BEVERLY HILLS (AP) — It was a good night for HBO, “Glee” and probably the bartenders at Hollywood’s annual Golden Globe awards.

HBO’s Prohibition-era drama “Boardwalk Empire” dethroned “Mad Men” as television’s top drama — in the estimation of Golden Globe voters. Al Pacino and Claire Danes both won acting awards for their roles in HBO movies.

(credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

PHOTOS: Golden Globes Red Carpet

“Glee,” meanwhile, won the Globe for television’s best comedy or musical, its second Globe for the two years the exuberant Fox series has been on the air. Actors who play two of its indelible characters, Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer, won supporting actor awards.

NBC’s broadcast Sunday was loose and colorful, as it usually is at an awards show where alcohol is openly served. The night’s first award winner, movie actor Christian Bale, uttered a swear word that was wiped out by censors. Robert De Niro, who won a lifetime achievement award, also joked about foreign press association members and waiters being deported and was censored for saying “Christ” at one point.

Host Ricky Gervais got off several zingers. He touched on personal problems of Charlie Sheen and Robert Downey Jr., for example.

Gervais “used to be a slightly chubby, but very kind comedian,” Tom Hanks said in presenting a late award.

“Neither of which he is now,” chimed in Tim Allen. Gervais later thanked the audience for being good sports.

Besides beating “Mad Men,” HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” also topped another hot new show, AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” Steve Buscemi, the Atlantic City boss who is the star of “Boardwalk Empire,” won his first Golden Globe as best actor in a drama.

“I hope we do it for years and years and years,” Buscemi said.

Terence Winter, who created “Boardwalk Empire,” seemed ready to pinch himself. “To my family and friends in Brooklyn, I can’t believe I’m sitting at a table with Al Pacino, either,” he said.

Pacino had his own walk to the stage, picking up his fourth Golden Globe, for acting in a television movie. Pacino, who portrayed suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian in HBO’s “You Don’t Know Jack,” talked about how interesting it was for him to play real people instead of fictional characters.

Danes played another real person in HBO’s “Temple Grandin,” about an autistic woman who becomes an expert in animal behavior. Dressed in Western garb and sitting at Danes’ table, Grandin hugged Danes when the award was announced, and she returned it with a hug of her own.

Clair Danes Talks About Playing An Autistic Woman

“She’s still at it,” Danes said. “She’s still working with such incredible zeal and devotion to illuminate mysteries about autism and human behavior.”

“Glee” writer Ian Brennan paid tribute to public school teachers in accepting the best comedy award. Colfer, who plays an openly gay student, gave a salute to students who feel out of place in school.

“To all the amazing kids who watch our show and the kids who our show celebrates who are constantly told ‘no’ by the people and their environments, by the bullies at school, that they can’t be who they are or have what they want because of who they are, well, screw that,” Colfer said.

The lead “Glee” actors — Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele — were nominated but did not win.

Instead, the best actress award for a comedy went to Laura Linney of Showtime’s “The Big C,” for her portrayal of a cancer patients. She wasn’t there to accept the Globe. (Her father, playwright Romulus Linney, died Saturday at his home in upstate New York.)

Jim Parsons of CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” was honored as best actor in a comedy. He thanked his writers for creating a character that “I enjoy playing and have so much interest in playing week after week.”

Katey Sagal won the award for best actor in a TV drama for her role in “Sons of Anarchy” on the FX network, the motorcycle drama created by her husband Kurt Sutter. She had been nominated four times for her work on Fox’s comedy “Married … With Children” and never won.

Katey Sagal Describes Her Preparation For Role In “Sons of Anarchy”

“This is awesome,” she said.

The Sundance Channel’s story of a drug kingpin, “Carlos,” won the Globe for best miniseries or television movie. The drama beat three different HBO productions in the category, including the World War II drama “The Pacific.”

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