The big winner of the evening was the HBO miniseries "John Adams," which nabbed eight awards. The seven-part epic miniseries explored American history while offering a portrait of one of its founding fathers. The 60-person cast boasted Paul Giamatti as John Adams, Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson and Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin, among others. Tony Award winner Cynthia Nixon picked up another Emmy for her performance as Janis Donovan on NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Nixon was awarded the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series award.

Other acting honors went to Kathryn Joosten (Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Karen McCluskey on ABC's "Desperate Housewives"), Tim Conway (Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Bucky Bright on NBC's "30 Rock") and Glynn Turman (Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Alex Sr. on HBO's "In Treatment").

The 61st Annual Tony Awards also picked up a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Program. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss were executive producers of the CBS-TV event.

The Creative Arts Emmys will be broadcast Sept. 20 on E! Entertainment Television beginning at 8 PM ET; check local listings.

For a complete list of winners, visit EmmyAwards.