The Sopranos' grand finale

THE SOPRANOS went out on a triumphant note, garroting the competition to win its second outstanding drama series Emmy at the 59th annual Emmy Awards on Sunday night.

In accepting the prize, series creator David Chase echoed Sally Field's acceptance speech earlier in the evening.

Field paid tribute to mothers, before taking on a political and profane edge.

The Fox TV network censored Field's acceptance speech, cutting her off after she declared: "If mothers ran the world ..."

Chase's speech took a similar bent: "Gangsters are out there taking their kids to college and putting food on their family's tables.

"Hell, let's face it, if this world was run by gangsters ..." He paused, then: "Well, probably not."

The Sopranos also won trophies for Chase's scripting and Alan Taylor's direction. The cast received a standing ovation during a tribute to the series featuring the cast of the Broadway musical Jersey Boys.

The Emmy censors got a run for their money when Ray Romano, Katherine Heigl and Field sent them scrambling for the their bleeper buttons.

Romano joked about his former Everybody Loves Raymond wife, Patricia Heaton, "screwing" her new Back to You co-star, Kelsey Grammer. This prompted Fox to black out the show for a few seconds.

Heigl mouthed an expletive after winning an award for her role in Grey's Anatomy.

And Field was bleeped during her acceptance speech as best lead actress in a drama. She praised mothers but let her anti-war sentiments surface.

Field said: "If mothers ran the world, there would be no goddamn wars in the first place."

Later, backstage, Field said: "I shouldn't have said the 'god' in front of the 'damn'.

"But that's life. I had no point to get across. I wanted to pay homage to mothers. Period. If they bleep it, oh well, I'll just say it someplace else."

The critically admired but low-rated sitcom 30 Rock was named best comedy series.

America Ferrera won the Emmy for lead actress in a comedy for Ugly Betty. The show also won an Emmy for Richard Shepard's direction.

The evening's biggest surprise came when the award for best lead actor in a comedy series went to dark-horse nominee Ricky Gervais, for Extras.

Gervais wasn't on hand to accept the trophy, so presenters Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert jokingly gave it to their friend Steve Carell, who was nominated for The Office.

James Spader's third Emmy win, for lead actor in a drama, for Boston Public, was also unexpected. He beat favourite James Gandolfini, of The Sopranos. Spader acknowledged the surprise by saying: "I feel like I just stole a pile of money from the mob."

For the first time, the ceremony was presented in the round, which left a large portion of the audience with lousy views of only the backside of the action.

During his acceptance speech, Spader, one of those with a seat behind the presenters, announced: "I've been to thousands and thousands of concerts in my life and I can tell you these are the worst seats I've ever had."

Al Gore added an Emmy to his best documentary Oscar, winning a trophy for creative achievement in interactive television for the cable network he co-founded, Current TV.

Katherine Heigl who minutes earlier had to correct the announcer on the pronunciation of her last name (it's a hard "G") had the last laugh, winning her first Emmy, for supporting actress in a drama series, for Grey's Anatomy.

"My own mother told me I didn't have a shot in hell of winning tonight," she quipped, dedicating the trophy to her mother nonetheless.

Helen Mirren won her fourth Emmy, for lead actress in a mini-series or movie, for Prime Suspect: The Final Act and in the process became the first awards-show winner to implore the music to wrap-up her speech.

"I'm going on and on," she scolded herself.

Prime Suspect also took home trophies for Philip Martin's direction and Frank Keasy's script.

The Amazing Race won its fifth consecutive Emmy for reality competition programmes. - © (2007) New York Times