"Modern Family" broke through the old guard and won as best comedy series at the 62nd annual Emmy Awards Sunday night while "Mad Men" continued to charm Emmy voters and scored a three-peat.

The first-year ABC hit about three generations of the Pritchett clan had 14 nominations going into the big night, and co-creator Steve Levitan thanked the audience for allowing his "Modern Family" to become a part of our families' TV viewing.

When it came time to chose a drama series, ad man Don Draper & Co. proved irresistible to Emmy voters once more. "Mad Men" won its third trophy despite strong competition from another AMC drama, "Breaking Bad," the final season of "Lost," and "True Blood," the popular HBO series about vampires, werewolves and other mysterious creatures of the bayou.

"Breaking Bad" owned the edge in acting awards, with Bryan Cranston again triumphing as best actor in a drama, winning his third Emmy for his ferocious turn as a cancer patient and meth manufacturer. His co-star, Aaron Paul, was named best supporting actor.

In thanking show runner Vince Gilligan and the rest of the "Breaking Bad" team, Mr. Cranston said, "I feel like all I have to do is hold on tight and you will take us where we have to go."

Kyra Sedgwick won her first best actress Emmy after five nominations as the brassy deputy police chief in TNT's "The Closer." Archie Panjabi, the mysterious Kalinda of "The Good Wife," won as best supporting actress in a drama.

The show opened with host Jimmy Fallon in "let's put on a show" mode with the cast members of "Glee," plus Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, Jorge "Hurley" Garcia and more singing Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."

The award-giving began in earnest minutes later, with comedy series "Glee" (19 nominations) and "Modern Family" running neck in neck.

Eric Stonestreet's heartfelt speech for his win as best supporting actor in a comedy and another win for the writers of the "Modern Family" pilot got the ABC series off to a running start. The show's closest comedy rival, "Glee," broke the string when Jane Lynch won best supporting actress in a comedy for her role as diabolical cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester and show creator Ryan Murphy won for direction.

Jim Parsons broke the spell and broke down the Alec Baldwin Emmy firewall, snagging best actor in a comedy for his role as the socially backward nerd-genius Sheldon on CBS's "The Big Bang Theory." He ended Mr. Baldwin's two-year winning streak for "30 Rock" and beat out Tony Shalhoub, nominated for the final season of "Monk" and a three-time winner, and Steve Carell of "The Office.

If Mr. Parson's Sheldon is LOL funny, Edie Falco's "Nurse Jackie" represents the dark side of comedy. Ms. Falco, who owns three best dramatic actress Emmys as Carmela Soprano, now has one as pill-popping nurse Jackie Peyton.

For the past four years, "30 Rock" had a hold on Emmy's comedy category, but this year, first-year shows dominated the nominations.

"Glee," about high school misfits who find fellowship in song, became a hit for Fox and songs from the show soared up the iTunes charts.

Before the night began, HBO already boasted 17 Emmys, awarded at the Aug. 21 creative arts ceremony, followed by ABC with 15 and Fox with nine. CBS, NBC and PBS each claimed seven.

"The Pacific," the World War II miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, captured a leading seven creative arts awards, which recognize technical and other achievements. Last night, it beat out its only miniseries rival, "Return to Cranford."

Emmys for "Temple Grandin," the HBO biopic about an autistic woman's perseverance to become a leader in the field of animal behavior, included best made-for-TV movie, director, best actress for Claire Danes and best supporting actors Julia Ormond and David Strathairn.

Al Pacino won best actor in a movie or miniseries for another HBO biographical film, "You Don't Know Jack," about "Doctor Death," Jack Kevorkian.

Accepting the Emmy for writing "You Don't Know Jack," Adam Mazer said, he was "glad Jack is my friend, but I'm glad you're not my doctor."

The real Temple Grandin and Jack Kevorkian were in the audience to cheer on the victories.

A surprise in the reality competition category came when Bravo's "Top Chef" beat out perennial winner "Amazing Race," while it was no surprise in the variety, music or comedy series category, which for the seventh time went to "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart."

Other variety contenders had included Conan O'Brien's short-lived "Tonight Show." Mr. Fallon joked about sending an NBC late-night host to Los Angeles to host the Emmys.

"What could go wrong?" he said.

In picking up the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, George Clooney told of how he had met Bob and Dolores Hope at his Aunt Rosemary's house, and called their work for the USO "the best version of the term celebrity." The man whose own work includes the "Hope for Haiti" telethon challenged those in the audience and those at home to keep the spotlight where it is most needed.

Ratings for the awards' ceremony have increased importance: The TV academy's contract is up for renewal with the four major networks that had been airing the show in rotation for eight years, and the academy hopes last year's 8 percent audience increase is a trend after an all-time low in 2008.

The show's live nationwide broadcast and scheduling could be factors. The Emmys typically have aired immediately before TV's mid-September kickoff, but NBC pushed up the awards telecast to avoid a conflict with its Sunday night National Football League games that begin Sept. 12.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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