This was Piven's third Emmy for the role, while Jean Smart in "Samantha Who?" was honored as the best supporting actress in a comedy series.

"These are strange times for all of us. To be a working actor is an unbelievable gift. None of this is lost on me," Piven was quoted by media reports as saying when he accepted the award.

"I'm very proud to be an actor," Smart, after receiving the award, agreed.

FX's legal thriller "Damages" and AMC's drama "Mad Men" represent a mixed blessing for the ceremony because they're relatively undiscovered by viewers.

"You're almost introducing a broader audience to some of those shows. It's a challenge," said Emmy executive producer Ken Ehrlich.

But it also meant the ceremony could be "fresher," he added, "you're playing with some new teams and that can be fun."

This year's ceremony attracted large crowds of guests with TV fans filling the red carpet bleachers in front of the downtown Nokia Theatre. The opening last year drew the second-smallest audience on record due to a general decline in award-show viewership.