trophy for top comedy series even though its oft-honored cast was shut out this time.
Jeff Daniels won the Emmy for best drama series actor for his portrayal of an idealistic TV anchorman in The Newsroom, with Claire Danes capturing top actress honors for her troubled CIA agent in Homeland.
Daniels noted that he'd also received an age 50-plus acting honor from AARP, which represents the interests of older Americans.
With all due respect to the AARP, this is even better, Daniels said.
Danes, who captured her second trophy for the terrorism drama, paid tribute to one of the series' writers, Henry Bromell, who died last March and who received a writing Emmy posthumously Sunday.
The ceremony often struck a melancholy note with extended tributes to stars and other industry members who died in the past year.
Well, this may be the saddest Emmys of all time but we could not be happier, said Modern Family executive producer Steve Levitan.
The show also included upsets, defying the conventional wisdom in several categories, among them the best supporting acting comedy awards for Merritt Wever of Nurse Jackie and Tony Hale of Veep.
This just in. Nobody in America is winning their Emmy office pool. Surprises galore, said host Neil Patrick Harris.
Danes' win ended the hopes that Scandal best actress nominee Kerry Washington would become the first African-American to win in the category.
Saturday Night Live became the most-honored series ever with Don Roy King's directing award Sunday; its cumulative 40 Emmys top previous record-holder Frasier.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus claimed her second consecutive best comedy actress award for her role as an ambitious political second banana in Veep, with Jim Parsons again claiming the top comedy acting trophy for The Big Bang Theory.
This is so much good fortune it's almost too much to bear, said Louis-Dreyfus. I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to make people laugh. It's a joyful way to make a living.
Parsons added to the awards he won in 2011 and 2010 for the role of a science nerd.
My heart, oh my heart. I want you to know I'm very aware of how exceedingly fortunate I am, he said.
Laura Linney was named best actress in a miniseries or movie for The Big C: Hereafter. ''The Voice won best reality-competition program, and Tina Fey won for writing 30 Rock.
Michael Douglas was honored as best actor for his portrayal of Liberace in Behind the Candelabra, besting his co-star Matt Damon. The film also captured a top trophy as best movie or miniseries.
This is a two-hander and Matt, you're only as good as your other hand, Douglas said, then got really racy: You want the bottom or the top?
Bobby Cannavale, from Boardwalk Empire, won as best supporting actor in a drama, and Anna Gunn from Breaking Bad won the best actress award in the same category.
In the variety show category, The Colbert Report broke a 10-year winning streak held by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It also won for best writing for a variety show.
The ceremony's first hour was relatively somber, with memorial tributes and a doleful song by Elton John in honor of the late musical star Liberace, the subject of the nominated biopic Behind the Candelabra.
Liberace left us 25 years ago and what a difference those years have made to people like me, said John, who is openly gay in contrast to the closeted Liberace portrayed in the TV movie.
Jane Lynch paid tribute to Cory Monteith, her Glee co-star who died at age 31 in July of a drug and alcohol overdose. His death is a tragic reminder of the rapacious, senseless destruction that is brought on by addiction, she said.
Edie Falco recalled her late The Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini, saluting him for his fierce loyalty to his friends and family and his work with military veterans, while Rob Reiner remembered Jean Stapleton of All in the Family and Michael J. Fox honored Family Ties producer Gary David Goldberg.
Diahann Carroll, the first African-American Emmy nominee in 1963 for Naked City, created one of the night's most heartfelt moments when she took the stage with Washington and noted the importance of diversity in the industry and Emmys.
Tonight, she better get this award, Carroll said of Washington, who covered her eyes in embarrassment.
HBO received a leading seven Emmys, followed by Showtime with four, ABC and NBC with three each and AMC and Comedy Central with two each.
