Britannia still rules at International Emmys with seven wins

No surprise really that the United Kingdom swept the 36th annual International Emmys last night, winning seven of the eight categories in which it competed. After all, last year it went seven for nine. English-language TV has always dominated this supposedly international competition.

And that tradition lives on despite the efforts of the academy to take the judging to regions beyond the Anglo-American sphere into South America and Asia. The only measure of success on that front came when the British entry "Britz" (currently screening on BBC America) lost best mini-series to Argentina's "Television por la identidad."

Otherwise, the Union Jack was flying high at the kudofest hosted by Tony Award winner Roger Bart in Gotham. The original British version of "Life on Mars" won a bookend Emmy as best drama series for its second and final season to go with a win in 2006 for the first season. Best actor was David Suchet (best known as "Poirot") for his portrayal of media tycoon Robert Maxwell in "Maxwell" while Lucy Cohu won best actress for "Forgiven." Best comedy series was "The I.T. Crowd" while best arts program went to "Strictly Bolshoi," best children's program to "Shaun the Sheep," and best documentary to "The Beckoning Silence."

The Brits did not compete in the category for non-scripted entertainment. That award went to the Dutch entry "The Big Donor Show" which had generated headlines by staging a bidding war for a supposedly terminal woman's kidneys only to reveal it was all a hoax. And Jordan won the new category of best telenovela with "Al-Igtiyah" ("The Invasion").