62nd Primetime Emmy Awards

The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, were held on Sunday, August 29, 2010, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT (00:00 UTC; August 30). Comedian and Late Night host Jimmy Fallon hosted the ceremony for the first time.

The ceremony honored the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2009, until May 31, 2010. The HBO miniseries The Pacific won eight awards, the most for any program this year, including Outstanding Miniseries. ABC's freshman series Modern Family was the most honored comedy series of the year with six awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Modern Family would go on to win again the top prize for four more years (2010-2014) to reach a record five Outstanding Comedy Series wins. AMC's period piece drama Mad Men won four awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, its third consecutive victory in that category. The HBO film Temple Grandin won five major awards, tying the record for most major wins by a television film, set by Promise in 1987.

The ceremony was telecast live coast-to-coast in the United States by NBC, the first such broadcast since ABC did so for the 34th ceremony held in 1976. The ceremony was held before its usual mid-September date to avoid a conflict with NBC Sunday Night Football.

On August 21, 2010, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards were presented at the same venue. E! aired clips from the ceremony on August 28, the evening preceding the night of the primetime telecast.

The ceremony was received well by critics, with much praise going to the quality of the production, the voting trends and the entertainment factor. Jimmy Fallon received unanimous acclaim for his performance as the host, with some critics citing him as one of the greatest Emmy hosts in recent times.

Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold:





Most major awards

 * Notes

Presenters
The awards were presented by the following:

In Memoriam
The singer Jewel performed an original song called "The Shape of You" (which would later be released on her 2015 album Picking Up the Pieces) during the tribute:


 * Art Linkletter
 * Fess Parker
 * Jimmy Dean
 * Art Clokey
 * Gene Barry
 * Roy E. Disney
 * Dorothy DeBorba
 * Soupy Sales
 * Jean Simmons
 * Peter Graves
 * Robert Culp
 * Caroline McWilliams
 * Merlin Olsen
 * Pernell Roberts
 * Patricia Neal
 * Bernie West
 * David Lloyd
 * Maury Chaykin
 * Corey Haim
 * Edward Woodward
 * James Gammon
 * Joanne Dillon
 * Andrew Koenig
 * Gary Coleman
 * John Forsythe
 * Rue McClanahan
 * Phil Harris
 * Brittany Murphy
 * Dixie Carter
 * Lynn Redgrave
 * Lena Horne
 * Dennis Hopper
 * David L. Wolper

Opening number
This Primetime Emmy telecast commenced with a cold open spoofing the musical drama series Glee. Host Jimmy Fallon convinces several Glee castmembers to "enlist" in a singing competition in order for them to earn money for tickets to the Emmy ceremony. Together they recruit several nominees and famous television personalities in and around the Nokia Theatre for help. They break out in song to Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run".

People who appeared in the opening segment/number:
 * Chris Colfer
 * Nina Dobrev
 * Jimmy Fallon
 * Tina Fey
 * Jorge Garcia
 * Kate Gosselin
 * Tim Gunn
 * Jon Hamm
 * Randy Jackson
 * Jane Lynch
 * Joel McHale
 * Lea Michele
 * Cory Monteith
 * Amber Riley
 * Betty White