LOS ANGELES ? It was the “Glee” misfits versus the “Modern Family” brood at the Primetime Emmys here on Sunday night, as the two freshmen darlings of broadcast television faced off in early award categories.

Eric Stonestreet, who plays a new father on “Modern Family,” earned the first statuette of the night for supporting actor in a comedy, and minutes later, the writers Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan earned the show’s second Emmy of the night at the Nokia Theater.

Mr. Lloyd, who is also an executive producer of the series, thanked his ensemble cast, calling it “a writers’ dream.” Then he thanked his wife, Arleen Sorkin, telling her, “ ‘Modern Family’ is, and will always be, a love letter to you.”

“Glee,” the other much-buzzed-about new comedy of the last season, picked up two early Emmys, for Jane Lynch in the supporting-actress category and for Ryan Murphy for directing. On stage Ms. Lynch told the young actors on “Glee,” “When I’m not seething with jealousy, I’m so proud of you.”

Mr. Murphy, who is also the show’s executive producer, said “Glee” was about the importance of arts education, “so I would like to dedicate this to all my teachers who taught me to sing and to finger paint.”

After the first hour of the telecast, Fox executives noted on Twitter that “Glee” had already become the most Emmy-winning comedy series in the more than 20-year history of the network.

The award for lead actor in a comedy went to Jim Parsons, who plays the lovable geek Sheldon Cooper in “The Big Bang Theory,” a popular CBS sitcom that was otherwise shut out of the biggest categories.

In the first cable channel nod of the night, Edie Falco won lead actress in a comedy for “Nurse Jackie.” Later, “Mad Men” won for drama writing, and Aaron Paul won best supporting actor for “Breaking Bad.” Archie Panjabi was recognized as best supporting actress for “The Good Wife.”

There was one big upset early in the evening: after seven straight years of wins by CBS’s “Amazing Race,” the cooking competition “Top Chef” took home an Emmy in the reality-competition category, stunning people at its parent channel, Bravo.

Earlier in the month, Jeff Probst of “Survivor” was named the outstanding reality host.

Much of the drama on Sunday was expected to revolve around the competition between “Glee,” a high school musical, and “Modern Family,” a multigenerational sitcom. “Glee,” the high school musical, was up for 19 awards this year, which is more than any other regular series, even the AMC critical darling “Mad Men,” which was up for 17 awards.

Meanwhile, “Modern Family,” the multigenerational sitcom, had 14 nominations, almost as many as the winner in the comedy category for the last three years, “30 Rock.”

“Modern Family” already picked up three awards, and “Glee” two, at the Creative Arts awards ceremony earlier this month, a precursor to the NBC telecast.

ABC and Fox each mounted an entertaining ad campaign to sway Emmy voters. For “Modern Family” ABC promised that if the show won for best comedy, the voluptuous actress Sofia Vergara, who plays Gloria, would “run naked down Sunset Blvd.” In tiny type the ad included a caveat: “Cast member may change without notice.”

One Fox ad for “Glee” was written in the voice of Ms. Lynch’s conniving cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, whose insults of the glee club coach, Will Schuester, are already legendary. “Academy voters, I’m begging you. They must not win a single statue,” the ad implored. “Will Schuester’s head is big enough already.”

In the outstanding-comedy category the two new shows were facing “30 Rock,” “The Office,” “Nurse Jackie” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

In the outstanding-drama category, the winner for the past two years, “Mad Men,” was facing “Lost,” “True Blood,” “Breaking Bad,” “Dexter” and a first-year show on CBS, “The Good Wife.”

Perhaps the most compelling behind-the-scenes drama this year involved

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Tags: Emmys, Face, Family, Glee, Modern, new, write

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