creative arts emmys

The 2011 Emmys got off to an early start Saturday night in Los Angeles, as the Creative Arts portion honored the more behind-the-scenes aspects of TV production like casting, cinematography, makeup and choreography. The Emmys for best guest starring roles and reality TV categories were also awarded.

HBO's Atlantic City prohibition drama 'Boardwalk Empire' led the way with seven wins, including Casting in a Drama Series and Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series.

Discovery Channel's 'Deadliest Catch' won four Emmys, including both Cinematography and Picture Editing for a Reality Series.

Other highlights included: 'The Walking Dead' got recognized for its awesome zombies, winning for Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special; Gwyneth Paltrow won the Best Comedy Guest Actress Emmy for her role on 'Glee'; and Justin Timberlake scored Best Comedy Guest Actor for 'Saturday Night Live.'

'The Kennedys,' 'Mildred Pierce,' 'SNL' and 'So You Think You Can Dance' took home three statues each.

Check out the complete winners list after the jump, courtesy of Goldderby.com. The Creative Arts Emmys air next Sat., Nov. 17, on Reelz Channel, and the Emmys air live Sun., Sept. 18, 8PM ET/5PM PT on Fox.

Neil Patrick Harris and Betty White headlined the winners list at last night's Creative Arts Emmys ceremony. HBO walked away with a leading 17 awards, including Outstanding Casting and Oustanding Art Direction for its miniseries, 'The Pacific.'

The Creative Arts Emmys are a prelude to the Aug. 29 Primetime Emmys telecast and primarily honor technical achievements.

White and Harris won for guest acting in comedies ('Saturday Night Live' and 'Glee,' respectively). Their counterparts in drama series were John Lithgow for 'Dexter' and Ann-Margret for 'Law & Order: SVU.'

The reality show host category, which had been moved this year from the regular telecast, was won for a third time by Jeff Probst of 'Survivor.'

Tina Fey, Justin Timberlake win Emmys, Susan Boyle heads for America, ABC Family renews '10 Things I Hate About You' and more of today's top TV headlines.

This is the full version of my interview with Kathy Griffin, for those who clicked over from the "short" version. Again, Griffin started out by asking me a question.

So is this interview going to run anywhere or is this just for your personal collection?

It's going to run on TVSquad, AOL's TV blog.

You know what? I have an exciting announcement. By the way, I'm looking at it myself, I knew, but it was officially announced today. I am hosting the Shmemmys this year. Now if you recall, two years ago when I won a Creative Arts Emmy, I got in a little trouble for telling Jesus to suck it. And now, two years later, when The D-List has its highest ratings ever, they want me to host. And that is what I love about Hollywood.

Kathy Griffin is so ubiquitous these days, you might have to dust off an old cliché (and change it slightly) to describe her - The Queen of All Media.

Kathy Griffin: My Life On the D-List is getting the best ratings of its run, she was a guest on Privileged, her CD, For Your Consideration, was nominated for a Grammy, her book comes out in September, and she continues to tour as a stand-up comedian. She was also recently tapped to host the Shmemmys (The Creative Arts Emmys) and to roast her good friend Joan Rivers for Comedy Central. She may not be getting Ryan Seacrest's 45 million dollar paycheck, but she may be challenging him for most entertainment jobs held simultaneously.

I caught up with her by phone recently and had a long conversation. So long, in fact, that we have posted two different versions - this is the short one. There is an unedited version here, for those who need every last morsel of Griffin they can get.

Griffin actually started out by asking me a question.

Jennifer Garner signs a production deal with ABC Studios, Kathy Griffin will host the Schmemmys, 'True Blood' continues to dominate the ratings and more of today's top TV headlines.

The Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards -- affectionately known as the Shmemmys to Kathy Griffin fans -- has at least one more viewer this year. I will be watching the other Emmy presentation, the awards that come before the Primetime Emmys. The big one with all the major categories, musical numbers, clip montages and near-mandatory attendance by the nominees is the Emmys. The other one is the technical awards. But I will be watching for a very good reason: Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke will be co-hosting the Creative Arts Emmys this year on the E! channel, September 20.

Neil, an Emmy nominee for How I Met Your Mother, and Sarah, who is also a guest/semi-regular on Mother as well as a permanent regular on Scrubs, are a great choice for this gig. They're smart, funny, quick, attractive and maybe even unpredictable.

I mean, wouldn't it be a hoot if Neil came on stage in his Dr. Horrible gear and asked Sarah if her Hanes undies were riding up or doing their job? She should then counter and ask him about that smell, you know ... the Old Spice? Hey, maybe they should get Bruce Campbell to confront Neil about the Old Spice deal -- that was Bruce's commercial before Neil took over!