The highs and lows of this year's Emmys

The Emmy Awards show, which aired Sunday and lasted three hours as planned, started off strong but lost steam about halfway through.

I just got into watching TV series hard-core the past couple of years, and I was genuinely interested in my (many) liked shows, actors and actresses winning awards.

Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, this year's show opened with a "Glee"-inspired skit. "Glee," which won a handful of its 19 nominations, is the show centered on a high school glee club as it tries to win various competitions. I'm a recent convert to the show, which, besides its high school characters, also features teacher Mr. Shue (Matthew Morrison, who didn't win for best lead actor in a comedy series) and sarcastic, highly competitive, jumpsuit-wearing cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch, who did win as best supporting actress in a comedy series).

The Emmy's opening skit was hilarious because it mixed in the always awesome Tina Fey, "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm, and Hurley from "Lost," among others, with some of the "Glee" stars.

"Modern Family," a show that I feel pretty indifferent about, definitely surprised me, winning six awards, including a bunch of "big" wins such as outstanding comedic series, and Eric Stonestreet's best supporting actor in a comedy series.

"Breaking Bad's" Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul both took home awards for best actor and supporting actor in the AMC show about a high school chemistry teacher by day and drug dealer by night.

For as much as I loved the first few seasons of "Lost," the last season didn't really live up to my expectations, and I was not alone in feeling let down by the series finale. So, I'm totally OK with it not winning any big awards.

I was a little bummed that "Dexter," the Showtime series about secret serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), didn't get more stage time this year. Aside from "Chuck," (the most fun TV show, in my book), I am most excited for "Dexter" to come back on the air this fall. But at least John Lithgow got an award for his majorly creepy role as this past season's Trinity Killer.

And "Mad Men" didn't rake in as many awards as I expected, but it did land outstanding drama series. Not too shabby.

My major complaints? First, Betty White, the past year or two's hot commodity, popped up a few times in the show, too. While I know she's everyone's favorite lately, seriously, the Betty White sex jokes are getting old. Let her be funny in her own right; don't downgrade her to only sexually suggestive comments. She's starting to come across like a one-trick pony.

And the show got boring. Despite my usual disinterest in the Emmys, the first hour or so was funny and enjoyable. Fallon popped up every so often, singing an odd song or cracking a joke, but I lost interest in the bazillion categories and thank-yous.