What the bleep!?!? Jon Stewart was apparently so excited at winning his 10th consecutive Emmy for variety series for “The Daily Show” that he let loose with an expletive — or perhaps two — but it was hard to tell because he was bleeped by ABC censors.

Meanwhile, "Homeland" is having a home run night at the 64th annual Emmy Awards.

The Showtime political thriller is stacking up the trophies Sunday night, including lead actress in a drama for Claire Danes, lead actor in a drama for Damian Lewis, and writing in a drama series.

Lewis’ win in particular was a shocker. It was his first Emmy nomination ever, and his first win. Left empty-handed for the fifth time in a row was Jon Hamm, star of AMC's “Mad Men.” Also shoved aside by Lewis’ win: Front-runner Bryan Cranston, who had won the category three times for his role as a teacher turned meth manufacturer and killer on "Breaking Bad."

“Homeland,” which premiered last year to strong reviews and ratings, also nabbed another Emmy: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff won for writing.

CBS’ reality competition “The Amazing Race” won its ninth Emmy, a stunning feat. The show that sends competitors racing around the world in pursuit of a million dollars has dominated this category ever since it was introduced in 2003: It has won every year except one, when Bravo’s "Top Chef" shoved it out of the way.

“Modern Family” was off to an especially strong start.

ABC’s hit comedy has won three awards: director for Steve Levitan, the show’s co-creator, writer and producer, supporting actress for Julie Bowen, and supporting actor for Eric Stonestreet.

It was Bowen’s second consecutive win and StonestreeIt was a good night too for comedian Louis C.K. The star, writer, director and editor of the FX series "Louie" won two writing Emmys. One for his comedy series and one for his variety special “Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theater.”

In other wins, Jessica Lange won supporting actress in a miniseries or movie for “American Horror Story.” Tom Bergeron won his first for hosting a reality or reality competition series for ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Aaron Paul won for supporting actor in a drama series for AMC’s “Breaking Bad.” Julia Louis-Dreyfus won lead actress in a comedy for playing the vice president of the United States in HBO’s "Veep." Maggie Smith won supporting actress in a drama series for PBS’ “Downton Abbey.” The trophy for directing a drama series went to Tim Van Patten for HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" period drama. Glenn Weiss, who is directing tonight’s Emmy Awards, had to take a break from his duties to accept the Emmy for directing the 65th annual Tony Awards.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel kicked off his hosting duties by getting beaten up in the ladies room by several of TV's leading ladies like Mindy Kaling and Kathy Bates — and poking fun of actors forgoing carbs to fit into their dresses and tuxes on TV's biggest night.

Still to come: Are Emmys voters bored of “Mad Men” dominating TV’s top honors? Or are they still head over heels in love with AMC’s period drama?

“Mad Men” stands poised to win best drama series for the fifth year in a row unless the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ voters do something shocking and give the top drama honor to something else.

On a weekend in which a new season begins, will change be in the air?t’s second overall win. In her acceptance speech, Bowen went on and on about wearing nipple covers under her wardrobe on the set. Stonestreet, who is straight, joked in his acceptance speech that he never expected to find himself playing a gay man on prime TV. But he quipped that he’s come to appreciate the photos of hairy-chested men that he receives from his fans.

“Modern Family” entered the awards show with 14 nominations — more than any other comedy. It’s also trying to win best comedy series for the third year in a row.

However, none of "Modern Family’s" ensemble cast were nominated for lead actor and actress, which was good news for Jon Cryer. He won lead actor in a comedy series for the CBS sitcom, "Two and a Half Men." He'd previously won for supporting actor, but he was given a promotion of sorts (after Charlie Sheen left the series) and was nominated for lead actor.

"Something has clearly gone terribly wrong," Cryer joked, clearly surprised. "I'm stunned."

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LOS ANGELES –  Stars in stunning gowns and tasteful suits arrived on the red carpet Sunday under warm skies for an Emmy Awards ceremony in which records could be set, but hearts definitely will be broken.

"Mad Men" has a chance to snare its fifth best drama award, surpassing fellow record holders "Hill Street Blues," "L.A. Law" and "The West Wing."

The competition was hot and so was Los Angeles, where it was in the 90s. "It's so warm I thought a nice flannel tux would be appropriate," Jesse Tyler Ferguson of "Modern Family" joked. Of the heat, Amy Poehler said: "It's all the star power."

The red carpet was seeing plenty of red -- including on Kat Dennings in J. Mendel and Padma Lakshmi in a red strapless gown and Ginnifer Goodwin in red flame over champagne.

Padma Lakshmi looked gorgeous in a strapless, orange, mermaid-style Monique Lhullier gown, which helped her become a trending topic on Twitter. Another hot item: Zooey Deschanel, who had a manicure with little TV sets on her thumbnails.

Jon Cryer, a nominee for lead actor in a comedy series for "Two and a Half Men" didn't anticipate winning.

"This year I'm in the lead actor category, which is Alec Baldwin, Larry David, Don Cheadle, Jim Parsons," he said. "I'm not gonna win."

Sofia Vergara, a nominee for best supporting actress in a comedy for "Modern Family," waved away the tension. "Some people dread these events, I enjoy them. I love them," she said.

"Breaking Bad" and "Homeland" are among the series that could prove spoilers for AMC's sophisticated saga about 1960s America.

Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad" has a shot at his fourth best drama actor victory, which would tie Dennis Franz's record set in 1999 for "NYPD Blue."

If Cranston wins, that would leave "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm and Michael C. Hall of "Dexter" out in the cold for the fifth time.

Jimmy Kimmel is host of the ceremony airing live at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC, with awards in 26 categories to be presented at the Nokia Theatre.

There's no question broadcast networks will be squirming: Five out of six best drama series slots were claimed by cable shows, both premium and basic, with the sixth going to PBS' "Downton Abbey." On the comedy side, HBO's "Girls," "Veep" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" made big inroads.

For the elegantly soapy "Downton Abbey," the question is whether a switch from the miniseries category to drama series competition will spell doom for the chances of Maggie Smith, a winner last year, and other cast members including Michelle Dockery.

"Girls," HBO's tough, 21st-century spin on "Sex and the City," and its creator-star Lena Dunham could prove the evening's sweethearts. The show is up for four awards, including best comedy series.

Its heavyweight competition includes "Modern Family," which could claim its third consecutive best comedy series award.

In the miniseries and TV movie category, crowd-pleaser "Hatfields & McCoys" is up against competitors including "Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia" and "Game Change," a dramatization of the John McCain-Sarah Palin 2008 campaign.

But Emmys recognize TV's best, not most popular. While leading nominee "Mad Men" averaged just 2.6 million viewers last season, top-rated show "American Idol" (26 million-plus) isn't even in contention Sunday for best reality-competition program. At least host Ryan Seacrest is, but he faces the formidable Betty White ("Betty White's Off Their Rockers").

Talk show host Kimmel has the chance to burnish his reputation or do a painful David Letterman-style belly flop. He's riding a career wave after adroitly emceeing the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and with ABC's decision to move his late-night show into the thick of competition with Letterman and Jay Leno.

HBO came into the night with a leading 17 creative arts Emmys from a Sept. 15 ceremony honoring technical and other achievements. CBS was second with 13, followed by PBS with 11. Discovery received six awards, NBC got five and ABC and the Cartoon Network won four each. Fox received two trophies.

Emmy has to prove herself a winner with the audience. After rebounding somewhat to 13.5 million viewers in 2010 after an all-time low in 2008 of 12.3 million, last year's show drew 12.4 million viewers airing on Fox. The ceremony rotates annually among the four major networks.

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