Terrified 'Thrones' team win best-drama Emmy

Game of Thrones won its first best-drama Emmy for its fifth season, refuting the notion that genre shows have a tough time at TV's top trophy show.

“If you look back on Lord of the Rings, on its success, a lot of people thought that could never win an Oscar and it did," said Thrones executive producer David Benioff, backstage Sunday. In some ways Thrones author George R. R. Martin "followed in J.R.R. Tolkien’s footsteps, and we followed in (Rings director) Peter Jackson’s footsteps. It’s a great honor to be able to carry fantasy forward a little bit.”

This season they went beyond Martin’s books, and “we were terrified ... because it’s a little bit uncharted territory," Benioff said. "It’s good to see that it’s recognized.”

Added executive producer D.B. Weiss:  “It’s always surprising. It is definitely a shock to the system, in the best of all possible ways.”

Peter Dinklage also won his second supporting-actor Emmy for his role in HBO's fantasy drama.