"Sopranos" Wins Top Prize At Emmys

Gandolfini, Falco And Other Cast Members Go Home Empty-Handed

(CBS/AP)  "The Sopranos" didn't sweep at the 59th Annual Emmy Awards as many of the mob series' fans had hoped, but it did pick up the evening's biggest prize: outstanding drama series.

The HBO drama wasn't a sure bet for the trophy, which it claimed in 2004; that prize rarely goes to a drama after the show is off the air.

The show also picked up awards for outstanding directing in a drama series and for outstanding writing in a drama series.

"This amazing cast is what it came down to," said series creator David Chase, as he picked up the writing award. "It really is all about them."

Although five members of the "amazing cast" were nominated, none of them took home trophies from Sunday night's show on Fox, which was broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

James Gandolfini, who played the mobster Tony Soprano on the show, lost the outstanding lead actor in a drama series award to "Boston Legal" star James Spader.

"I feel like I just stole a pile of money from the mob," said Spader, accepting his award.

"The Sopranos" cast members Michael Imperioli, Aida Turturro and Lorraine Bracco were up for supporting actor awards, but none of them won.

Edie Falco, who played Tony Soprano's long-suffering wife Carmela, was shut out by Sally Field, the matriarch on "Brothers And Sisters," for outstanding lead actress in a drama.

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Onstage At The Emmys

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Echoing her over-the-top "you like me, you really like me" speech from the 1985 Oscars, an emotional Field stumbled halfway through Sunday's acceptance, lost her train of thought, screeched at the audience to stop applauding so she could finish talking - and then was bleeped by Fox censors as she stammered through an anti-war rant.

"And, let's face it, if the mothers ruled the war, there would be no (expletive) wars in the first place," Field said, but Fox cut away for much of her comment.

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Emmy Couples

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Backstage, Field told reporters that she wanted to recognize mothers who wait for their sons to come home from war. She added, however, that she "didn't have a political agenda."

Told that she had been bleeped, Field responded: "Oh well. I've been there before. Well, good. I don't care. I have no comment other than, oh well. I said what I wanted to say. I wanted to pay homage to the mothers of the world, and let their work be seen and valued."

The usually staid awards needed attention from the censors from the start, with first presenter Ray Romano. He joked about his former "Everybody Loves Raymond" wife, Patricia Heaton, sleeping with her new "Back to You" costar Kelsey Grammer.

But he used a stronger word, which prompted Fox to black out the show for a few seconds. "Grey's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl mouthed another expletive, and Fox tried to evade that with a different camera shot, but it was seen.

3For the first time, the Emmy audience was seated in the round at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with members of each cast seated together.

Newcomer "Ugly Betty," the high camp series adapted from a Colombian telenovela, lost the outstanding comedy series award to another freshman series, "30 Rock." But, America Ferrera, who plays the show's title character, Betty Suarez, took home an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series, matching her Golden Globe and SAG awards for the show.

Jeremy Piven was the first award winner of the night, picking up the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy trophy for his role as Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage."

"What an embarrassment of riches to be able to even play this role," Piven said. "It's incredible. I'm having the time of my life."

This is his third nomination, and his second win for the role.

Heigl won her first Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for playing Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on "Grey's Anatomy."

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Emmys Scorecard: Winners And Losers

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"Thanks for getting my name right," said Heigl, whose name was mispronounced when she presented an award earlier in the evening. "My own mother told me I didn't have a shot in hell of winning tonight, so I really don't have anything prepared. She's a really big supporter. She does love me."

Christina Aguilera proved herself to be the polar opposite of her former "Mickey Mouse Club" cast mate Britney Spears. The elegantly dressed Aguilera joined Tony Bennett, a multiple winner for his special "Tony Bennett: An American Classic," in a duet of "Stepping Out With My Baby." Spears had been rumored to appear on the show to apologize for last week's disastrous performance on the MTV Video Music Awards.

2Other early winners included Robert Duvall for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or a movie and Thomas Haden Church for oustanding supporting actor in a miniseries or movie, both for AMC's "Broken Trail." The show also won for best miniseries or movie.

Jaime Pressly picked up an outstanding supporting actress in a comedy award for "My Name Is Earl."

Terry O'Quinn, who stars as the rugged John Locke on ABC's "Lost," won for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series. "Sometimes when we're rolling around in the jungle in the mud, hitting each other and stabbing each other, I wonder what it would be like to bake up a sheet of cookies on Wisteria Lane and get one of their checks," said O'Quinn, referring to the street where the plot thickens on "Desperate Housewives."

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Photos: Emmy Red Carpet

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"Then I think about my castmates and crewmates, and I realize why I have the best job in the world."

On a different note, former Vice President Al Gore, whose global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" received an Oscar earlier this year, won an Emmy for Current TV, his youth-oriented channel featuring viewer-created videos.

Ratings expectations were dampened by last year's outcome, when the show drew its fourth-smallest audience ever of about 16 million viewers. There also was formidable competition from Sunday evening's Chargers-Patriots NFL game airing on NBC.

Network Emmy tallies going into Sunday night's ceremony included HBO with 15; NBC with 12, CBS with nine, Fox with seven, PBS six and ABC four. All were presented at last week's creative arts ceremony.

Guest actors in drama and comedy series honored at the creative arts awards were Elaine Stritch for "30 Rock," Leslie Caron for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," John Goodman for "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and Stanley Tucci for "Monk."

