Last night's "59th Primetime Emmy Awards" on Fox got off to a brisk start and never looked back, powering through 29 awards and a series of entertaining-and-not-too-long montages, tributes and musical numbers.

Ryan Seacrest certainly has the skill to be an able host, as he's shown on "American Idol," but my early objection to him as Emmy host was simply one of symbolism: It's a night to honor TV's best. Should someone known for a reality show be the master of ceremonies? I'm not an anti-reality show snob -- they have their place and some are quite entertaining -- but I'm not convinced a reality representative should be at the center of the Emmys.

No matter. Seacrest did a fine job staying out of the way once the show was rolling, but the Emmys got off to a sickeningly Seacrest-centric start. He referred to the Emmys using the "Idol" moniker "the Results Show," trumpeted himself as a "full-service host" for also doing the pre-show on E!, showed off his talent for identifying dress and shoe designers and waved to Teri Hatcher, to whom he was once romantically linked in tabloids. Later he made a Paula Abdul-on-drugs joke.

Seacrest out, please.

Before Seacrest's Emmy intro, an animated song-and-dance number featuring "Family Guy" stars Stewie and Brian took shots at TV, though not at any Fox shows (those are served up almost weekly on "Family Guy"). The pair sang about how "never before in history have we had such a wide selection of trash" on TV, but they also made the absolutely accurate point that "if you want it, you can find it on TV," including the good stuff that some knee-jerk haters are too quick to ignore.

This year the Emmys were held in the round, with the audience ringing a circular stage. It may not have played well in person, but on TV, it gave the show a more informal, modern look and feel.

As for the awards themselves, there were some welcome surprises, including first-time wins for supporting comedy actress Jaime Pressly ("My Name Is Earl") and supporting drama actor Terry O'Quinn ("Lost").

"When we're rolling around in the jungle in the mud, hitting and stabbing each other, I wonder what it would be like to bake up a sheet of cookies on Wisteria Lane," O'Quinn said, acknowledging the "Desperate Housewives" stars. "And get one of their checks."

Other surprises: Sally Field's win for lead drama actress ("Brothers & Sisters") and Ricky Gervais' win for lead comedy actor ("Extras").

And then there was Lewis Black. Fans of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" know his rants well, and the one he delivered at the Emmys was spot-on, but I'm not sure it was the time or place for a rant about what annoys viewers about TV.

Directing his venom at network executives, Black raged, "Your job is to tell stories, it's not to tell us in the middle of the story what show is coming on next or which one is premiering two weeks from now! What do you want me to do, stop and get a pencil and write it down? Do you want me to stop watching and prepare myself for the next show?"

Black also railed against all the graphics that clutter cable news channel screens, saying, "We're not idiots except for being dumb enough to try and get the news from you."

Some other highlights (or not):

Too much Macy's: Loved the new Macy's commercial with the stars of all their product lines -- Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Donald Trump, etc. -- but near the end of Fox's pre-show, the Macy's logo took over one side of the screen and a Fox logo blocked another, making what was in the middle difficult to see.

Time elapsed in the Emmy ceremony until the first "Sopranos"-cuts-to-black joke: A hair over two minutes.

A tribute to tributes: Kudos to the Emmycast for serving up some entertaining, brief tributes ("Roots") and montages (topical humor) that didn't put viewers to sleep. Oscars, take note.

Best correction: Some viewers might have thought it was poor form for supporting drama actress and Emmy winner Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy") to correct the announcer who mis-pronounced her surname, but since I yelled the correct pronunciation at the TV as soon as I heard her name mangled, it seemed appropriate.

Best nominations sequence: Every year at the Emmys, shows in the writing for variety, music or comedy series category always come up with exceptionally funny, unique ways to list the names of their writers. This year was no exception, with a bunch of Mexicans, each representing one writer, hopping in the back of a pickup driven by Conan O'Brien. Bill Maher's writers were pictured, feet only, under the doors of stalls in a men's room, some of them engaged in a wide stance.

Worst dirty disco globe: There has to be something better the network could cut to than a disco globe hanging in the rafters when someone says a word forbidden by the Federal Communications Commission.

Best acceptance speech: Leave it to a Brit to supply equal amounts of sass and class. Oscar winner Helen Mirren, accepting the best actress in a miniseries/movie award for her starring from in the final "Masterpiece Theatre: Prime Suspect," began by saying she'd speak until "that very dramatic music comes on."

She went on to say, "You Americans are wonderfully generous people. You are a lot of other things as well -- some good, some bad -- but if I was to categorize your nature, it's generosity above all."

But even when she was ready to be done, the music hadn't started playing her off, so she coaxed it, saying, "Come on, music, I'm going on and on!"

Most comical presenter: A seemingly out-if-it Elaine Stritch (or was she acting?), declared, "I'm not faking this. I really don't know what the hell I'm doing."