JOHN ADAMS | TV Spy

There were celebrations all round for US comedy 30 Rock and historical drama John Adams, who had bagged 20 awards between them by the culmination of the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which took place at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles last night.

30 Rock’s Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin scooped gongs for best Actress and Actor, Comedy Series, while their hit show was voted best Comedy for the second year running.

John Adams - which premieres on More4 next week - took home a total of 13 (yes 13!) trophies including best Miniseries and Miniseries Actor and Actress for Paul Giamatti and co-star Laura Linney.

Other big winners included Damages, which won Glenn Close the Actress, Drama Series award. “It really has been the ride of my career,” she revealed at the ceremony. “This was as good as any part you would find in a feature film.”

Meanwhile, Bryan Cranston won Actor, Drama Series for his role as Walter H. White in Breaking Bad, which debuts on FX on Sunday.

Other major winners included Mad Men which scooped best Drama Series and Jeremy Piven who took home Supporting Actor, Comedy Series for his genius portrayal of slimy agent Ari Gold in Entourage.

Here’s a clip of Tina Fey and actress Amy Poehler presenting the first award of the evening to Piven…

And here are the main winners..

• Drama Series: ‘Mad Men’

• Comedy Series: ‘30 Rock’

• Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, ‘Breaking Bad’

• Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, ‘Damages’

• Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, ‘30 Rock’

• Actress, Comedy Series: Tina Fey, ‘30 Rock’

• Reality-Competition Programme: ‘The Amazing Race’

• Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Programme: Jeff Probst - ‘Survivor’

• Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Zeljko Ivanek, ‘Damages’

• Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Dianne Wiest, ‘In Treatment’

• Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven, ‘Entourage’

• Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Jean Smart, ‘Samantha Who?’

• Miniseries: ‘John Adams’

• Made-for-TV Movie: ‘Recount’

• Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giamatti, ‘John Adams’

• Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, ‘John Adams’

• Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, ‘John Adams’

• Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Eileen Atkins, ‘Cranford’

JOHN ADAMS

Starts More4, late-September

John Adams may not be the most familiar name in American history, but the onetime American President’s importance is recognised in the excellent HBO drama John Adams, coming to More4 later this month.

The seven-part series chronicles the life of Adams and the turbulent era that saw the United States break away from Britain – its colonial ruler – to assert its independence. Adams became the second President of the United States and had a huge influence in establishing the nation’s values.

The story begins in 1770 with clashes between British redcoats and the citizens of Boston, and ends on 4 July 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the date of Adams’s death at the age of 90. The series was highly praised when it aired in America earlier this year and has been nominated for 23 Emmy awards.

Its top-notch cast includes two of my favourite actors, Paul Giamatti, as Adams, and Laura Linney, as his wife Abigail, as well as Brits Tom Wilkinson and Rufus Sewell.

The series looks great, with high production values, and is as much a love story as a political drama, with some of the dialogue taken from John and Abigail’s own correspondence. I’ve found it frustrating that so many recent historical dramas have had all the history removed (one national newspaper coined a new word for this, a ‘historyectomy’), so it’s great that John Adams promises to tell an entertaining story without messing around with the facts. Watch it. Take my word for it, you won’t be disappointed. Here, to get you in the mood, is a trailer from makers HBO…• Click here for more great new US shows coming to a screen near you this autumn