The glitz, the glamor, the Emmy Awards are television’s big night, when stars and shows alike are recognized for excellence in the field of television production. Television’s answer to the Academy Awards, the Emmys are described as "television’s biggest night." This past Sunday (September 16, 2007) boasted the 59th annual Emmy Awards ceremony, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA. Many stars were in attendance, including presenters Ray Romano, Glenn Close, Tina Fey, Ellen Degeneres, Kyra Sedgwick, and Keifer Sutherland. Performances included Tony Bennett and Christina Aguilera performing a duet of "Steppin’ Out" and the Tony award-winning cast of the Broadway musical "Jersey Boys."

The show opened with a musical number performed by cartoon characters Brian and Stewie from "Family Guy." While this was a bit unexpected, it did save audiences from listening to an opening monologue from this year’s host, Ryan Seacrest, who was delightfully brief in his hosting duties. The show closed with the final award, that for Outstanding Drama Series, being awarded to "The Sopranos," making the show the first American drama to win the award in its final season. In between the opening monologue and final goodbyes were at least three hours of thank you speeches, tributes, and homage paid to the greats of the small screen.

Highlights of the evening include Katherine Heigl’s ("Grey’s Anatomy") acceptance speech, in which she laughed "My own mother told me I didn’t have a shot in hell of winning," before thanking her mother for her constant support of Heigl’s career. Also amusing was an appearance by Kanye West, who participated in a spoof of himself and remarks he made at the recent VMA awards. West poked fun at his own comments (about not winning a VMA at MTV’s Video Music Awards) by entering into a song lyrics contest with "The Office" cast member Rainn Wilson, and losing.

Of all the networks present, NBC, ABC, and HBO tied as the overall winners for the evening, each garnering six Emmys. Winners in the major categories include:

For Best Series, Drama: HBO’s "The Sopranos."

For Best Series, Comedy: NBC’s "30 Rock."

For Best Actor, Drama: James Spader as Alan Shore in ABC’s "Boston Legal."

Best Actress, Drama: Sally Field as Nora Walker in ABC’s "Brothers and Sisters."

Best Actor, Comedy: Ricky Gervais as Andy Millman in HBO’s "Extras."

Best Actress, Comedy: America Ferrera as Betty Suarez in ABC’s "Ugly Betty."

Best Supporting Actor, Drama: Terry O’Quinn as John Locke in ABC’s "Lost."

Best Supporting Actress, Drama: Katherine Heigl as Dr. Izzie Stevens in ABC’s "Grey’s Anatomy."

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy: Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold in HBO’s "Entourage."

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy: Jaime Pressly as Joy Turner in NBC’s "My Name Is Earl."

Best Reality-Competition Program: CBS’s "The Amazing Race."

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series: NBC’s "Late Night with Conan O’Brien."

Best Made for Television Movie: HBO’s "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee."

Best Miniseries: AMC’s "Broken Trail."

Lead Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Robert Duvall as Print Ritter in AMC’s "Broken Trail."

Lead Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison in PBS’s "Prime Suspect: The Final Act (Masterpiece Theatre)."

Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Thomas Haden Church as Tom Harte in AMC’s "Broken Trail."

Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Judy Davis as Joan McAllister in USA’s "The Starter Wife."

The star-stubbed evening ended with "The Sopranos" creator David Chase sharing a few parting thoughts. "In essence, this is a story about a gangster, and gangsters are out there taking their kids to college and taking their kids to school and outing food on the table, and, hell, let’s face it, if this world and this nation were run by gangsters - maybe it is."

For further Emmy Award information and a complete list of nominees and winners, please visit www.emmys.tv