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EVEN by the standards of Wisteria Lane, that “Desperate Housewives” stretch of suburbia where bombshells detonate routinely, Sunday’s Emmy for lead actress in a comedy was a bit of a shocker. At the end of the evening, the actress who ended up clutching the gold wasn’t the tabloid favorite but the critical darling.

And Felicity Huffman, who plays the show’s pill-popping, pushed-to-the-edge mother of four, Lynette Scavo, was not alone. On a night in which Emmy voters seemed to go out of their way to recognize actors of craftsmanship, longevity or both, the honorees also included Blythe Danner (“Huff”), Doris Roberts (“Everybody Loves Raymond”), Jane Alexander (“Warm Springs” ) and S. Epatha Merkerson (the “Law & Order” veteran who won for lead actress in a miniseries or movie for playing the compassionate rooming house proprietor in “Lackawanna Blues”).

“I think it’s our time,” the 52-year-old Merkerson said backstage at the Shrine Auditorium after receiving her first Emmy Award. “People are writing about baby boomers. We’re interesting women. We’re not dead women. We’re very much alive, sexy, vibrant, hot flashes and all. I think I’m cute when I’m glowing with hot flashes. I think it’s a great time for women of substance.”

Among the men, Paul Newman (“Empire Falls”), Geoffrey Rush (“The Life and Death of Peter Sellers”) and William Shatner (“Boston Legal”) also demonstrated that the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards did not dote on youthful glitz as it handed out its hardware.

In the category of best actress in a comedy, three of the nominees hailed from the darkly satirical “Desperate Housewives,” which is set on a suburban map somewhere between “Twin Peaks” and “Peyton Place.” Huffman’s cohorts on the show have had more attention for their work -- except on Sunday night, when the Emmy went to the “Housewife” the tabloids and slick-paged magazines have been the least desperate to cover.

While the show puts a premium on strapless, over-the-top characters, Huffman plays a frustrated mother that the show’s creator, Marc Cherry, based on memories of his mother and her arduous task of raising three kids on a farm. Huffman has drawn praise for the honesty of her portrayal. She certainly was anything but dowdy Sunday night in satin, even if on the show she’s the one housewife who exhibits wear and tear.

“It’s a relief,” Huffman, 42, said. “I get to come in my pajamas and basically stay in my pajamas. Although this year [my character goes] back to work, so I have to get dressed up like you.”

Asked whether she had any advice for actresses half her age, Huffman quipped: “Everything goes south. That’s all I have to say.”

Huffman landed her role partly because the day of her audition she arrived with frayed nerves and a sour expression after an especially tough day at home with her own brood. “I guess,” she would say later, “I looked the part.”

For an older generation, gray hair, knowing eyes and earned wrinkles were no handicap on Sunday night. William Shatner, 74, won for supporting actor in a drama series for “Boston Legal,” which is a third act in the television career of a man who explored space in the 1960s and took on the role of a veteran cop in the 1980s.

There was also Paul Newman, 80, who won for supporting actor for miniseries or movie for his work in “Empire Falls.” The HBO production was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a working-class New England town. And the 75-year-old Roberts, who brought her grandsons on stage to accept the Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series for her long-running role as the boisterous and meddling mother of the title character in “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

“Just because you’re over 40 doesn’t mean you’re not hot, or talented,” Roberts pointed out. “Look who won!”

There was an emotionalism to the night with so many veteran winners, heightened by extended segments paying tribute to the late Johnny Carson and Peter Jennings. Then there was Danner, 62, the veteran actress, who acknowledged her late husband, the acclaimed television producer and director best known for “St. Elsewhere.”

“And I thank my husband, Bruce Paltrow, who is up there stirring this up,” she said to applause while accepting the award for supporting actress in a drama. “ ... Yeah, he’s saying, ‘Get the old gal to work. Get something going there.’ ”

So what is going on? Perhaps the clustering of television’s young faces on unscripted “reality” shows has left a welcome vacuum in dramas and sitcoms for performers with frayed SAG cards in their wallets.

Like Danner, the availability of a quality role had lured Alexander, 65, to the type of work that won her an Emmy on Sunday for supporting actress in a miniseries or a movie. For Alexander, it was the chance to portray FDR’s mother Sara Delano Roosevelt in the HBO movie “Warm Springs”: “I longed to get back to the business of performance, which I find more honest.”

Honesty, show business and aging don’t always go hand in hand. Shatner even appeared to believe that good acting could trump reality and the natural aging process.

“I work out every day,” the somewhat plump actor told the press backstage. “I have washboard abs and tremendous thighs, so it’s hard for me to answer what the aging process does to other men.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The tally

[WINS BY SHOW]

“The Life and Death

of Peter Sellers” ... 9

“Lost” ... 6

“Desperate Housewives” ... 6

“Deadwood” ... 5

“Warm Springs” ... 5

“Everybody Loves

Raymond” ... 3

“24” ... 3

“The Lost Prince” ... 3

“Death in Gaza” ... 3

“Olympics Opening” ... 3

“Unforgivable Blackness” ... 3

“Foster’s Home for

Imaginary Friends” ... 3

**

[WINS BY NETWORK]

HBO: 27

ABC: 16

CBS: 11

PBS: 10

NBC: 10

Fox: 6

**

[TOP WINNERS]

Drama series: “Lost”

Comedy series:

“Everybody Loves Raymond”

Actor, drama series:

James Spader,

“Boston Legal”

Actress, drama series:

Patricia Arquette, “Medium”

Actor, comedy series:

Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”

Actress, comedy series:

Felicity Huffman,

“Desperate Housewives”

**

“I’m an example of what can happen when you don’t drink, don’t smoke, exercise every day, eat carefully, love passionately and eat Wheaties.”

Winner William Shatner

“Boston Legal”

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“It’s a true reality show. We turn people loose, let them do things all over the world. We are just as surprised with the outcome as the audience.”

WinnerBertram van Munster

“The Amazing Race”

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“I’d like to dedicate this to Britney [Spears] and our baby.”

Winner Brad Garrett

“Everybody Loves Raymond”

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“I would like to thank the incomparable William H. Macy for taking a chunky 22-year-old with a bad perm and glasses out into a cow pasture and kissing me and making me his wife.”

Winner Felicity Huffman

“Desperate Housewives”

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“To my fellow nominees, whoever they are -- I’m not that familiar with their work -- I just want to say, there’s always next year. Except, you know, for Ray Romano.”

Winner Tony Shalhoub

“Monk”

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“But seriously, I think overall, in the scheme of things, winning an Emmy is not important. Let’s get our priorities straight. I think we all know what’s really important in life -- winning an Oscar.”

Host Ellen DeGeneres

**

BYE-BYE, RAYMOND: Pulling out a surprise win for outstanding comedy, “Everybody Loves Raymond’s” swan song proved bittersweet for its cast. “You’ve had your time. Box up the Emmy and send it to Mama,” best supporting actor Brad Garrett said to lead actor Ray Romano. “People say, ‘You’re good. You should have stuck around,’ ” Romano said.

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Seniors versus froshies

“Raymond” graduates with honors, but ABC freshmen “Lost” and “Housewives” power their way to numerous wins. “West Wing”: zip.

Everybody Loves Raymond

Number of nominations...13

Number of wins...3

The West Wing

Number of nominations...5

Number of wins...0

Desperate Housewives

Number of nominations...15

Number of wins...6

Lost

Number of nominations...12

Number of wins...6