61st Primetime Emmy Awards: History and Background

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 20, 2009

on CBS. It took place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, where 28 awards were presented. The nominations were announced on July 16, 2009.

On July 13, 2009, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that Neil Patrick Harris would host the Primetime ceremony (even going so far as to play Dr. Horrible at one point). The Creative Arts Emmy Awards for prime time were hosted by Kathy Griffin on September 12.

After the previous year's lackluster performance in ratings, the Primetime Emmy Awards were hoping to achieve success by selecting Harris as sole host, as opposed to a group of hosts as in the previous year. The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards earned a 4.2 rating in the 18–49 demo and drew 13.3 million, 1.1 million more than the previous year's all-time low.

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