No surprise here: “30 Rock” scooped up its second consecutive Emmy last night for Best Comedy, and “Mad Men” made history as the first basic cable series to ever win Best Drama.

And I’m pretty sure no one fell off the couch when Alec Baldwin finally scored his trophy for his scene-stealing performance on “30 Rock,” or when Tina Fey snagged Lead Actress in a Comedy and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

As for Glenn Close? Please. The woman was a lock for Best Actress in a Drama for “Damages.” (It’s hard not to hand an award to someone whose character had a dog murdered—and then still made us kind of like her.)

But the ol’ Emmys had a few tricks up their sleeves.

Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad” shocked everyone—even himself—by swooping in to snag Lead Actor in a Drama away from everyone’s favorite to win, Jon Hamm of “Mad Men.”

Supporting dramatic actor Zeljko Ivanek was a stunner, too. If someone from “Damages” was going to grab that one, we all thought it was gonna be Ted Danson, for sure. My guess is that Danson and Michael Emerson—who was spectacular on “Lost” this season—split the vote and let Ivanek’s Southern-fried suicide score.

But there’s no explanation for a third consecutive win by Jeremy Piven of “Entourage.”

He’s terrific as Ari Gold, no doubt, but three in a row? Come on. He didn’t deserve it last year, and there’s absolutely no way to justify not giving the trophy to Neil Patrick Harris (who’s the best thing on the mediocre “How I Met Your Mother”) or Rainn Wilson (who plays oddball Dwight to perfection on “The Office”).

As for other snubs, Vanessa Williams and Kristin Chenoweth top the list.

Williams should have won last year, and I really thought she was going to score this time around for “Ugly Betty.” Wilhelmina is a more difficult role to play than people think: Williams is brilliant at letting her character be viciously diva-licious without going over the top.

But if she wasn’t victorious, I’d have been fine with my wee personal favorite, Kristin Chenoweth, grabbing the little gold guy. Her Olive gives a little extra oomph to the delightful “Pushing Daisies,” and she got to sing “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” for cripe’s sake!

I believe the voters, however, didn’t want comedic nuances in this category: They just wanted straight funny. So the Emmy went to Jean Smart of “Samantha Who?” And while Smart is great on that show, I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen her play that kind of sassy, sarcastic character before.

Anyway, there were lots more winners and losers, of course: Check out E!’s scorecard here for more.

And keep reading to see who else scored—and bombed—on TV’s biggest night. And not necessarily because they were accepting an award…

Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and the good news: Comedies like “30 Rock” and “The Office” are in the mix for best series, as well they should.

The bad: I swear the only reason “The Wire” isn’t among the best drama nominees is because lazy Emmy voters—i.e. most of them—never saw the show. Despite a phenomenal fifth and final season, it’s only up for one writing award. Its only other nomination, also for writing, was back in 2005.

Geez. Where’s the acting love for Lance Riddick (Daniels), Clarke Johnson (Gus), Michael K. Williams (Omar) or Sonja Sohn (Kima)? The only rationale for no acting nominations I can think of is that so many talented “Wire” actors have split the vote over the last five seasons.

“John Adams” led the Emmy nomination pack with 23, and “Mad Men” (17) and “Damages” (16) were the first basic-cable series to be up for top drama.

I’m sure you’ll hear more Emmy commentary from many of us in the weeks to come before the Sept. 21 broadcast, but here’s the crucial info you need to know.

Drama: “Boston Legal,” “Damages,” “Dexter,” “House,” “Lost” and “Mad Men.”

Comedy: “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Entourage,” “The Office,” “30 Rock” and “Two and a Half Men.”

Best actor—drama: Gabriel Byrne (“In Treatment”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”), Hugh Laurie (“House”) and James Spader (“Boston Legal”).

Best actress—drama: Glenn Close (“Damages”), Sally Field (“Brothers and Sisters”), Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), Holly Hunter (“Saving Grace”) and Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”).

Best actor—comedy: Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”), Steve Carell (“The Office”), Lee Pace (“Pushing Daisies”), Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”) and Charlie Sheen (“Two and a Half Men”).

Best actress—comedy: Christina Applegate (“Samantha Who?”), America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”), Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) and Mary-Louise Parker (“Weeds”).

And here’s the complete list of 2008 Emmy nominees.

UPDATE: More good news/bad news, this time in the category of best supporting actress in a comedy series. A long-overdue and well-deserved nod has been given to “Saturday Night Live’s” Amy Poehler, but how in the world is Jenna Fischer snubbed for her work on “The Office”? Instead, the category includes Jean Smart for “Samantha Who?” and Holland Taylor on “Two and a Half Men.” As Poehler herself on Weekend Update would say, “Really?!”

(Photo courtesy of Fox.)

Remember the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” in which Drew Carey promised that improvisers’ points in games didn’t matter? Well, it appears that they will matter in NBC’s upcoming improv experiment.

Last Wednesday, it was announced that NBC ordered six episodes of “Thank God You’re Here,” an improvisational comedy series that started in Australia and has the backing of FremantleMedia North America, the producers of “American Idol.”

With celebrity guests competing without a script, the show will be hosted and produced by “In Living Color” alum David Alan Grier and judged by “The Kids In The Hall” alum Dave Foley. The pilot episode features Jennifer Coolidge, Bryan Cranston, Joel McHale and Wayne Knight.

Before improv nuts (like me) can celebrate what could be perceived as continued legitimization of scriptless thee-ay-ter, Variety brings us back down to earth. Find out why after the break.