Emmy hopefuls fall behind Candelabra Claire Danes, winner of the best actress in a drama series award at the 65th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles Source: AP JANE Campion can hardly have expected to win all five Emmy awards for which her acclaimed Top of the Lake was nominated, but zero gongs must have been a disappointment to the Australia-based Kiwi director at the 65th annual celebration of the small screen in Los Angeles. Campion's miniseries was outdone by Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, which claimed nods for best miniseries/TV movie, best actor for Michael Douglas and best director for Steven Soderbergh, at a ceremony hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. The star of the night was cult AMC series Breaking Bad, which -- just a week before its series finale -- claimed top gong for best TV drama. The series, about a chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin, beat House of Cards, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones and Mad Men. The win -- the series' first in the coveted category after four nominations during its five-year run -- came hours ahead of its globally screened penultimate episode. "Holy crap," said executive producer creator Vince Gilligan. I did not see that coming. The other big upset of the night came at the expense of Bryan Cranston, the man who plays Breaking Bad's hapless hero Walter White, considered favourite for his fourth win in the best drama actor category. That honour went to Jeff Daniels for his role as news anchor Will McAvoy in The Newsroom; Claire Danes was awarded best actress in the drama category for Showtime's drama-thriller Homeland. David Fincher took best direction in a drama series for House of Cards, which made its debut as an online-only series, downloadable through US service Netflix. Its loss to Breaking Bad in the drama category was seen as a blow, with many hoping a win might symbolise a new direction -- online -- for the television industry. Political comedy Veep claimed wins for best actress for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and best supporting actor for Tony Hale. In the best comedy categories, Modern Family made it four wins in four years in addition to director Gail Mancuso also winning for best comedy direction. Tina Fey and Tracy Wigfield claimed the best writing in a comedy series for 30 Rock. The closest an Australian got to Emmy glory was Rose Byrne: her partner, Boardwalk Empire's Bobby Cannavale, won for best supporting actor in a drama series.