"Homeland" took home the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy at the 2012 Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awards in Los Angeles Sunday night.
The cerebral Showtime drama beat out four-time winner "Mad Men," as well as its network companion "Breaking Bad," PBS' "Downton Abbey," and HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and "Game of Thrones." This marks Showtime's first original series win in either the drama or comedy categories. "Homeland" was also the most-nominated freshman series of the year, leading the pack with nine nominations.
"I want to start by congratulating Showtime on its first Best Series Emmy ever, it's been a long time coming and "Homeland" stands on the shoulders of a lot of great shows over there -- "Dexter," "Weeds" and "Nurse Jackie" among them all," said executive producer Alex Gansa in his acceptance speech. "There are so many people to thank ... The most talented group I have ever worked with, will ever work with ... Our brilliant, brilliant cast led by the incomparable Claire Danes and the irresistible Damian Lewis."
"Homeland" was nominated for nine Emmys and won six. In addition to Outstanding Drama, the series won Outstanding Lead Actor for Damian Lewis, Lead Actress for Claire Danes, Single-Camera Picture Editing and Writing for the Pilot episode, and Casting. The series is also the first to win all three Outstanding Drama, Lead Actor and Lead Actress awards since "Picket Fences" in 1993. "Homeland" returns for its second season next Sunday, September 30 at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.
