Emmys 2013: Upsets galore on an emotional night

LOS ANGELES -- The 65th Emmy Awards took so many of its winners by surprise Sunday night that several were, quite literally, speechless.


True, TV's biggest night had its share of repeat winners, notably ABC's "Modern Family" and actresses Claire Danes ("Homeland") and Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Veep").

But the winners in several of the major acting categories proved the prognosticators wrong.

In fact, the first award of the night went to first-time winner Merritt Wever of Showtime's "Nurse Jackie" for supporting actress in a comedy series. She seemed flummoxed, almost as if she were channeling her on-screen role as a quirky young nurse trying to find her way in the world — and to the stage of the Nokia Theatre.

Clearly shocked by the win, she said simply: "Thank you so much.... I gotta go, bye."

On the dramatic series side, the so-called experts were widely predicting wins for Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul of AMC's"Breaking Bad" for lead and supporting actor. Neither won. Much to his amazement, Bobby Cannavale was clutching the supporting actor's trophy for HBO's period mobster drama"Boardwalk Empire" and Jeff Daniels took the top honor for"The Newsroom."

"I didn't expect this," Daniels said, joking that he rarely wins anything besides "best actor over 50" from AARP, so he didn't have any prepared remarks.

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