Steven Shareshian, Jay Roach, Danny Strong, Gary Goetzman, Julianne Moore and Tom Hanks hold their Emmy awards for outstanding miniseries or movie for "Game Change" at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo: REUTERS)
Steven Shareshian, Jay Roach, Danny Strong, Gary Goetzman, Julianne Moore and Tom Hanks hold their Emmy awards for outstanding miniseries or movie for "Game Change" at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo: REUTERS) Reuters

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards were held in downtown Los Angeles and saw Homeland, Modern Family and Game Change walk away with top honours.

The awards for top actor, actress, drama series and writing were collected by Showtime's Homeland, a CIA thriller, while television network HBO scored six wins to lead that little race; ABC managed five and had its political drama Game Change to thank for its wins. The show was the best movie/miniseries and also had the best lead actress (Julianne Moore), writer and director.

Meanwhile, ABC's Modern Family won Outstanding Comedy for a third consecutive year. The American comedy series by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan that debuted in September 2009 also won Eric Stonestreet and Julie Bowen awards for supporting actor and actress.

"I want to thank me for hiring me as a director when no one else would," Levitan said, while accepting the award for Modern Family.

Check out a list of the top winners at the Emmys 2012 and click here for a full list of winners

Comedy Series

  • Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family (ABC)
  • Outstanding Lead Actor: Jon Cryer as Alan Harper in Two And A Half Men (CBS)
  • Outstanding Director: Steven Levitan for Modern Family and Baby on Board (ABC)
  • Outstanding Lead Actress: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer in Veep (HBO)
  • Outstanding Writing: Louis C K for Louie (FX Networks)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor: Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker in Modern Family
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress: Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy in Modern Family

Drama Series

  • Outstanding Drama Series: Homeland (Showtime)
  • Outstanding Lead Actor: Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody in Homeland
  • Outstanding Director: Tim Van Patten for Boardwalk Empire and To The Lost (HBO)
  • Outstanding Lead Actress: Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland
  • Outstanding Writing: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff for Homeland
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor: Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad (AMC)
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey (PBS)

Movie/Miniseries

  • Outstanding Miniseries or Movie: Game Change (HBO)
  • Outstanding Lead Actor: Kevin Costner as 'Devil' Anse Hatfield in Hatfields & McCoys (History)
  • Outstanding Director: Jay Roach for Game Change
  • Outstanding Lead Actress: Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in Game Change
  • Outstanding Writing: Danny Strong for Game Change
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor: Tom Berenger as Jim Vance in Hatfields & McCoys
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress: Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon in American Horror Story (FX Networks)