The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2010, until May 31, 2011, were held on Sunday, September 18, 2011, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California, where 25 awards were presented. Fox televised the ceremony within the United States. Fox's Glee star Jane Lynch hosted the Emmys for the first time. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 10.
The nominations were announced live on Thursday, July 14, 2011, at 5:40 a.m. PDT (12:40 UTC) at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood, Los Angeles. The nominations were announced by Melissa McCarthy of Mike & Molly and Joshua Jackson of Fringe.
The biggest winner of the night was ABC's Modern Family. The series ended the event with five wins, including Outstanding Comedy Series for the second consecutive year. For the fourth time, the Outstanding Drama Series category was won by AMC's Mad Men. It is also the third series to win four times consecutively in that category. Downton Abbey walked away with the award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, with four wins overall.
This year's ceremony was watched by 12.4 million people, down 8% from last year's show.Emmy telecast down in overall ratings but up in key demos. Goldderby.com (2011-09-19). Retrieved on 2012-04-10. The ceremony received mixed reviews from critics, with many praising the performance of Lynch as the host but criticizing the overall quality of the production, particularly the presenters and the orchestra.Critics give mixed reviews to the Emmy telecast. Goldderby.com (2011-09-19). Retrieved on 2012-04-10.
Beginning this year, the Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Television Movie categories were merged. This was due to the continuing decline in the number of miniseries being produced; the previous two ceremonies only had two miniseries nominated. The merge was short-lived however when the separate categories returned, beginning in 2014.
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:
Programs
+ Modern Family (ABC) 30 Rock (NBC) The Big Bang Theory (CBS) Glee (Fox) The Office (NBC) Parks and Recreation (NBC) Mad Men (AMC) Boardwalk Empire (HBO) Dexter (Showtime) Friday Night Lights (DirecTV) Game of Thrones (HBO) The Good Wife (CBS) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) Conan (TBS) Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) Saturday Night Live (NBC) Downton Abbey (PBS) Cinema Verite (HBO) The Kennedys (ReelzChannel) Mildred Pierce (HBO) The Pillars of the Earth (Starz) Too Big to Fail (HBO) The Amazing Race (CBS) American Idol (Fox) Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Project Runway (Lifetime) So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) Top Chef (Bravo)
Acting
Lead performances + Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Sheldon Cooper (CBS) Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy (NBC) Steve Carell – The Office as Michael Scott (NBC) Louis C.K. – Louie as Louie (FX) Johnny Galecki – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Leonard Hofstadter (CBS) Matt LeBlanc – Episodes as himself (Showtime) Melissa McCarthy – Mike & Molly as Molly Flynn (CBS) Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie as Jackie Peyton, RN (Showtime) Tina Fey – 30 Rock as Liz Lemon (NBC) Laura Linney – The Big C as Cathy Jamison (Showtime) Martha Plimpton – Raising Hope as Virginia Chance (Fox) Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation as Leslie Knope (NBC) Kyle Chandler – Friday Night Lights as Eric Taylor (DirecTV) Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (HBO) Michael C. Hall – Dexter as Dexter Morgan (Showtime) Jon Hamm – Mad Men as Don Draper (AMC) Hugh Laurie – House as Dr. Gregory House (Fox) Timothy Olyphant – Justified as Raylan Givens (FX) Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife as Alicia Florrick (CBS) Kathy Bates – Harry's Law as Harriet "Harry" Korn (NBC) Connie Britton – Friday Night Lights as Tami Taylor (DirecTV) Mireille Enos – The Killing as Sarah Linden (AMC) Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Olivia Benson (NBC) Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men as Peggy Olson (AMC) Barry Pepper – The Kennedys as Robert F. Kennedy (ReelzChannel) Idris Elba – Luther as DCI John Luther (BBC America) Laurence Fishburne – Thurgood as Thurgood Marshall (HBO) William Hurt – Too Big to Fail as Henry Paulson (HBO) Greg Kinnear – The Kennedys as John F. Kennedy (ReelzChannel) Édgar Ramírez – Carlos as Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (Sundance Channel) Kate Winslet – Mildred Pierce as Mildred Pierce (HBO) Taraji P. Henson – Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story as Tiffany Rubin (Lifetime) Diane Lane – Cinema Verite as Patricia "Pat" Loud (HBO) Jean Marsh – Upstairs Downstairs as Rose Buck (PBS) Elizabeth McGovern – Downton Abbey as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham (PBS)
