The MTV series The Osbournes picked up its first major prize while the NBC comedy Frasier set a new record Saturday at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Creative Arts Awards.
“What a year!” Sharon Osbourne exclaimed from the stage as she accepted the award for best reality series along with her daughter Kelly and top members of the show’s creative team.
Osbourne, who has been battling colon cancer over the course of summer, added, “Ozzy, I love you!” to her husband, who is currently on the Ozzfest tour.
There were other surprises in store at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Frasier became the Emmy’s most honored show when it received three creative arts awards, bringing its total to trophies since 1994 to 30. The NBC comedy broke the record previously held by The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which won 29 during its 1970-77 run.
The top series winner, however, was HBO’s funeral drama Six Feet Under, which received five awards, including best makeup, main title theme music, main title design, casting and guest actress Patricia Clarkson.
The HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, executive produced by Tom Hanks, came in second with four awards, including best single-camera editing, casting, sound editing and single-camera sound mixing.
Fueled in large part by Six Feet Under, HBO took home the most awards of any network Saturday, capturing 16 awards. NBC followed close behind with 15 trophies, ABC and Fox each received five and CBS secured four.
ABC’s Alias, NBC’s Will & Grace, UPN’s Enterprise, HBO’s Sex and the City and Animated Tales of the World, the A&E miniseries Shackleton, the CBS special 9/11 and the Discovery series Blue Planet: Seas of Life all took home two awards apiece.
Saturday Night Live comic Darrell Hammond emceed the ceremony, which was attended by some 2,800 guests including Paula Abdul, John Cleese, Jennifer Garner, Jane Kaczmarek and Ashton Kutcher.
Winners in the creative art categories are honored for technical and artistic achievement, including cinematography, editing, costume design and art direction. Awards for acting, writing and direction will be presented in the televised ceremony airing Sept. 22 on NBC.
