Seacrest loses to Probst, but Bruce Gowers wins!

Last night's broadcast of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards once again left Ryan Seacrest and American Idol empty-handed, but there was one positive item of note for the franchise. In the rather obscure category of Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series, it was Director Bruce Gowers who took home the Emmy. The episode that won him the award as no. 833, "The Final Three."

As for the more notable losses, Ryan's nomination in Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program stood little chance of transforming into a win next to Survivor's Jeff Probst, who has won the award for two straight years, and Idol itself lost out to The Amazing Race for the seventh year in a row in the Outstanding Reality Competition Program category. Oh well, maybe next year...

P.S. One last Idol-related nominee was defeated in the final minutes of last night's telecast. The Breakthrough Performance of the Year category, which was fan-voted, included Kris Allen's crowning moment as a nominee, but it instead lost out to a scene from HBO's True Blood. No surprise there, either.