Emmy HBO is a Big Winner Recap

Emmy  HBO is a Big Winner Recap

Sunday night's Emmy Awards broadcast didn't exactly serve up a lot of surprises, but it did deliver some firsts and some great news for one particular cable network.

HBO was the night's most obvious winner, as two of its shows took home two of the biggest awards. Game of Thrones won the award for Best Drama, and Veep won for Best Comedy. It wasn't in any way shocking that GOT would win big, given that the show raked in more nominations, with 24 total, than any other program. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, star of Veep, also won the award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, GOT's Peter Dinklage won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and Veep's Tony Hale won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

In other significant news, Jon Hamm won the Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Mad Men. The actor had been nominated for the role eight times previously and had never won, and since the series ended last spring, this was his last chance.

Also significant was Viola Davis' win for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series for How To Get Away With Murder. Davis is the first African-American woman to win an Emmy in a lead actress category.