Before I get into the winners and losers, I just want to say a word about the host of the ceremony, Neil Patrick Harris. He was a brilliant choice as the host of the 2009 Emmys. He was funny, he was old-school, he was respectful, yet he infused the ceremony with an edgy vein. During the opening song, and in his first introduction, his voice was shaking, and he seemed very nervous, but after that, he was very good. It seemed at times like he was improvising, especially when he lost the Best Supporting Actor Emmy to Jon Cryer. NPH riffed on losing, and they cut to Cryer in the press room, and NPH was able to mock Cryer live. It was hilarious. I also liked the Doctor Horrible “break-in” piece – I thought it was going to be cheesy, but it worked. It took me more than an hour to figure out the running gag of talking about actors’ weird credits, but it was funny. My other favorite NPH moment was in the opening song, when he mentioned Christina Hendricks’ curves (Joan on Mad Men), then got distracted by Jon Hamm. It was great. NPH should get the Oscars gig – but he won’t.

Onto the winners and losers:

Drama Series: “Mad Men,” AMC
Comedy Series: “30 Rock,” NBC
Reality Series: “The Amazing Race,” CBS
Miniseries: “Little Dorrit” PBS.
Made-for-TV Movie: “Grey Gardens,” HBO
Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad,”
Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, “Damages,” FX Networks
Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Michael Emerson, “Lost,” ABC
Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Cherry Jones, “24,” Fox.
Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock,” NBC
Actress, Comedy Series: Toni Collette, “United States of Tara,” Showtime
Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men,” CBS
Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies,” ABC
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm,” HBO
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “Grey Gardens,” HBO
Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Ken Howard, “Grey Gardens,” HBO
Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Shohreh Aghdashloo, “House of Saddam”
Host, Reality Series: Jeff Probst, “Survivor,” CBS
Best Writing, Comedy or Variety: The Daily Show
Best Music & Lyrics: opening song of the Oscars, sung by Hugh Jackman
Outstanding Variety Show: The Daily Show

My personal highlights included:

* The first winner of the night, Kristin Chenoweth, and her sweet, emotional speech. She’s such a cute little hobbit, and I loved when she used her speech to try to get work on Mad Men or 24.

*Jon Cryer’s win for Best Supporting Actor – he was an underdog, and the look of pride on Charlie Sheen’s face was surprisingly nice. Plus, NPH played up the fake anger so much at Cryer having beaten him, Cryer got extra press.

*Everything about Ricky Gervais. From his mocking of the general attractiveness of television actors, to the specific mocking of Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson, Ricky can do no wrong. Loved that Ricky presented the award to his friend Jon Stewart, who then noted in his speech that The Daily Show team was “better looking than Ricky Gervais”. Scratch what I said about NPH – Ricky Gervais should be the host of an awards show.

*This isn’t really a highlight, but what is going on with Jessica Lange’s face? It’s not just Botox, right? Botox wouldn’t make it look like that. I thought she was going to give herself a stroke trying to raise an eyebrow.

* I loved that Lost won something, and I loved that it was Michael Emerson (Ben). His little speech was prepared, but it was classy. I loved that he spoke about the role as “a character actor’s dream”. Sometimes I wonder if Americans ever make good character actors. Everyone wants to be the lead.

* It was great to see Michael J. Fox. He looks healthy. I wondered if he would show up, and it’s great to see him. I was surprised that he did not get a standing ovation.

* Dude, “Mother Lover” lost! Poor Justin Timberlake. Even I think “Mother Lover” was far superior to whatever the hell that Hugh Jackman Oscar thing was.

* Sarah McLaughlin singing “We Will Remember You” over the “In Memoriam” section. At first I was like “WTF?” But it worked. Better than Queen Latifah at the Oscars.

*MAD MEN!!! So happy they won. I’m sad that Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss and John Slattery didn’t pick up acting awards, but I’m glad the show picked up Best Drama and Best Writing. And Mad Men’s creator, Matt Weiner had one of the best lines of the night: “When you get something like this, it makes writing look fun, and it’s not.”

Photos are from the winners press room credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures and WENN.com