AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Model and talk-show host Tyra Banks arrives for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Banks will be a presenter during the show

Call off the fashion police. Television's actresses committed few mistakes. The red contingent was well represented by Heidi Klum, Jane Kaczmarek, Allison Janney and Chandra Wilson. Pretty in purple were Evangeline Lilly, Ellen Pompeo, Leah Remini, Jaime Pressly and Cheryl Hines, who deserves extra points for her gown's jewel-decorated back. In a golden stunner, Katherine Heigl exuded vintage Hollywood glamour.

Tyra Banks looked like a knockout in an elaborate $50,000 black gown. Helen Mirren and Debra Messing were lustrous in white. Julia Louis-Dreyfus' stylish gown mixed black and white. The men made the main fashion mistakes. Denis Leary wore a red tie, Simon Cowell's open shirt plunged, and Jeremy Piven wore an ascot. The men setting the style pace were Patrick Dempsey and Kiefer Sutherland.

"Entourage" star Jeremy Piven was having none of NBC analyst Billy Bush's questions about Tom Cruise's baby. "You need another job. You have potential as a human being. This may not be right for you," Piven told Bush. Over on E!, Leah Remini didn't like Ryan Seacrest's questions about the Cruise baby. "Everybody needs to move," Remini said. "Think about other things." And what about the sarcastic give-and-take between Seacrest and Simon Cowell as Seacrest tried to interview Debra Messing? "Simon, I know this is killing you for us to talk about somebody else

for a second, but just relax," Seacrest said.

Conan O'Brien's opened the Emmys with cutting wit. A filmed segment dropped him into "Lost," "The Office," "24," "House," "South Park" and "Dateline." He took tart swipes against NBC, Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen. O'Brien launched into an acerbic song, modeled on a ditty from The Music Man, that bemoaned trouble in the television industry. Best of all, O'Brien ridiculed himself. Noting it was his second time as host, O'Brien said, "As you'll see, the

third time is the charm." He proved the second time can be a charm.

In an unusual comedy bit, the Emmy telecast put the TV legend's life in jeopardy. O'Brien said the show had rarely come in on time, and that was because there were no consequences for running over. So he joked that the Emmys put Newhart in a container with air for just three hours. "So keep those speeches short, ladies and gentlemen," O'Brien said. "Bob Newhart's life is in your hands." Newhart deserved better, but he was a great sport.