Emmys Recap: A Magical Night with Neil Patrick Harris

I missed the first 20 minutes of the broadcast, so I got caught up on the first few awards between YouTube and Zap2it's marvelous minute-by-minute recap. I missed the opening number and Outstanding Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, but now I'm in, catching every great moment of tonight's broadcast.

Winners tonight:

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kristen Chenoweth for "Pushing Daisies"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Jon Cryer for "Two and a Half Men"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Toni Colette for "United States of Tara"

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Jeffrey Blitz for "The Office"

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock"

Outstanding Host for a Reality-Competition Program
Jeff Probst for "Survivor"

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
"The Amazing Race"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Shohreh Aghdashloo for "House of Saddam"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Ken Howard for "Grey Gardens"

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Brendan Gleeson for "Into the Storm"

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie
Andrew Davies for "Little Dorrit"

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Movie
Dearbhla Walsh for "Little Dorrit"

Outstanding Lead Actress for a Miniseries or Movie
Jessica Lange for "Grey Gardens"

Outstanding Made for Television Movie
"Grey Gardens"

Outstanding Miniseries
"Little Dorrit"

Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series
Bruce Gowers for "American Idol"

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
"81st Annual Academy Awards"

Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Michael Emerson for "Lost"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
Cherry Jones for "24"

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Rod Holcomb for "ER"

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner for "Mad Men"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Glenn Close for "Damages"

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad"

Outstanding Comedy Series
"30 Rock"

Outstanding Drama Series
"Mad Men"

Memorable Moments at the Emmys

1. Jon Cryer won for Best Supporting Actor, which I was not happy about, but Neil Patrick Harris made the best of it by harassing Cryer the rest of the night.

Harris interrupted Cryer in the press room and asked him, "Do you have the envelope with you? Does it really say 'Jon Cryer'?"

Cryer smiled and opened the envelope, waving it in front of the camera.

2. Justin Timberlake spoofed Kanye West, stealing the mic for a moment and interjecting, "I'm going to let you finish, I'm going to let you finish!"

3. Lorne Michaels got a lot of love tonight from Tina Fey, Justin Timberlake, and Alec Baldwin. All three thanked Michaels for help with their care.

4. A segment involving Stewie and Brian from "Family Guy" took jabs at "How I Met Your Mother." Stewie beats up Brian because he is planning on voting for "How I Met Your Mother" instead of "Family Guy" for the Emmy, and Stewie tortures Brian until he agrees to vote for "Family Guy." The segment ends with Stewie yelling, "Suit up!"

5. The reality show montage could have been renamed "The Times When People Yelled A Lot." The segment was supposed to show the best of reality TV, and sadly, I think it did. Reality TV, this year was an epic fail. Also, the montage loses points because I had to rewatch Adam Lambert get robbed at the "American Idol" finale. (No worries, "Amazing Race." You guys are the exception to the rule.)

6. Neil Patrick Harris managed to keep the night light-hearted and unpretentious. He introduced the night's celebrities with their most obscure projects, mostly after-school specials that they made early in their careers.

7. Nathan Fillion showed up for a fantastically hilarious "Dr. Horrible" segment. The segment's best gag was Neil Patrick Harris cackling that there are no commercials on the Internet so there's no waiting, only to be interrupted by nine little letters familiar to anyone who watches TV shows online: "Buffering."

8. I award an epic win to all the writers nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. I especially enjoyed the writers from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" being represented by trashed cars and Conan O'Brien friending his writers on Facebook.