"Entertainment Tonight" and "People" magazine sure know how to put on a post-Emmy party. Traditionally the hottest ticket in town, it was no different Sunday night at Vibiana, the church-turned-event-space, as hordes of revelers descended on the downtown venue after the 61st Primetime Emmys wrapped up at the Nokia Theater nearby.

The early crowd included adorable Zooey Deschanel, who is just getting warmed up for the bigger awards season looming large. She's the star of the wonderful film "(500) Days of Summer," and she gave us a huge grin when we told her she's a shoo-in for a Best Actress Oscar nomination. "Oh my gosh, thanks," she gushed. "That would be amazing!"

Oh, right, this night is supposed to be all about television, and as the night progressed toward the Mary J. Blige live performance the TV crowd rolled in, many of them clutching their golden Emmy statues. Toni Collette and John Cryer mugged for the cameras, each hanging on to their awards for dear life, while Best Actor Drama repeat winner Bryan Cranston left his in the limo. "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner was double-fisted, a prize in each hand, while producer Jerry Bruckheimer and host Phil Keoghan both hung on to their latest "Amazing Race" trophies. Those guys win Best Reality Series every year, and it's almost a joke at this point, that anyone we meet at an Emmy party who isn't a famous face and is grasping a statue inevitably has won for "The Amazing Race."

And that's what documentary filmmaker Stuart Acher was counting on, as he gatecrashed the party with his cameraman, who had won an Emmy for the "Race" five years ago. "All we did was take the plaque off of this thing," Acher chortled, "and we got in without an invite. Don't you love it?"

Most of the famous faces that filled the cathedral-like space and outdoor garden were legit, however, although a few were fashion victims. Bonnie Somerville stood out in a bad way, pairing a cream stain mini dress with black tights, and Beau Bridges didn't get the memo that it was a dressy affair, instead turning up in an Aloha shirt.

But the beauties in gowns outweighed the baddies, from Jennifer Love Hewitt in a gorgeous Max Azria Atelier yellow dress to Julie Benz's cute little number by Georges Chakra and Angela Kinsey's brilliant red Nicole Miller gown. January Jones wowed in a stunning Versace, and it was great to see "NCIS" star Pauley Perrette as herself, no Goth tats or pigtails for her, just a pretty animal-print dress and soft loose hairstyle. Gabrielle Union, Eva LaRue, Jane Krakowski, Kaley Cuoco, Sofia Milos, Adrienne Frantz, Nia Long, and Niecy Nash all looked fabulous, but Patricia Arquette scared us with her gigantic breasts on display. Rein those babies in a bit, hon!

The boys in tuxes were a hot bunch, too, with "Twilight: New Moon" cutie Kellan Lutz looking especially good, as did David Boreanaz, Chris O'Donnell, and Best Reality Host repeat winner Jeff Probst; all were swooningly handsome. Newly single Maksim Chmerkovskiy won't have trouble finding a new dance partner if he just keeps wearing that form-fitting tux, and the show's host Neil Patrick Harris, who changed to a white dinner jacket to do the party rounds, might want to hook up with Jay Manuel, who won the night's most stylish man award in our book.

Revelers enjoyed international tidbits created by Street Executive Chef Susan Feniger, and sipped top-notch red wines from Beaulieu Vinyards (the divine Dulcet) and Jacob's Creek or slammed back a few hits of Absolut at the massive vodka bar set up on the patio.

As Mary J. Blige took the stage, singing along like we were in a karaoke bar with canned music backing her up, much of the crowd headed for the door, in order to move on to the HBO post-Emmy bash being held at the Pacific Design Center.

That astonishingly over-the-top party had everything from fire dancers to dueling drummers (three sets of them, perched on platforms high over the scene), all presented in a "True Blood" inspired blood-red decorated setting. And the star wattage matched the scene, with winners Jessica Lange, Brendan Gleeson, Glenn Close, Michael Emerson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ken Howard, and Michael Sucsy all showing off their trophies to an amazing array of well-wishers, including Stuart Acher, who successfully gatecrashed this one, too.

It was virtually a who's who of HBO Television and beyond, with stars everywhere we looked. Ricky Gervais, Cheryl Hines, Andy Serkis, Thomas Jane, Michelle Forbes, Gabriel Byrne, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrera, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Perrey Reeves, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Kevin Dillon, and Ginnifer Goodwin held up the HBO banner, while stars from rival networks joined in the fun, too. Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Olivia Wilde, Lisa Edelstein, Chevy Chase, Anne Heche, Hayden Panettiere, Blake Lively, Dana Delany, Sally Field, Hope Davis, Jason Segal, Kathy Griffin, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt, Leighton Meester, Malin Akerman, Rose Byrne, and a slew of other famous faces hit the dance floor, spread out across the massive space, and air kissed across the room.

And as last call was shouted out close to 1 a.m., there seemed to be a general agreement that this Emmy night was definitely a winner, especially for HBO, whose shows and films took home 21 statues, topping all other networks and cable channels by a wide margin.