Ceremony gets off the ground at last, with no-fly zone and sober suits

War against terror: The Emmys

Organisers of the twice-delayed Emmy Awards – the Oscars for the television industry – made last-minute arrangements close the air space above the Shubert Theatre in downtown Los Angeles yesterday to ensure maximum security for the stars.

Nothing was about to get in the way of the show that finally took place last night. It had seemed possible at one stage that the Emmy extravaganza, which traditionally draws huge audiences, might not happen at all because of the interruptions of war and terrorism.

No one has been more frustrated than the comedian Ellen DeGeneris who is this year's host of the show. It was first scheduled to happen on 16 September but was postponed because of the Word Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks. A second attempt to put it on also foundered on 7 October – the day the bombardment of Afghanistan began.

The White House drama from NBC, The West Wing, starring Martin Sheen as the American President, was expected to vie for top honours at the event with the cable hit, The Sopranos, about the dysfunctional New Jersey Mafia boss, Tony Soprano.

In atmosphere and in much of its organisational detail, the show was expected to be a little different from previous years. The Shubert holds only 2,000 people, making it a much smaller venue than usual. Meanwhile, the stars – or at least those preparing to show up – were asked to eschew fancy gowns and black ties in favour of business suits.

The intention, producers said, was to have a show that was less concerned with Hollywood glitz and more with showing respect for those who died in the terrorist attacks and American-led forces fighting in central Asia.

Among the guests expected to appear on the Shubert stage was the veteran CBS newscaster, Walter Cronkite. Larry King, the chat-meister of CNN, was to introduce a video about the relationship between the entertainment industry and the rest of the country in times of national crisis.

Barbra Streisand, meanwhile, agreed to make a rare appearance to close the broadcast, singing a tear-jerking version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the Broadway musical Carousel.

The plan to establish a no-fly zone over the theatre was the final detail in an unprecedented security effort.

Even the stars themselves were being asked to pass through metal detectors on entering the venue and every limousine was to be stopped by guards and thoroughly searched.

Most of the brilliant and the beautiful of the television world were expected to show up, in spite of lingering nervousness about safety. A few were absent, however, by virtue of clashing commitments. Those who said their seats would be empty included James Gandolfini, who plays Tony Soprano, and Sarah Jessica Parker, the lead in the similarly successful HBO series, Sex and the City.

Rivalry was strong, meanwhile, not only between contenders at the ceremony but also between CBS, owner of the Emmy broadcast rights, and the other American networks. CBS would normally have won the battle for Sunday night audience hands down with the awards broadcast. But last night it had strong competition, most notably from the Fox network, which was showing the deciding game of baseball's World Series.