So, how did last night's live Emmy Awards telecast fare with critics and viewers? Final ratings aren't in yet, but so far the 2011 Emmys have scored a thumbs up (with some reservations) from most critics.

'Glee' star Jane Lynch has been lauded for her hosting skills, and she kept things moving at a brisk pace on a night chock full of surprises. The Associated Press praised the high production values and said the ceremony "could have been the most satisfying in memory."

AOL TV's own Maureen Ryan called it "rather delightful," noting that "what's usually a three-hour slogfest passed by relatively quickly and mostly painlessly this time around."

'New York' magazine said that "if it wasn't as good as last year's Jimmy Fallon-hosted spectacular, it did continue a trend upheld by the recent Tonys and Grammys, of being much, much better than this past Oscars." High praise indeed!

Last night PBS period drama 'Downton Abbey' bagged four Emmy Awards, making it one of the biggest winners of the night, and helping PBS land the coveted spot of top broadcast network at the awards.

Together with the Creative Arts Emmys, which were held last week, PBS scooped 14 Emmys in total, making it the most successful broadcast network. HBO was the top cable network, with 19.

'Downton Abbey' won the Emmy for Outstanding Made For Television Movie/Miniseries, in what creator Julian Fellowes called a David and Goliath story, "except in this case Goliath was wonderful, some wonderful shows that we were up against, and it seems perfectly extraordinary that we've won."

The Masterpiece drama was victorious in a strong field dominated by Emmy powerhouse HBO, which had three nominations -- 'Mildred Pierce,' 'Too Big to Fail' and 'Cinema Verité.'

Last night 'Mildred Pierce' stars Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce both took home Emmys for their work on the HBO drama, and Pearce's raunchy acceptance speech caused a few raised eyebrows and dropped jaws.

Accepting his award from David Boreanaz and Anna Torv, Pearce joked that "I got to have sex with Kate Winslet many, many times."

As Winslet gave him two thumbs up from the audience he paid tribute to her, saying "I share this [award] with you. Thank you for letting me insert myself into your world of Mildred."

To gales of laughter from the audience he went on to thank his wife -- also named Kate -- "who had to listen to me talk about that every day."

Backstage, Winslet told reporters she "was thrilled," not offended, by Pearce's speech.

By now, everyone knows that Steve Carell has left the building, and James Spader has joined the cast of 'The Office,' but as we saw on 'The 2011 Emmy Awards' (Sun., 8PM ET on FOX), Spader isn't the only new person getting face time at Dunder-Mifflin.

In a very fun video, we got to see a who's who of television in that familiar office chair where the castmembers from the show do their confessionals.

They were all talking about what they hated about their jobs, like Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) hating rapists, sex trafficking and crimes against children -- this is a much darker take for 'The Office.'

Come Sunday night the red carpet will be rolled out, champagne corks will be popping and there won't be a dry eye in the Kodak Auditorium as the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards are handed out. All the nominees will gather for the ceremony in the hope that their name will be the one in the winner's envelope, but only a happy few will get to take home a much-coveted trophy.

Have you ever wondered why Hollywood stars are so obsessed with winning awards? And just how does joining that select band known as "Emmy Winners" change your life?

What happens once the applause stops, the festivities are over and the borrowed dresses and jewels are handed back? Find out now, as past Emmy winners Jeremy Piven, Megan Mullaly, Kristin Chenoweth and Jackée Harry talk candidly about how life has changed since they had their moment in the sun.

Watch the hilarious 'Life After Emmy' mockumentary after the jump.

A producer suggested to Jane Lynch that she not insult anyone when she hosts the Emmys this week, according to a story she told on 'The Tonight Show' (Weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC). We can't help but wonder if this producer was still hurt by Ricky Gervais' Golden Globes hosting gig.

Add that sensitivity to Lynch's 'Glee' character and her penchant for slinging insults, and you've got the recipe for hurt feelings, apparently.

"It's easy to go snarky, And I get that. So I am going to rip these people apart!" she said, before quickly adding, "No I'm not."

This year's Emmys are just a few days away, and to whet our appetite ahead of Sunday night's ceremony, organizers have announced the names of six new presenters.

'Two and a Half Men' star Jon Cryer, who is up for a Best Supporting Actor award this year, will be joined on the presenting roster by actors from both established shows and upcoming new ones.

The other five presenters announced Wednesday are: Bryan Cranston ('Breaking Bad'), Scott Caan ('Hawaii Five-0'), Claire Danes ('Homeland'), Kerry Washington ('Scandal') and Jason O'Mara ('Terra Nova').

Melissa McCarthy ('Mike & Molly') and Joshua Jackson ('Fringe') had an early start this morning as they hosted the eagerly anticipated 63rd Primetime Emmys nominations announcement ceremony at the Television Academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.



There were some surprises and some yawns among the nominations. 'Modern Family,' 'Friday Night Lights,' 'The Good Wife' and 'The Big Bang Theory' made out like bandits.

On the other hand, there was no Emmy love for 'Terriers,' 'Game of Thrones' was almost totally ignored in the acting categories, and 'The Walking Dead' was shut out in the main categories.