And The Emmy Winners for 2006 Are...

The ballots are in, and some heavy favorites took away the Emmy statuettes Sunday night. Leading the pack was the returning ever-present contender "24," which has been nominated for several years as has its star, but the series did not have much success competing in the main categories. This year, however, with Day 5’s incredible and absolutely exhilarating action and story with the biggest of all bad guys and the worst of all losses, "24" finally won itself an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Fittingly, Kiefer Sutherland, again after being passed over previous years, finally walked away with an award for Outstanding Lead Actor in A Drama Series. For many of the shows devotees, it’s about time.

And, there was no shortage of likable winners. "The Office" won for Outstanding Comedy series, but Steve Carell didn’t win his category for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, the way the Drama category went to the show and its lead actor this year. The honor for Actor in a Comedy went to Tony Shalhoub for "Monk," which is no surprise since Shalhoub has won two of his three past nominations and continues to breathe life into the amazing obsessive-compulsive detective. Mariska Hargitay took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Television veteran Alan Alda, best known for his acclaimed role as Hawkeye on "M*A*S*H," won the Supporting Actor category for a Drama, "The West Wing" in this case. And, last but certainly not least, "The Daily Show" won for the fourth consecutive year in a row for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. This year’s Emmys went to a good deal of programs and deserving wealth of talent that makes TV worth watching these days.