The 66th Annual Emmy Awards happened last night in LA, and AMC’s Breaking Bad was the most prolific winner, taking home five awards, while Netflix went home empty handed, failing to convert nominations for its much-publicised shows, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.

For all the talk of this being the year that the internet would leave its mark on the Emmys, it was traditional network and cable shows that took the limelight at last night’s ceremony. While Orange Is The New Black’s Uzo Aduba won ‘Outstanding Guest Actress’ at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards earlier this week, that was the climax of its Emmy success.

Breaking Bad, which has long been mentioned along with The Sopranos as being one of the best drama series ever, took home the most coveted award of the night for ‘Outstanding Drama Series’ for a second year running. The show has been off the air for a year, with the second half of its gripping final season broadcasting last summer.

On the comedy front ABC’s ever-popular Modern Family made history accepted the award for ‘Outstanding Comedy Series’ for the fifth consecutive year, and tying with Frasier as the scripted series with the most Emmy wins. Interestingly, Modern Family‘s co-creator Christopher Lloyd was also part of the creative team on Frasier.

Bringing its total to 58 Emmy nominations to date, Breaking Bad‘s key actors were also awarded, with Bryan Cranston taking the ‘Best Lead Actor’ award, while Walter White’s sidekick Aaron Paul and wife Anna Gun each received the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ prize.

The Good Wife’s leading lady Julianna Margulies took home her third career Emmy (her first was for ER) for ‘Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama’, and gave all the credit to the show’s writers, who are required to write more episodes per season as a broadcast show than cable programmes. “What a wonderful time for women on television. All the women I’m nominated with tonight, it’s such a testament to that. But truly this belongs to Robert and Michelle King. All our writers, who never cease to amaze me with 22 episodes a year”, Magulies said.

Notably, Ryan Murphy took home the prize for ‘Outstanding Television Movie’ for his HBO version of Larry Kramer’s autobiographical play The Normal Heart, a project based on the 1980’s AIDS epidemic that has been struggling to find a production company for 25 years. Murphy snagged the rights in 2011 after singer Barbra Streisand struggled to get the film off the ground.

“We’re only here because of one person, and that’s Larry Kramer,” Glee-creator Murphy said. The 48 year-old director also took the opportunity to speak out to young people, asking them to find a project that they are as dedicated to as Kramer was to the AIDS epidemic, listing organisations like the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and concluding by dedicating the award to those who had suffered from HIV and AIDS.

The night took a sombre turn as the legendary actor Robin Williams, who tragically died earlier this month, was remembered by his friend Billy Crystal, who told the audience, “He made us laugh. Hard. Every time you saw him. Robin Williams, what a concept.”

On a lighter note, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was awarded with the ‘Best Comedy Actress’ Emmy for the third consecutive year for her role on political comedy Veep, made the glamorous crowd laugh as she exchanged a faux-heated kiss with the man of the night, Bryan Cranston, with whom she once starred in Seinfeld.