Betty White has big night with Emmy win for 'SNL'

(AP) LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Betty White phenomenon keeps getting bigger.

White won an Emmy Award for best guest actress in a comedy series for her turn as host on "Saturday Night Live." The honor came Saturday at the creative arts ceremony that is precursor to the main Aug. 29 Emmy show.

The trophy is the fifth prime-time Emmy received by the 88-year-old White, according to the TV academy. Her previous honors came for classic sitcoms including "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls."

So far this year, besides the "SNL" gig, White made a splash with the new TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland," scored with a clever Super Bowl commercial and guest-starred on ABC's "The Middle."

She did not attend Saturday's ceremony.

Neil Patrick Harris won the trophy for best guest actor in a comedy series for his appearance on "Glee," while the guest acting trophies for drama series went to John Lithgow for "Dexter" and Ann-Margret for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

The top network winner was HBO with 17 trophies, followed by ABC with 15 and Fox with nine. CBS, NBC and PBS each claimed seven. "The Pacific," HBO's World War II miniseries, captured a leading seven creative arts awards.

John Leverence, senior vice president of awards, received the Syd Cassyd Founders Award for his service to the TV academy.

Next week's Emmy ceremony, with Jimmy Fallon as host, will air live on NBC.