'John Adams' wins big at Creative Emmys

HBO's miniseries "John Adams" starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney was the night's biggest winner in tonight's six-hour Creative Emmys hosted by funny man Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke. The star-studded period drama won eight awards (out of its whopping 23 nominations), easily topping the next best performer, AMC's "Mad Men," which won a total of four statuettes.

"John Adams" took home awards for casting, costumes, prosthetic makeup, visual effects, sound mixing, editing, cinematography and art direction.

Other notable awards came with ABC's freshman hit "Pushing Daisies," which took home picture editing for a comedy and music composition. NBC's "30 Rock" won awards for guest actor with Tim Conway, casting and sound mixing. "Mad Men" took home an award for main title design, among three others.

The Creative Emmys are naturally a more subdued affair, honoring those behind the scenes (makeup, wardrobe, costumes, etc.) more than the ones in front of it. Tonight's Creative Emmys will air Saturday, Sept. 20 on E! The main Emmys telecast with all the major players will air live on Sunday, Sept. 21 via ABC.

Among the networks, HBO was the big winner, with 16 awards to add to its mantle, mostly due in part to "John Adams'" impressive haul. ABC and PBS tied for second with nine, while CBS and NBC walked away with eight and six respectively.