[jacksteen1]

No one else gives a *** that FOX censored the news by bleeping Sally Fields'' comments on the illegal and immoral war we are waging ?

What - the NASCAR Nation accepts FOX as the arbiter of all things decent and pure ?

Pathetic.

And what the *** is this snidegrass smoking, anyway ? Get a job and wake the *** up, bucko.

[tnt1954]

their favorite song: riot industry by cobra
verde, heard a lot on sirius underground garage. their favorite goldie oldie: dirty
white boy their favorite brewski: lucky
lager. their favorite cigarette: lucky strike
non-filter, its biodegradeable. lucky strike
goes to war, remember. the new jodie foster
movie, is an interesting hint. i only
heard about it on satellite sisters. course
knx 1070 is standing by to cover all newsworthy
events. how about the run on the banks in
england today? hear about that? aw, what
the heck, its only money. skid row economics
are share and share alike. building up a fund
can be moribund.

[tnt1954]

gee, you guys hit hard. aren''t you being
discriminatory against disabled people. that''s
a felony ya know. civil rights have been
extended to everyone. you can get reamed
for talking that way to anyone, whether
they are mental patients or not. boy, you
guys better be careful. federal civil
rights violations are very serious matters.
sing like girls, walk like men? the americans
with disabilities act is a highly vital
part of our country. i guess you are such
sissies you''d go up to a parapalegic vet
in a wheelchair and put him in the lake.
i think other veterans might object.
very strongly. with force and vehemence.
the v.a. is full of guys for many, many years.
nuttier than fruitcakes, just waiting outside
bars, for guys like you. wiseacres. wisecrackers. andn they are also, inside
bars, waiting for guys like you. who think
they''re real smart alecks. go ahead, throw
another punch. we''ll take the hit.
and throw it back to you, when you least
expect it, on candid camera. go ahead say
what ya want. go up to the crips and call
them the n word. ya scared?

[unkie469]

snidegrass - Were you in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo''s Nest?" Your brain must be really "fried."

[jacksteen1]

Brilliant job of editing the TRUTH, CBS and this Entertainment Showbuzz ********* site!

Trying to make Sally Fields'' comments against the war look foolish...you pieces of ******* are as bad as the ************ at FOX that edited her comments off the air!

A responsible adult movie actress makes a point and you denigrate her - - but let $cientology puppet Tiny Tom Cruise say a word about psychiatry or the relative merits of his cult versus anyone else''s religion...and you''re right there to lap up his spew.

I never thought I''d see such nonsense in America...but your editing the TRUTH makes me quite sick.

Shame on you.

[Krazcarl]

snidegrass do you have any idea what your talking about do you think anyone would care, Let me fill you in they don''t they pass your rantings. You a mental pt.

[Krazcarl]

Does anyone really care, why the lowest ratings ever.

[olebd]

What a charmed farking life these actors/actresses live. Not only do they have fun playing dress up and being other people but they get award after award if they qre deemed worthy enough. Even if they don''t win, they get goody bags filled with thousands of dollars of merchandise and then they get to go to some great parties a couple of times a year. If only all jobs were like this.

[tnt1954]

wasn''t all my children great today? scary too.
my heart went to kendall during most of it.
and the patricia campbell hearst soup for
sale on the ads. campbell''s soup. richie
is like a cousin i have. he had a resentment
early in life, his ma was a judge in arizona
and his pa worked for the bureau of indian
affairs. he murdered his dad and shot off
his ma''s hand, so she couldn''t gavel right
handed anymore. but originally they were
all from sayville, ny. his name is richie
too. they say he''s locked up? i wonder really.
all of them missed new york, hated arizona.
i''ll tell ya what if you''re a star, i''ll
have my organzation pick you up, you have
to be female, and we''ll fly to st. peter''s
square at the vatican in my private jet,
a harrier, land and go right in and have
pope benedict the sixteenth marry us, and
then off to sicily to swim for conch shells.
if i die, fighting saracen scuba divers, you
become the queen of the kingdom. if not,
we get an annulment. you''ll be so busy
entertaining guests, they''ll be no time
to consummate the marriage. i''m just funning
ya anyway? or am i? some people have all
their assets in rare coins and rare stamps.
they play pauper perfectly. appraisal is
a matter of opinion, and liquidity is difficult.
try buying a loaf of bread with a spanish
coin from 1639? can''t be done.

[tnt1954]

britney spears wasn''t on, so why should i watch.
she''s like a female errol flynn. has her
yacht for all her young dudes that spear
her. does britney spear? yes, britney spears.
she''s getting speared too much, like - in like
flynn, his old saying. then came in like
flint with james coburn. speared like britney.
many women have spear fear. for good reason.
now on song number four on britney''s greatest
hits, i''m sure the man who dives down in the
water and gets it for her is bob wagner himself.
famous prince valiant hero, and it takes a thief
hero. and real life hero also. natalie was
taken by mini-sub to a waiting mother ship
russian submarine back to russia to work
undercover against the tyrannical russian govt.
the idea was hatched one night when i went
to the music center with my ma and pa and
she eyed me and spied and put me under this
strange impressionist spell, so i as a jr. g-man
jr. t-man, and jr.fireman had to help with
the gag, or end up in cement kimonos. the
gag was on the russians in the end. but their
feint, is coming back up strong against our
shields. where is natalie now? maybe in
a p.o.w. camp? who knows? some know, can''t tell.