The Sopranos in the limelight as HBO sweeps Emmys

Meryl Streep and Al Pacino accept the awards for Best Actress and Best Actor respectively for Angels in America

But the evening had a sentimental side as the stars of two recently departed prime-time comedy favorites -- Sarah Jessica Parker of HBO's Sex and the City and Kelsey Grammer of NBC's Frasier -- won the best acting awards in their categories.

The evening also had its surprises. The award for best comedy went to Arrested Development, a critical darling on the Fox network that is struggling to survive poor ratings. And the award for best actor in a drama went to film star James Spader for his portrayal of an unethical lawyer on the final season of ABC's The Practice.

After four previous losing bids for top honors, The Sopranos finally claimed the elusive crown as US television's best drama, rubbing out competition from defending champion, NBC's political drama The West Wing.

Angels in America, an adaptation of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the AIDS epidemic, won 11 Emmys, the most of any show this year, and eclipsed the mini-series record of nine Emmys set by ABC's seminal slavery drama Roots in 1977.

Angels stars Al Pacino and Meryl Streep picked up the awards for best lead actor and lead actress in a mini series.

The Sopranos, about a conflicted New Jersey mob boss, earned four Emmys. Michael Imperioli was named best supporting actor in a drama series for his role as the hitman nephew, and Drea de Matteo, who played his ill-fated girlfriend won for best supporting actress in a drama series.

HBO, which has grown from a movie channel to a powerhouse of original programming, finished the night with 32 Emmys, the most of any network. Its closest rival was Fox, with 10 prizes. NBC was third with eight awards, followed by ABC and the public television network PBS with seven each.