The 57th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 18, 2005, and were hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

The ceremony, which aired three weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit, featured a mini-telethon for Habitat for Humanity and gave DeGeneres more opportunity to use the ceremony to somberly remember the victims of the Gulf Coast.

Opening the ceremony was the famous 1970's band Earth, Wind & Fire with a comedic version of "September", in collaboration with The Black Eyed Peas.

The ceremony featured tributes to ABC-TV anchor Peter Jennings (who died seven weeks earlier) presented by rival anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw, and to talk show host Johnny Carson (who died on January 23, 2005) by close friend and Late Show host David Letterman.

The CBS comedy series also tied for the lead in major nominations and wins with ten and three, respectively.