'Homeland' captures TV drama Globes, 'Girls' gets comedy nods

* "Homeland" takes best drama actor, actress

* "Girls" creator Lena Dunham wins best comedy actress

* "Game Change" reaps awards for portrayal of Sarah Palin

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan 13 (Reuters) - Post 9/11

psychological thriller "Homeland" was the big winner of the

Golden Globe awards for television drama on Sunday for the

second season running, while brash newcomer "Girls" and its

struggling New York 20-somethings took home top comedy honors.

"Homeland" won best drama and best actor honors for Damian

Lewis who plays a returning Iraq veteran turned by al Qaeda, and

a best actress award for Claire Danes in her role as a bipolar

CIA agent.

"All of us killed ourselves to live up to the hype of the

first season, and this tells me that maybe we did not screw this

up," said Alex Gansa, executive producer for the series that is

in its second season on cable network Showtime.

"Homeland" had won best drama at September's Emmys, the top

awards in television, ending the reign of AMC's stylish 1960s

advertising show "Mad Men."

But the Golden Globes, handed out by the Hollywood Foreign

Press Association for film and television, took a different path

on comedy by choosing HBO's "Girls" over perennial favorite

"Modern Family."

"Girls" creator and writer Lena Dunham won best actress in a

comedy series, in which the 26-year-old bares herself, both

physically and emotionally.

The series, which kicked off its second season Sunday night,

tells the tale of Dunham and three girlfriends in Brooklyn,

coping with boyfriends, sexuality, low or no-paying jobs and the

end to parental support.

The show has raised eyebrows for its nudity and graphic sex

scenes and the self-absorbed ways of its privileged young women.

"I think when you get criticism, you have to be elegant

about it and appreciate it and understand it," said Dunh! am

backstage, adding that "I'm sure people dislike the show for

plenty of reasons."

In the miniseries or TV movie category, the Globes favored

HBO's "Game Change," a take on Sarah Palin's meteoric rise and

subsequent fall in American politics as the running mate to

Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the 2008

election.

Julianne Moore, who played Palin with an uncanny physical

resemblance, won best actress in a TV movie, while Ed Harris

took best supporting actor for his portrayal of McCain.

Palin had famously panned Moore's performance.

"This was in no way a biopic or a character assassination,

it was a story about our political process," said Moore

backstage. "This is one of the best jobs I've ever had."

Kevin Costner won best actor for the mini-series on feuding

families "Hatfields & McCoys," while Don Cheadle took the best

actor for a TV comedy with "House of Lies," a biting satire of

the world of management consultants.

Veteran British actress Maggie Smith won best supporting

actress for her portrayal as an acerbic dowager countess on the

popular period drama "Downton Abbey."

(Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by Stacey Joyce)