CAN YOU SAY three-peat?

Upper Darby's Tina Fey can.

NBC's "30 Rock," the show Fey created and stars in, won its third consecutive Emmy for outstanding comedy last night, as AMC's "Mad Men" won its second in a row for outstanding drama.

You can dress up the Emmys - heck, you can suit 'em up in a white tux and black tie and have them sing a funny song - but you can only take the people who vote for them so far.

Or as Emmys host Neil Patrick Harris put it last night after CBS' "The Amazing Race" won the "reality" show competition Emmy for the seventh year in a row: "Congratulations, guys. Unbelievable. Upsets at every turn."

It might not have been just Hollywood's inability to look beyond "Race" that Harris was talking about.

There was, for instance, Alec Baldwin's repeat win for NBC's "30 Rock," which shut out the at least equally deserving Jim Parsons of CBS' "The Big Bang Theory."

Or even Jeff Probst's repeat win for hosting CBS' "Survivor." (The Los Angeles Times was reporting last night that Probst, asked about "Race's" win backstage, suggested "maybe 'Amazing Race' should do what Oprah did and pull itself out of competition.")

But all this is quibbling. Thanks to Harris, the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards were more entertainment than ordeal, particularly in the first hour, and though there were many repeat visits to the stage, several, including those for Bryan Cranston (AMC's "Breaking Bad") and Glenn Close (FX's "Damages") were deserved.

And not every major category was a rerun: Toni Collette took home the Emmy for lead actress in a comedy for Showtime's "The United States of Tara."

Plus, William Shatner remained in his seat.

Harris' own loss in the supporting-actor category to Jon Cryer of CBS' "Two and a Half Men," who'd been nominated three times before without a win, came in the first half-hour, leaving plenty of time for the host to turn it into a running gag.

Divided this year by category - comedy, "reality," variety and drama - the show started out strong with Harris singing a song written by Broadway composers Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.

"Put down the remote," sang the "How I Met Your Mother" co-star. "Don't jump online because this fine mug of mine needs a huge high-def screen."

As always, there were categories that simply didn't make the cut for the main show (or even for last week's Creative Arts Emmys):

* Intermittently funny color commentary: John "PC" Hodgman, whose stream of facts (and occasional fiction) about the winners could be heard only by viewers at home. "This is apparently the first time a number has been written for a wolverine," he noted after Hugh Jackman's musical number at the Oscars won.

* Most extensive use of IMDB.com: Harris introducing presenters by their most obscure credits. Funny first few times, after that, maybe not so much.

* Best nonapology apology: "Survivor" host Jeff Probst, who used his "reality" show host win to clear the air. "Neil Patrick Harris, this is how you host the Emmys. Nice job," said Probst, one of five "reality" show hosts implicated in the Great Emmys Hosting Disaster of 2008.

* Best save: CBS, for cutting "60 Minutes" to one segment after football ran late so that Emmys could begin on time on the East Coast.

* Gag that couldn't go the distance: Harris' check-ins with the "Best Seat in the House" winner, whose seat so often wasn't. "That's a terrible seat. And a hilarious sight gag," he told her at one point. Er, no. Not really.

* Best pitch for work: Tie between "Pushing Daisies" supporting actress winner Kristin Chenoweth, who (sort of) tearfully reminded the audience that "I'm unemployed now, so I'd like to be on 'Mad Men.' I also like 'The Office' and '24,' " and the slightly subtler Jessica Lange, who thanked voters for her win for HBO's "Grey Gardens" by saying, "This part was a gift, and they don't come around for me that often for me anymore."

* Most meaningful thank-you: Ken Howard ("Grey Gardens") expressing gratitude to the stuntwoman who gave him a kidney nine years ago.

* Funniest gag most viewers probably didn't understand: Harris and Nathan Fillion ("Castle") reprising their roles in Joss Whedon's Emmy-winning online musical, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," to explain, not very convincingly, why television is dead.

* Best nibble at the hand that feeds her: Fey thanking several NBC execs for keeping "30 Rock" on the air even though a talk show would be cheaper.

* Best specs: Dana Delany and Justin Timberlake, who both showed up in glasses to announce winners. *

The Assoc*ated Press contr*buted

to th*s report.

Send e-ma*l to graye@ph*llynews.com.