The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2011, until May 31, 2012, were held on Sunday, September 23, 2012, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California, where 26 awards were presented. ABC televised the ceremony in the United States. Comedian and ABC's late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Primetime Emmys for the first time. Kimmel and Kerry Washington announced the nominations on July 19, 2012. Nick Offerman was originally scheduled to co-announce the nominations, but had to cancel due to travel delays. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 15 and was televised on September 22, 2012, on ReelzChannel.
The award for Outstanding Drama Series went to Showtime crime drama Homeland, the first for that network, and which broke Mad Mens four-year hold on the award; while the Outstanding Comedy Series award went for the third year in a row to ABC's Modern Family. This was the first ceremony that none of the four major American broadcasting TV networks were nominated in the categories of Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. For Britain, the ceremony was noted for the successes of actors Damian Lewis of Homeland and Maggie Smith of Downton Abbey.
Of the latter, Dame Maggie not only was PBS' first win in her category, she had won the previous year, for the same role in another category. Hers was also the first win in a major acting category for a Drama Series for PBS since 1975.
Mad Men set a new record for the largest "shutout" in Emmy history, receiving nominations for 17 awards and winning none. This broke the previous record of 16 nominations without a win, set by Northern Exposure in 1993 and The Larry Sanders Show in 1997. This record was broken by The Handmaid's Tale in 2021, which did not win any of its 21 nominations that year.
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:Emmys.com list of 2012 Nominees & Winners
Programs
+ Modern Family (ABC) 30 Rock (NBC) The Big Bang Theory (CBS) Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO) Girls (HBO) Veep (HBO) Homeland (Showtime) Boardwalk Empire (HBO) Breaking Bad (AMC) Downton Abbey (PBS) Game of Thrones (HBO) Mad Men (AMC) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) Saturday Night Live (NBC) Game Change (HBO) American Horror Story (FX) Hatfields & McCoys (History) Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO) Luther (BBC America) Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia (PBS) The Amazing Race (CBS) Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Project Runway (Lifetime) So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) Top Chef (Bravo) The Voice (NBC)
Acting
Lead performances + Jon Cryer – Two and a Half Men as Dr. Alan Harper (CBS) Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy (NBC) Louis C.K. – Louie as Louie (FX) Don Cheadle – House of Lies as Marty Kaan (Showtime) Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm as himself (HBO) Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Sheldon Cooper (CBS) (Episode: "The Werewolf Transformation") Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Veep as Vice President Selina Meyer (HBO) Zooey Deschanel – New Girl as Jessica Day (Fox) Lena Dunham – Girls as Hannah Horvath (HBO) Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie as Jackie Peyton, RN (Showtime) Tina Fey – 30 Rock as Liz Lemon (NBC) Melissa McCarthy – Mike & Molly as Molly Flynn (CBS) Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation as Leslie Knope (NBC) Damian Lewis – Homeland as Nicholas Brody (Showtime) Hugh Bonneville – Downton Abbey as Robert, Earl of Grantham (PBS) Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire as Nucky Thompson (HBO) Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad as Walter White (AMC) Michael C. Hall – Dexter as Dexter Morgan (Showtime) Jon Hamm – Mad Men as Don Draper (AMC) Claire Danes – Homeland as Carrie Mathison (Showtime) Kathy Bates – Harry's Law as Harriet "Harry" Korn (NBC) Glenn Close – Damages as Patty Hewes (Audience Network) Michelle Dockery – Downton Abbey as Lady Mary Crawley (PBS) Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife as Alicia Florrick (CBS) Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men as Peggy Olson (AMC) Kevin Costner – Hatfields & McCoys as Devil Anse Hatfield (History) Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia as Sherlock Holmes (PBS) Idris Elba – Luther as DCI John Luther (BBC America) Woody Harrelson – Game Change as Steve Schmidt (HBO) Clive Owen – Hemingway & Gellhorn as Ernest Hemingway (HBO) Bill Paxton – Hatfields & McCoys as Randolph McCoy (History) Julianne Moore – Game Change as Sarah Palin (HBO) Connie Britton – American Horror Story as Vivien Harmon (FX) Ashley Judd – Missing as Rebecca Winstone (ABC) Nicole Kidman – Hemingway & Gellhorn as Martha Gellhorn (HBO) Emma Thompson – The Song of Lunch as She (PBS)
