The two biggest prizes at television's biggest awards - the Emmys - went to a newcomer and a veteran. "The Practice," a show on the brink of cancellation a year ago, won for the first time as best drama series, while "Frasier" made history by winning the Emmy as best comedy series for a record fifth consecutive year.
"I'm very pleased that we've won five in a row. I'm very sort of gloating and silly about it," said star Kelsey Grammer, who also won his third Emmy as best lead actor in a comedy series. (Co-star David Hyde Pierce won his second best supporting actor Emmy.)"Frasier," which has won the best comedy Emmy every year since it debuted, now stands alone as the only show to win five outstanding series awards. ("All In the Family," "Cheers," "Dick Van Dyke," "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law" each won four.)
Sunday's most exuberant winner was Camryn Manheim of "The Practice," who took home the Emmy as best supporting actress in a drama.
"This is for all the fat girls!" she shouted.
Helen Hunt, meanwhile, won her third straight outstanding actress in a comedy for her role in "Mad About You."
"I'm the president of `I was not expecting this,' " said Hunt, who appeared just as stunned as she did in March when she won a best-actress Oscar for her role in "As Good As It Gets."
Andre Braugher, overlooked for five seasons of work on "Homicide: Life on the Street," finally won the outstanding actor in a drama Emmy after he exited the series at the end of last season.
"Late Show with David Letterman" triumphed as best variety music or comedy series - giving Letterman two wins to one for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
TNT's "George Wallace" took home awards for best actor and actress (Gary Sinise and Mare Winningham) and director (John Frankenheimer) in a miniseries or special: .
HBO's "Don King: Only in America" won for outstanding TV movie, and "The Larry Sanders Show" won for writing and directing.
Best actress in a drama winner Christine Lahti of "Chicago Hope" joked about her belated appearance at the Golden Globes in May. (She was in the ladies' room when her Globes win was announced.)
"OK, you can unlock the bathrooms now," she said.
The 50th annual Emmy Awards show was loaded with compilations of clips from the past half century, along with stars reminiscing about their favorite moments.
"Somebody asked me what my favorite television moment was just before this, and I think it just changed," said Gordon Clapp of "NYPD Blue," who won as best supporting actor in a drama.
But the Emmycast was the longest in history, filling the planned four-hour time period. And, as was inevitable, the show - which featured a variety of presenters but no single host - dragged at times.
Presenter Jon Lovitz told viewers the first Emmy ceremonies in 1948 featured "only six awards and the whole thing took nine minutes. Tonight, no such luck."
Sunday's telecast opened strong, with clips of great Emmy moments in the past, but immediately bogged down. Sportscaster Bob Costas hosted a 10-minute "pregame show," loaded with sports cliches, inane interviews and bad jokes, from outside Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium.
On the upside, there were but two musical/production numbers and the four hours were replete with historical clips of great moments from TV history.
There were tributes to comedians Bob Hope, Milton Berle and Sid Caesar, the late Lloyd Bridges and TV pioneer Pat Weaver. And there was a list of the top 10 moments in TV history, topped by man's first steps on the moon.
But the show was simply too long to be entirely watchable, and the cheesier aspects like multiple Emmy "datelines" and interviews with "regular" viewers seemed like filler to pad out the show.
In the network race, NBC won the most Emmys with 18, followed closely by ABC with 16. Other totals include HBO with 14, CBS with eight, Fox with six, TNT with five and PBS with four. (The totals include trophies awarded Aug. 29 in the creative arts categories.)
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Additional Information
The winners
Comedy series: "Frasier"
Actor, comedy series: Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier"
Actress, comedy series: Helen Hunt, "Mad About You"
Supporting actress, comedy: Lisa Kudrow, "Friends"
Supporting actor, comedy: David Hyde Pierce, "Frasier"
Directing, comedy series: Todd Holland, "The Larry Sanders Show."
Writing, comedy series: "Larry Sanders"
Drama series: "The Practice"
Actor, drama series: Andre Braugher, "Homicide: Life on the Street"
Actress, drama series: Christine Lahti, "Chicago Hope"
Supporting actress, drama: Camryn Manheim, "The Practice"
Supporting actor, drama: Gordon Clapp, "NYPD Blue"
Directing, drama series: (tie) Mark Tinker, "Brooklyn South," and Paris Barclay, "NYPD Blue"
Writing, drama series: "NYPD Blue"
Television movie: "Don King: Only in America"
Miniseries: "From the Earth to the Moon"
Actor, miniseries or special: Gary Sinise, "George Wallace"
Actress, miniseries or special: Ellen Barkin, "Before Women Had Wings"
Supporting actor, miniseries or special: George C. Scott, "12 Angry Men"
Supporting actress, miniseries or special: Mare Winningham, "George Wallace"
Directing, miniseries or special: John Frankenheimer, "George Wallace"
Writing, miniseries or special: Kario Salem, "Don King: Only in America"
Variety, music or comedy series: "Late Show with David Letterman"
Variety, Music or Comedy Special: "The Tony Awards"
Performance, variety or music program: Billy Crystal, "Academy Awards"
Writing, variety or music program: "Dennis Miller Live"
Directing, variety or music program: Louis J. Horvitz, "Academy Awards"