'24' and 'The Office' clock in with Emmy wins

Two fitting winners emerged from Sunday’s 58th prime-time Emmy Awards: Serial thriller “24” took home top honors on the eve of a new season littered with “24” knockoffs, while “The Office,” which has helped revive the long-dormant TV sitcom, won for best comedy.

Kiefer Sutherland, as “24’s” sleepless spy Jack Bauer, and Mariska Hargitay of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” broke through with acting awards for drama.

On the comedy side, Tony Shalhoub, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and “The Daily Show” were all repeat winners. Two high-concept HBO projects walked offstage with hardware — “Elizabeth I” with four Emmys, the most of any program, and “The Girl in the Café” with three. But the cast and crew of supposedly red-hot ABC soap opera “Grey’s Anatomy” remained in their seats all night.

Conan O’Brien hosted this year’s telecast, but NBC affiliate KSHB pre-empted part of his opening for a weather update.

The majority of wins went to the worthiest entrants in their categories. Still, there was a stretch in mid-program where the Emmy voters seemed to be mailing it in. They gave Shalhoub his third Emmy for “Monk” over “The Office’s” Steve Carell, bestowed yet another award on Megan Mullally for “Will & Grace” and rewarded “The Amazing Race” for having its lamest season ever. (Don’t take my word; ask the fans.)

On the other hand, Alan Alda and Blythe Danner were welcome surprises in their supporting roles for “The West Wing” and “Huff.” It was nice to see Emmy voters acknowledge that two old pros could still be best-in-show. Jeremy Piven’s win for “Entourage” and André Braugher’s for FX’s “Thief” were mild upsets that also spoke to the TV academy’s good taste.

Danner delivered one of the night’s few memorable ad-libs when she said, “I guess I have to thank Showtime, even though they canceled us.”

The night’s two extra tributes, besides the annual “In Memoriam” video montage, were unusually touching. First, Dick Clark was brought out for a tribute, and though his speech was still slurred from a stroke in 2004, the man who once appeared to be the perpetual teenager seemed, somehow, in his element. He poked mild fun at his inability to walk out on stage and told the audience, in so many words, not to feel sorry for him.

“Everybody should be so lucky to have their dreams come true,” Clark said.

The tribute to Aaron Spelling was, if anything, more emotional. Going into the broadcast, savvy viewers had been instructed to keep their eyes on Spelling’s widow, Candy, and daughter, Tori, who were said to be estranged toward the end of the megaproducer’s life.

But the real drama of the moment came from the stage, as “Charlie’s Angels” star Kate Jackson ended her tribute with an elegy of sorts: “Soft and slow, we let you go. Bye-bye.” Everyone on camera instantly welled up with tears.

At points during the broadcast, the Emmys had an odd retro feel, as when Barry Manilow sang the theme to long-gone “American Bandstand,” then came out and collected an award a few minutes later. O’Brien’s opening monologue ended with a parody from … “The Music Man”?

And Bob Newhart took part in a running gag that required him to sit inside a glass case and pretend to be on exactly three hours’ worth of oxygen, lest the show run too long. It was as if network TV were paying a fond farewell to its mass-culture roots before plunging headlong into the future of interactive iPoddery, bite-sized Nielsens and a Web-based series knowingly named “Nobody’s Watching.”

But as the “Tonight Show” host of the future, O’Brien deftly bridged entertainment’s past and present. He got the night off to a silly start and then, just to keep the mood light, popped in to throw off meaningless but hilarious filler. And, of course, there were the requisite one-liners about the night: “When you’re handed your Emmy, don’t say, ‘Wow, this is heavy.’ Of course it’s heavy. It contains the shattered dreams of four other people.”

Ryan Seacrest’s pre-show interview with Heidi Klum stood out for what he forgot to ask the “Project Runway” host: what she was wearing.