Supporting performances + Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family as Cameron Tucker (ABC) (Episode: "Treehouse") Ty Burrell – Modern Family as Phil Dunphy (ABC) (Episode: "Lifetime Supply") Jesse Tyler Ferguson – Modern Family as Mitchell Pritchett (ABC) (Episode: "Leap Day") Max Greenfield – New Girl as Schmidt (Fox) Bill Hader – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Ed O'Neill – Modern Family as Jay Pritchett (ABC) (Episode: "Baby on Board") Julie Bowen – Modern Family as Claire Dunphy (ABC) (Episode: "Go Bullfrogs!") Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler (CBS) (Episode: "The Shiny Trinket Maneuver") Kathryn Joosten – Desperate Housewives as Karen McCluskey (ABC) (Episodes: "Give Me the Blame" and "Finishing the Hat") Sofía Vergara – Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (ABC) (Episode: "Tableau Vivant") Merritt Wever – Nurse Jackie as Zoey Barkow, RN (Showtime) Kristen Wiig – Saturday Night Live as various characters (NBC) Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad as Jesse Pinkman (AMC) Jim Carter – Downton Abbey as Charles Carson (PBS) Brendan Coyle – Downton Abbey as John Bates (PBS) Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones as Tyrion Lannister (HBO) Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad as Gus Fring (AMC) Jared Harris – Mad Men as Lane Pryce (AMC) Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (PBS) Christine Baranski – The Good Wife as Diane Lockhart (CBS) Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey as Anna Bates (PBS) Anna Gunn – Breaking Bad as Skyler White (AMC) Christina Hendricks – Mad Men as Joan Harris (AMC) Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife as Kalinda Sharma (CBS) Tom Berenger – Hatfields & McCoys as Jim Vance (History) Martin Freeman – Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia as Dr. John Watson (PBS) Ed Harris – Game Change as John McCain (HBO) Denis O'Hare – American Horror Story as Larry Harvey (FX) David Strathairn – Hemingway & Gellhorn as John Dos Passos (HBO) Jessica Lange – American Horror Story as Constance Langdon (FX) Frances Conroy – American Horror Story as Moira O'Hara (FX) Judy Davis – Page Eight as Jill Tankard (PBS) Sarah Paulson – Game Change as Nicolle Wallace (HBO) Mare Winningham – Hatfields & McCoys as Sally McCoy (History)
Hosting + Tom Bergeron – Dancing with the Stars (ABC) Cat Deeley – So You Think You Can Dance (Fox) Phil Keoghan – The Amazing Race (CBS) Ryan Seacrest – American Idol (Fox) Betty White – Betty White's Off Their Rockers (NBC)
Directing + Modern Family: "Baby on Board" – Steven Levitan (ABC) Curb Your Enthusiasm: "Palestinian Chicken" – Robert B. Weide (HBO) Girls: "She Did" – Lena Dunham (HBO) Louie: "Duckling" – Louis C.K. (FX) Modern Family: "Virgin Territory" – Jason Winer (ABC) New Girl: "Pilot" – Jake Kasdan (Fox) Boardwalk Empire: "To the Lost" – Tim Van Patten (HBO) Breaking Bad: "Face Off" – Vince Gilligan (AMC) Downton Abbey: "Episode Seven" – Brian Percival (PBS) Homeland: "Pilot" – Michael Cuesta (Showtime) Mad Men: "The Other Woman" – Phil Abraham (AMC) 65th Tony Awards – Glenn Weiss (CBS) 84th Academy Awards – Don Mischer (ABC) 54th Grammy Awards – Louis J. Horvitz (CBS) Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater – Louis C.K. (FX) New York City Ballet: George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (Live from Lincoln Center) – Alan Skog (PBS) Game Change – Jay Roach (HBO) Hatfields & McCoys – Kevin Reynolds (History) Hemingway & Gellhorn – Philip Kaufman (HBO) Luther – Sam Miller (BBC America) Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia – Paul McGuigan (PBS)
Writing + Louie: "Pregnant" – Louis C.K. (FX) Community: "Remedial Chaos Theory" – Chris McKenna (NBC) Girls: "Pilot" – Lena Dunham (HBO) Parks and Recreation: "The Debate" – Amy Poehler (NBC) Parks and Recreation: "Win, Lose, or Draw" – Michael Schur (NBC) Homeland: "Pilot" – Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, and Gideon Raff (Showtime) Downton Abbey: "Episode Seven" – Julian Fellowes (PBS) Mad Men: "Commissions and Fees" – Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton (AMC) Mad Men: "Far Away Places" – Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner (AMC) Mad Men: "The Other Woman" – Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner (AMC) Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater – Louis C.K. (FX) 84th Academy Awards (ABC) Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl (NBC) Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) 65th Tony Awards (CBS) Game Change – Danny Strong (HBO) Hatfields & McCoys – Bill Kerby, Ted Mann, and Ronald Parker (History) The Hour – Abi Morgan (BBC America) Luther – Neil Cross (BBC America) Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia – Steven Moffat (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 27 PBS 17 ABC 16 AMC15 NBC CBS 14 Showtime 9
+ Programs with multiple major nominations Program Category Network No. ofNominations Downton Abbey Drama PBS9 Modern Family Comedy ABC Mad Men Drama AMC Game Change Movie HBO7 Hatfields & McCoys Miniseries History Breaking BadDrama AMC 6 Homeland Showtime5 American Horror Story Miniseries FX Hemingway & GellhornMovie HBO Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia PBS 5 Girls Comedy HBO4 Luther Miniseries BBC America 30 RockComedy NBC3 The Big Bang Theory CBS Boardwalk Empire DramaHBO Curb Your Enthusiasm Comedy The Good Wife Drama CBS LouieComedy FX New Girl Fox Parks and RecreationNBC Saturday Night LiveVariety 65th Tony Awards CBS2 84th Academy Awards ABC The Amazing RaceCompetition CBS Dancing with the Stars ABC Game of Thrones Drama HBO Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater Variety FX Nurse Jackie Comedy Showtime So You Think You Can Dance Competition Fox Veep Comedy HBO
Most major awards + Networks with multiple major awards Network No. ofAwards HBO 6 ABC 5 Showtime 4 CBS3 FX History 2
+ Programs with multiple major awards Program Category Network No. of Awards Game Change Movie HBO4 Homeland Drama Showtime Modern Family Comedy ABC Hatfields & McCoys Miniseries History 2
Notes
Presenters The awards were presented by the following: