The Emmys are often criticized for recognizing the same few shows and actors over and over again, but nobody could complain about that after Sunday night's telecast of the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.  In most of the eight biggest acting categories, the winner was either someone who'd never won before, or at least someone different than last year.

Click here for a full list of winners or check out photos from the Emmys here

First-time winners included Jim Parsons, Best Actor in a Comedy for The Big Bang Theory; Kyra Sedgwick, Best Actress in a Drama for The Closer; Jane Lynch, Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Glee; Aaron Paul, Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for Breaking Bad; and Eric Stonestreet, Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for Modern Family. And speaking of Modern Family, the freshman ABC comedy won its first Emmy as Best Comedy Series, as well as for comedy writing.  There was even a brand-new Best Reality Competition victor -- Top Chef beat out The Amazing Race, breaking its six-year winning streak.  Of course, there were a few repeats:  Mad Men was named Best Drama for the third year in a row, and Bryan Cranston won his third straight Best Actor in a Drama Emmy for Breaking Bad.

There was also a new Emmy host, Jimmy Fallon, whose show opener was inspired.  He was shown arriving at the Emmys, only to run into the cast of Glee, who complained they couldn't afford the $300 per head ticket price to get into the telecast.  Spotting an ad for a singing competition with a cash prize, Jimmy and the kids decided to form their own glee club to win the competition.  They recruited a motley assortment of actors that included Lost's Jorge Garcia, 30 Rock's Tina Fey, Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Community's Joel McHale, Glee's Jane Lynch and American Idol's Randy Jackson to perform a rousing version of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."  The sequence, which also included contributions from Betty White, Tim Gunn and Kate Gosselin, ended with everyone onstage singing amid fireworks as Jimmy played guitar dressed like Springsteen on the cover of his Born in the U.S.A. album. And surprise: turns out Jorge Garcia can actually sing.

Fallon didn't do too much in the way of a monologue, but got off a good one when he said, "NBC asked the host of Late Night to come to L.A. to host a different show. What could possibly go wrong?" -- and the camera immediately cut to Conan O'Brien, who of course left New York to host The Tonight Show in L.A.

Mad Men star Jon Hamm with Jennifer Westfeldt and Tom Hanks
Image used with permission by Mathew Imaging / WireImage

Mostly, Fallon relied on his musical talents to keep things going.  He introduced each awards segment -- comedy, reality, variety, drama, miniseries & movies -- by strumming a guitar and singing a short ditty, accompanied by stars in the audience like Amy Poehler and Julianna Margulies.  He also impersonated, respectively, Elton John, Boyz II Men and Green Day, while singing musical odes to the shows that ended this year: 24, Law & Order and Lost.  But Fallon's biggest accomplishment was bringing the show in on time: it ended just about one minute after 11:00 p.m.  As the show wrapped, Fallon opened a bottle of champagne, sprayed it everywhere and yelled, "Afterparty at Betty White's house!"

Here are some of the other Emmy broadcast highlights:

--George Clooney became just the fourth-ever recipient of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, for organizing celebrity telethons to raise money after 9/11, the South Asian Tsunami and the Haitian earthquake.  Clooney, whose aunt Rosemary Clooney was actually friends with Bob Hope and his wife, received a standing ovation.  The actor said he hoped someone could figure out a way to "keep the spotlight burning on these heartbreaking situations that continue to be heartbreaking, long after the cameras go away."

--Accepting her first-ever comedy actress Emmy for Nurse Jackie, Edie Falco said, "This is the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened in the history of this lovely awards show. I am not funny!"

--Accepting his third straight Emmy for Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston said, "During the time it took me to walk up here, I venture there were 200 text messages to the other nominees saying, `You were robbed.' I cannot argue with that."

--Struggling with her acceptance speech notes, Kyra Sedgwick turned to presenter Tina Fey and said, "Tina, would you mind holding my Emmy?"  Tina replied, off-mic, "At least I'll hold one tonight."  Don't feel badly: between Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, Fey already has nine Emmys on her mantel.

--Ricky Gervais, presenting the award for Best Direction of a Comedy, Musical or Variety Special, said, "I'm not going to have a go at [Mel Gibson]. He's been through a lot."  He then added, "Not as much as the Jews, to be fair."  He also asked everyone if they wanted a beer, and a group of waiters appear with trays of brewskis, which they handed out to audience members.  Gervais cracked, "The Office is in syndication -- those are on me."  He was also delighted when the winner of the category turned out to be the guy with the funniest name:  Olympics opening ceremony director Bucky Guntz.

--Accepting his Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Emmy, Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet gave a shout-out to his mom in the audience and his dad back home, saying, "This is going home with you, so you can wake up every day, and go to bed every night, and see what you made possible."

--Accepting her Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Emmy, Jane Lynch called her win "outlandish" and thanked her "lord and creator" -- Glee creator Ryan Murphy -- for "creating the role of a lifetime."

--In a rare acknowledgment of the practical purpose of the Emmy Awards, actress Archia Panjabi, while accepting her Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for The Good Wife, blurted out, "This is just amazing for my career! Thank you so much!"

--Accepting his Emmy for Comedy directing, Glee creator Ryan Murphy said that because Glee is about the importance of arts education, "I would like to dedicate this to all of my teachers, who taught me to sing and finger paint."

--Claire Danes and Al Pacino both won Emmys for portraying real people in HBO movies, and both those real people were in the audience to take bows: autistic animal science professor Dr. Temple Grandin, and notorious "Dr. Death," Dr. Jack Kevorkian.  Accepting her award for Best Actress in a TV Movie or miniseries, Danes said, sounding like the high schooler she portrayed on My So-Called Life, "Thank you, HBO -- like, for serious."

                
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Image used with permission by Matthew Imaging / WireImage