Jimmy Fallon rocked.

The host of the 62^nd annual Emmy Awards was so good Sunday night that any fears that show producer Charlie Haykel of Williamsville had that this year’s awards show couldn’t live up to last year’s hosted by Neil Patrick Harris were unwarranted right from the opening number.

With the help of “Glee”cast members, Fallon friend Tina Fey and “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm, the musical number to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” set the stage for a spirited, fast-moving and entertaining show that rivaled last year’s critically-acclaimed program.

 Hamm’s hamming it with his new dance partner, Betty White, was only one highlight setting the stage for the opening song.

 Fallon didn’t do a typical monologue, but he got in an early subtle crack about NBC’s treatment of Conan O’Brien, also scored with his musical parody salute to departing series “24,” “Law & Order” and “Lost” and kept things moving throughout the three-hour show.

 The only misstep was the use of Twitter comments from fans to introduce some of the presenters.

But just about all of the other comic bits – especially George Clooney’s cameo as the potential replacement for Phil (Ty Burrell) on “Modern Family” – worked well.

That even includes the silly questions asked of writers, directors and producers before their awards were given out. Several of them realized that comedy was the way to go when asked things like what was the worst “note” that they received from a network asking for changes.

“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner noted that he was once asked to change a Shakespeare quote to make it “clearer.”

As for the awards themselves, it is hard to argue with any of the winners even if the dramatic voters repeated themselves by naming AMC’s “Mad Men” the best drama for the third year in a row and gave Bryan Cranston another best dramatic win for the little-watched AMC series “Breaking Bad.’

 If you’re scoring at home, I accurately predicted “Modern Family” would win best comedy, Edie Falco would win best comedic actress, Jane Lynch would be best supporting actress in a comedy, “The Pacific” would be named best miniseries and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” would win best variety, musical or comedy show despite the buzz that “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” would win and embarrass NBC for prematurely canceling him.

 Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” won as best comedic actor a year after he was expected to take the honor away from Alec Baldwin. Considering how many repeat awards were given out, Parsons’ win was a surprise. Not as big a surprise as the win of “Top Chef” as best reality series or Kyra Segdwick of “The Closer” as best dramatic actress but a surprise nonetheless.

 Unfortunately before he won, Parsons was a presenter with Sofia Vergara for some crude and sophomoric byplay about the title of his show.  

It wasn’t surprising that presenter Ricky Gervais received two of the night’s biggest laughs.

After a rambling start, Gervais said of disgraced star Mel Gibson: “He’s been through a lot. (Pause) Not as much as the Jews.”

Then Gervais had some fun at the expense of the name of Bucky Gunts of NBC Sports – before Gunts won for his work on the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics.

When it comes to comedy, timing is everything and Gervais had perfect timing with his Gunts’ remark.

 For perfect inanity, there was interviewer Billy Bush on the red carpet show before the awards began.

 He asked Hamm and his girlfriend of 12 years, Jennifer Westfeldt (see above), when they were going to get married.  Hamm took the silliness in good spirits, saying they were going to do it in between commercials.

 After noting Sofia Vergara of “Modern Family” had said she would run naked on Sunset Boulevard if the show won certain awards, Bush told her: “A lot of people would like to see you naked. I’m not one of them.”

 I lot of people think Bush is good at his inane job. I’m not one of them.

 I’m also not a fashion expert but I called in a stylish woman for advice and was told that the blue outfit of January Jones of “Mad Men” was hideous and that Claire Danes’ outfit looked “gorgeous.”

 As far as the speeches, Julia Ormond of “Temple Grandin” may still be talking. Her speech was dull and endless.

 Eric Stonestreet, supporting actor winner for “Modern Family,” scored early with a speech that moved co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson to tears.

 The best speechmaker was creator-writer Steven Levitan of “Modern Family,” who was both funny and poignant – just like his show. Well, actually he was funnier than he was poignant. He and co-creator Christopher Lloyd also scored with a parody of the Old Spice commercial in which they ended up sitting together on a horse.

 All in all, it was a great night for Fallon, Levitan and Clooney to horse around.

 pergament@msn.com

Be Sociable, Share!

•