Television's biggest night of the year rebooted yesterday with an event that focused largely on good-natured humor and mocking its own relevance, after years of declining ratings and growing dominance by cable TV.

"Here's hoping Kanye West likes '30 Rock,' " quipped host Neil Patrick Harris after opening the 61st annual prime-time Emmy Awards with an old-fashioned song that repeatedly urged viewers to put down their remotes and remain tuned in for the three-hour event.

For the first time, the Emmy ceremonies grouped winners by genre, spreading out the major prizes. And the show kicked things off with comedy — but held its reveal of the top comedy awards until the end.

NBC's "30 Rock" and AMC's "Mad Men" took home their second consecutive Emmys as best comedy and drama, respectively.

Alec Baldwin won his second straight Emmy as lead comedy actor for "30 Rock," Bryan Cranston took a second trophy for his role as a teacher-turned-drug dealer on AMC's "Breaking Bad," and Glenn Close repeated as best drama actress for her role as a steely lawyer on FX's "Damages."

A second supporting-actor Emmy went to Michael Emerson of "Lost."

"Amy (Poehler) and I are honored to be presenting on the last official year of network broadcast television," joked Julia Louis-Dreyfus, star of CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine," before handing a grateful Jon Cryer his first supporting comedy actor award (after four nominations) for his role as the neurotic brother in that network's "Two and a Half Men."

Baldwin's "30 Rock" co-star Tina Fey, the show's creator, lost out as lead actress to Australian Toni Collette, who won her first Emmy for Showtime's "The United States of Tara," a very dark comedy about a woman with multiple personalities.

And Kristin Chenoweth won the supporting-actress Emmy for ABC's "Pushing Daisies," bucking Emmy convention by winning for a series that was canceled last December and had faded in the minds of voters.

HBO's "Grey Gardens" took top prize for made-for-television movie, and star Jessica Lange won best actress in a movie or miniseries, defeating her co-star Drew Barrymore. Brendan Gleeson won best actor for the pay-cable network's "Into the Storm."

As usual, the pay-cable network enjoyed a strong showing in the category, winning both supporting-actor awards: Shohreh Aghdashloo for "House of Saddam" and Ken Howard for "Gardens."

But PBS' "Little Dorrit" bested its only competitor, HBO's "Generation Kill," as outstanding miniseries, and "Dorrit" won both writing and directing awards for a movie or miniseries.

Among reality competition contenders, Jeff Probst won the Emmy for hosting CBS' "Survivor," which in 2000 ushered in a new era of so-called reality competition programs and is now airing its 19th cycle. (Probst also won in the category last year.)

But "Survivor" was again eclipsed for the best reality competition series win by its own network's speed-travel series, "The Amazing Race," which won its seventh consecutive Emmy, continuing a streak that extends as far back as the award itself.