Backstage At The Emmys

Ray Romano said he wanted to go out on top, and he did.

Backstage at the 57th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night, the star of the CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" told The Early Show national correspondent Hattie Kauffman, "You could look at it and say, 'You did the right thing, you went when you're still on top,' or you can also look at it and say, 'You didn't do the right thing, 'cause you're still winning awards.' So you can't win."

"Wanna come back," Kauffman kidded Romano.

"Can I?" he kidded back.

Last season was the last for the long-running "Raymond."

Doris Roberts, who played Raymond's mother, won for the fourth time for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and she was dancing in the aisles.

"When people stop me on the street, they always say the same thing: 'I love you and thank you for the laughter you brought into my home.' What a great thing to hear," she observed to Kauffman.

Brad Garrett took a laidback approach to his third win as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

"You must be used to winning these: You put it on the floor. Everyone else is holding it close to the heart," Kauffman remarked.

Responded Garrett, "I'm not about the bling-bling. If I was in charge of the academy, I would make them out of wicker.""Lost," a breakout hit about stranded castaways, won Best Drama.

And, says Kauffman, get ready for more catfights on Wisteria Lane. The winner among the "Desperate Housewives" nominees was Felicity Huffman, as Best Actress in a comedy.

She also had the best "Thank your spouse" acceptance speech, proclaiming, "And finally, I would like to thank the incomparable William H. Macy for taking a chunky 22-year-old with a bad perm and glasses into a cow pasture and kissing me and making me his wife. Thank you!"

For the second time, Tony Shaloub of "Monk" won for Best Actor in a comedy. "I'm so grateful to have a job, and to work with and for lovely people," he reflected, to Kauffman. "So, this is kind of, I share this with them, because it's the second one. The first one, I wouldn't share with anybody, but this one I think I could share."

The news anchors who gave up their desks this year received a standing ovation. And both Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw remembered their colleague, Peter Jennings.

Said Rather, to the audience, "He left us far too soon and with, everyone thought, so much good work still ahead of him."

David Letterman paid tribute to the late Johnny Carson, remembering for audience members that, "Johnny gave me and countless others validation, true status in show business, and a career."

In the drama categories, James Spader and Patricia Arquette won, much to her disbelief.

"You really did win!" Kauffman assured Arquette.

"OK (chuckle). (I thought) they would have taken it by now," was the reply.

"Amazing Race" won again for best reality show.

Kauffman told the show's Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram Van Muster, Phil Koeghan, "I'd ask how are you going to celebrate, but I'd bet it's not, take a trip!"

As part of an offbeat nod to TV theme songs, Donald Trump exchanged his power suit for overalls, helping to belt out, "Green Acres is the place to be…"

But for Garrett, the place to be was a couch he was sitting on while chatting with Kauffman. He joked about wanting her to join him on it, proclaiming, "I swear to God, you, this, no one else, really! I'd pack the wife on Christmas morning. This is part of a dream sequence. Part of my dream sequence."

Jon Stewart, the host of "The Daily Show," took home two statues, including one for Best Variety, Music or Comedy Series.

And Paul Newman won Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for HBO's "Empire Falls."