Supporting performances + Ty Burrell – Modern Family as Phil Dunphy (ABC) Chris Colfer – Glee as Kurt Hummel (Fox) Jon Cryer – Two and a Half Men as Dr. Alan Harper (CBS) Jesse Tyler Ferguson – Modern Family as Mitchell Pritchett (ABC) Ed O'Neill – Modern Family as Jay Pritchett (ABC) Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family as Cameron Tucker (ABC) Julie Bowen – Modern Family as Claire Dunphy (ABC) Jane Krakowski – 30 Rock as Jenna Maroney (NBC) Jane Lynch – Glee as Sue Sylvester (Fox) Sofía Vergara – Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (ABC) Betty White – Hot in Cleveland as Elka Ostrovsky (TV Land) Kristen Wiig – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones as Tyrion Lannister (HBO) Andre Braugher – Men of a Certain Age as Owen Thoreau Jr. (TNT) Josh Charles – The Good Wife as Will Gardner (CBS) Alan Cumming – The Good Wife as Eli Gold (CBS) Walton Goggins – Justified as Boyd Crowder (FX) John Slattery – Mad Men as Roger Sterling Jr. (AMC) Margo Martindale – Justified as Mags Bennett (FX) Christine Baranski – The Good Wife as Diane Lockhart (CBS) Michelle Forbes – The Killing as Mitch Larsen (AMC) Christina Hendricks – Mad Men as Joan Harris (AMC) Kelly Macdonald – Boardwalk Empire as Margaret Schroeder (HBO) Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife as Kalinda Sharma (CBS) Guy Pearce – Mildred Pierce as Monty Beragon (HBO) Paul Giamatti – Too Big to Fail as Ben Bernanke (HBO) Brían F. O'Byrne – Mildred Pierce as Bert Pierce (HBO) Tom Wilkinson – The Kennedys as Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. (ReelzChannel) James Woods – Too Big to Fail as Dick Fuld Jr. (HBO) Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (PBS) Eileen Atkins – Upstairs Downstairs as Maud, Lady Holland (PBS) Melissa Leo – Mildred Pierce as Lucy Gessler (HBO) Mare Winningham – Mildred Pierce as Ida Corwin (HBO) Evan Rachel Wood – Mildred Pierce as Veda Pierce (HBO)
Directing + Modern Family: "Halloween" – Michael Spiller (ABC) 30 Rock: "Live Show" – Beth McCarthy-Miller (NBC) How I Met Your Mother: "Subway Wars" – Pamela Fryman (CBS) Modern Family: "See You Next Fall" – Steven Levitan (ABC) Modern Family: "Slow Down Your Neighbors" – Gail Mancuso (ABC) Boardwalk Empire: "Boardwalk Empire" – Martin Scorsese (HBO) Boardwalk Empire: "Anastasia" – Jeremy Podeswa (HBO) The Borgias: "The Poisoned Chalice" / "The Assassin" – Neil Jordan (Showtime) Game of Thrones: "Winter Is Coming" – Tim Van Patten (HBO) The Killing: "Pilot" – Patty Jenkins (AMC) Saturday Night Live: "Host: Justin Timberlake" – Don Roy King (NBC) American Idol: "Episode 1024/1025A" – Gregg Gelfand (Fox) The Colbert Report: "Episode 6112" – James Hoskinson (Comedy Central) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: "Episode 16048" – Chuck O'Neil (Comedy Central) Late Show with David Letterman: "Show 3333" – Jerry Foley (CBS) Downton Abbey – Brian Percival (PBS) Carlos – Olivier Assayas (Sundance Channel) Cinema Verite – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (HBO) Mildred Pierce – Todd Haynes (HBO) Too Big to Fail – Curtis Hanson (HBO)
Writing + Modern Family: "Caught in the Act" – Steven Levitan and Jeffrey Richman (ABC) 30 Rock: "Reaganing" – Matt Hubbard (NBC) Episodes: "Episode Seven" – David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik (Showtime) Louie: "Poker/Divorce" – Louis C.K. (FX) The Office: "Goodbye, Michael" – Greg Daniels (NBC) Friday Night Lights: "Always" – Jason Katims (DirecTV) Game of Thrones: "Baelor" – David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (HBO) The Killing: "Pilot" – Veena Sud (AMC) Mad Men: "Blowing Smoke" – Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton (AMC) Mad Men: "The Suitcase" – Matthew Weiner (AMC) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) Conan (TBS) Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Saturday Night Live (NBC) Downton Abbey – Julian Fellowes (PBS) Mildred Pierce – Todd Haynes and Jonathan Raymond (HBO) Sherlock: A Study in Pink – Steven Moffat (PBS) Too Big to Fail – Peter Gould (HBO) Upstairs Downstairs – Heidi Thomas (PBS)
Most major nominations + Networks with multiple major nominations"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. Network No. ofNominations HBO 29 NBC 19 CBS 14 ABC 12 AMC 11 Fox 8 Showtime 7
+ Programs with multiple major nominations Program Category Network No. ofNominations Modern Family Comedy ABC 11 Mildred Pierce Miniseries HBO 9 Mad Men Drama AMC 7 30 Rock Comedy NBC6 The Good Wife Drama CBS Too Big to Fail MovieHBO Boardwalk Empire Drama5 Downton Abbey Miniseries PBS Friday Night LightsDrama DirecTV4 Game of Thrones HBO The Kennedys Miniseries ReelzChannel The Killing Drama AMC Saturday Night Live Variety NBC The Big Bang Theory Comedy CBS3 Cinema Verite Movie HBO The Colbert ReportVarietyComedy Central The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Glee Comedy Fox Justified Drama FX The Office Comedy NBC Upstairs Downstairs Miniseries PBS American Idol Competition Fox2 Carlos Miniseries Sundance Channel Conan Variety TBS Dexter DramaShowtime Episodes Comedy Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Variety NBC LouieComedy FX Parks and Recreation NBC
Most major awards + Networks with multiple major awards Network No. ofAwards ABC 5 CBS4 HBO PBS Comedy Central2 DirecTV
+ Programs with multiple major awards Program Category Network No. ofAwards Modern Family Comedy ABC 5 Downton Abbey Miniseries PBS 4 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Variety Comedy Central2 Friday Night Lights Drama DirecTV Mildred Pierce Miniseries HBO
Notes
Presenters The awards were presented by the following: