Cult ad agency drama Mad Men won the best drama Emmy for the fourth year late Sunday, while Modern Family again took the comedy glory at U.S. television's awards show.
British shows also triumphed at the annual Hollywood show, the Oscars of the small screen, with Kate Winslet leading a string of Brits taking gongs, notably for Downton Abbey .
Mad Men , which has spawned a host of lookalike shows, fought off the strongly-tipped Boardwalk Empire to take the best drama Emmy at the climax of the show.
The brilliantly-stylized AMC show, about life in a 1960s New York advertising agency, won though its last series ended in October 2010, and it will not return to the screen until next March.
“We are so grateful to the television academy for recognising this show again, recognised by our peers. We want to thank the fans of the show who support it so wholeheartedly,” said executive producer Matthew Weiner.
The Mad Men success came shortly after Titanic co-star Winslet won the Best Actress in a mini-series Emmy for her role in period drama Mildred Pierce .
The Oscar-winning star plays a divorcee single mother who opens a restaurant to survive in the Great Depression in the drama, for which her English-born Australian co-star Guy Pearce won best supporting actor Emmy moments earlier.
Ms. Winslet gave a short acceptance speech saying she “didn't think we were going to win anything” before thanking her mother.
Her success came on a big night for another British period drama, Downton Abbey .
The show, about the aristocratic Crawley family, pipped Mildred Pierce to win best mini-series, while Maggie Smith won best supporting actress, Julian Fellowes best writer and Brian Percival best director.
In other drama categories, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese won best drama director Emmy for his pilot of HBO's Boardwalk Empire , while best drama actor went to Kyle Chandler for football drama Friday Night Lights .
While Mad Men and Ms. Winslet were the highlights on the drama front, Modern Family was the unquestioned comedy king at Sunday night's ceremony.
The show, which casts a satirical light on the lives of three families, started the night by winning the first four Emmys announced, and ended it with the best comedy gong, for the second year running.
Julie Bowen won for best supporting actress in a comedy, best supporting actor went to Ty Burrell, best director to Michael Spiller and best comedy writers Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman.
“Welcome to the Modern Family awards,” said hostess Jane Lynch at one point during the glittering show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” was the other big comedy winner,
taking the Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series award for an astonishing ninth year in a row. — AFP
