The 61st Annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards were handed out in an intimate (ie. small) ceremony held at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles, CA last night. Nicknamed the Shmemmies, these Emmy awards are presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming and are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, casting directors, and sound editors. The big winner of the night was Tina Fey, who collected an Emmy award for her amazingly brilliant impersonation of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live last year but the surprising winner of the night was Joss Whedon‘s creation Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (which existed online only at DrHorrible.com) which took home the Emmy award for Outstanding Special Class—Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program. Here are a few photos from the press room at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards last night:

The big winner at Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys? Sarah Palin. Tina Fey. The bespectacled funnylady’s spot-on Saturday Night Live spoofin’ of a certain veep wannabe earned her an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress, Comedy. You betcha. “This would not be possible without Mrs. Palin…[who is] an inspiration to working mothers everywhere,” Fey sad as she picked up the prize. She also gave a shout-out to “my parents, who are lifelong Republican, for their patience.” “They thought the first four sketches were very funny and the last two, enough already,” said Fey, who can collect more hardware at next weekend’s Primetime Emmys. Meanwhile, all that booty-shaking with Beyoncé and mother-loving with Susan Sarandon paid off for Justin Timberlake. The former ‘N Syncer claimed the Guest Actor, Comedy statuette for his own SNL stint. Timberlake became the first host in the history of the late-night stalwart to claim that honor. This is Timberlake’s second SNL-spawned Emmy. He previously scored the music category for his infamous “D-ck in a Box” showcase with Andy Samberg. But they weren’t all the big-name winners at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre. Michael J. Fox (Guest Actor, Drama), Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn (Guest Actress, Drama) and SNL alums Jimmy Fallon (Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media) and Chris Rock (Writing, Variety, Music or Comedy Special) were among those honored. Long-snubbed Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon finally collected some Emmy hardware for his hugely popular online project Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. The wingding was presided over by Kathy Griffin, who saw the two-year Emmy-winning reign of Kathy Griffin: Life on the D List come crashing to a halt, with A&E’s Intervention named Outstanding Reality Program. The awards ceremony honored 81 technical and other achievements for the 2008-09 season. HBO led the way with 16 Emmys, followed by NBC (11) and ABC and Fox (eight apiece). PBS’ Little Dorrit topped all programs with four awards.

Um, I didn’t even know you could win an Emmy Award if your program was not broadcast on television … how awesome is Dr. Horrible‘s win??? Congrats also goes out to Tina Fey because, in all honesty, I am of the mind that her spot-on impersonation of Sarah Palin did a lot to help the greater good and helped expose Palin‘s insipidness more widely to the masses … so on behalf of the American people, we love you and congrats Tina!! I don’t believe that Mary Lynn Rajskub won an award last night but I wanted to include a photo of her and new hubby Matthew Rolph because they look so damn cute together :) Click HERE to see who else took home Creative Emmy Awards last night … and, again, congrats to all the winners!

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]