In so many studied efforts at levity, lapses are all the more glaring. British actors are known for their witty good manners at awards shows, but Damian Lewis, who won best actor in a TV drama for “Homeland,” thanked many colleagues and friends but didn’t even mention his co-star, Claire Danes — one of the more startling omissions since Hilary Swank forgot to thank her husband at the time, Chad Lowe. (When Ms. Dunham was onstage after winning the award for best comedy or musical TV series, she made an oblique reference to that slip, joking, “I also promised myself that if I ever got this chance, I would thank Chad Lowe.”)

Most of the women were studiously gracious in victory (except the pop singer Adele, who used a rather salty Britishism to describe how much she was enjoying the show). While accepting her award, Jennifer Lawrence made a joke about beating out Meryl Streep, but praised her co-star Bradley Cooper and also the producer Harvey Weinstein, whom she thanked for “killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today.” Anne Hathaway, who won for best supporting actress in a movie, even reached out to one of her rivals for the award, thanking Sally Field, nominated for playing the president’s wife in “Lincoln,” for being “a vanguard against typecasting” by going from “The Flying Nun” to “Norma Rae.” (Ms. Hathaway rose to fame as the star of “The Princess Diaries.”)

And it could be that all the female success has left a pall on some of the men.

On the red carpet before the show Jay Leno gave the hosts of the night a backhanded compliment: he called Ms. Fey and Ms. Poehler “two of the funniest women I know,” then added of Ms. Poehler’s sitcom: “ ‘Parks and Recreation’ is my wife’s favorite show. She never misses it.”

Ms. Poehler had the last laugh, closing the show by saying of herself and Ms. Fey, “We’re going home with Jodie Foster.”