63rd Primetime Emmy Awards

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

Most major awards

;Notes

Presenters

The awards were presented by the following:

In Memoriam

The annual In Memoriam segment was presented by John Shaffner and featured the Canadian Tenors performing the song "Hallelujah". The segment was extended for this ceremony, as executive producer Mark Burnett stated that "it [didn't] need to be a bummer... It can be a celebration".

• Cliff Robertson
• Elizabeth Taylor
• Anne Francis
• James MacArthur
• Peter Falk
• Harold Gould
• Stanley Frazen
• James Arness
• Janet MacLachlan
• Madelyn Pugh Davis
• Steve Landesberg
• Blake Edwards
• Betty Garrett
• John Cossette
• Bill Erwin
• Barbara Billingsley
• Leslie Nielsen
• Tom Bosley
• Reza Badiyi
• Leonard Stern
• Ryan Dunn
• Denise Cramsey
• Frank Potenza
• Bob Banner
• Andy Whitfield
• Fred Steiner
• Jill Clayburgh
• John Dye
• Jack LaLanne
• Al Masini
• Sada Thompson
• Laura Ziskin
• Don Meredith
• Sherwood Schwartz
• Bubba Smith
• Stephen J. Cannell

Memorable moments

Opening number

The show opened with Jane Lynch performing a pre-taped opening number which showed the TV world as being contained inside of a large building, parodying Rear Window. Lynch walked through the building and entered the universe of shows including The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, Parks and Recreation, MythBusters and Glee (the show of which Lynch is a cast member) among others. Lynch's lyrics satirized elements of each show and television in general. The ceremony culminated with Lynch entering the theatre and performing a short dance number, which ended with a fireworks show. The opening number received a standing ovation.

Emmytones

Throughout the night, the "Emmytones" introduced each genre in the form of a short jingle. They consisted of Zachary Levi ("Chuck"), Cobie Smulders ("How I Met Your Mother"), Kate Flannery ("The Office"), Wilmer Valderrama ("Royal Pains"), Joel McHale ("Community") and nominee Taraji P. Henson ("Person of Interest"). The Emmytones received mixed to negative reviews, with many critics citing them as unimportant and others calling them "time fillers."

Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

For the presentation of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, each of the nominees went up to the stage in the style of a beauty pageant. The orchestra played music similar to that of a pageant as the nominees went to the stage. The winner ended up being Melissa McCarthy, who mentioned that this was "her first and best pageant ever." Both the producers and the nominees in the category gave nominee Amy Poehler credit for conceiving the idea. Nominee Martha Plimpton was also credited.

The presentation was well received critically with many critics regarding it to be the best part of the night. Once all the nominees reached the stage, they received a standing ovation. The pairing of Rob Lowe and Sofía Vergara, who presented the category, was also praised critically.

Criticism about the orchestra

For the 2011 ceremony, the producers enlisted Hype Music to provide the orchestrations. These orchestrations were universally hated by reviewers. The band played music from the Hype Music roster of artists as the winners walked to the stage, breaking the tradition of their respective program's theme song being played as they accepted their awards. The decision to do this received an overwhelmingly negative response from critics and enraged Emmy Award enthusiasts, many of whom felt as though a tradition observed since the 1st Primetime Emmy Awards had been broken. One reviewer even called this decision "one of the biggest mistakes in the ceremony's history."

References

References

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