“Durham County” emerged as the big winner at Friday’s 23rd annual Gemini Awards, taking home three awards for its debut season.

The dark dramatic series won for best director (Holly Dale), best actor (Justin Louis) and best actress (Hélène Joy) at the Toronto gala honouring the best in Canadian television.

Rock ‘n’ roll mockumentary show “Cock’d Gunns,” which has already been cancelled, and historical miniseries “The Englishman’s Boy” were also multiple-award winners, taking home two each.

Another cancelled winner was “Intelligence,” which won for best drama series.

Best comedy series went to “This Hour has 22 Minutes,” which beat out sentimental favourite “Corner Gas,” currently in its last season.

The night’s festivities were hosted by Jason Priestley, who paid tribute to his Canadian roots.

“What a honour to host the Geminis,” said the former “90210″ actor and director. “And an even a bigger honour to be considered 100 per cent, unabashedly Canadian … it’s never been cooler to be Canadian in Hollywood. We are white-hot there.”

Here are some of the winners at the 2008 Gemini Awards:

Best Drama — “Intelligence”
Best Comedy — “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”
Best Miniseries — “The Englishman’s Boy”
Best Talk Show Host — George Stroumboulopoulos, “The Hour”
Best Host of a Sports Program — Ron MacLean, “Hockey Day in Canada”
Best Reality Program — “Project Runway Canada”
Best News Anchor — Ian Hanomansing “CBC News at Six – Vancouver”
Gemini Humanitarian Award — Gord Martineau
Viewers’ Choice Award — Leah Miller (Hottest Canadian Female Star); Brendan Fehr (Hottest Canadian Male Star)






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