LOS ANGELES (AFP, REUTERS) - Dark superhero satire Watchmen on Sunday (Sept 20) won the Emmy for outstanding limited series, finishing the night honouring television's best with 11 statuettes.

HBO's eerily prescient comic book adaptation that debuted last October has struck a chord with many viewers as it confronts historic US racism, police violence and even mask-wearing - topics very much topping the news in the United States.

The series bested Little Fires Everywhere, Mrs America, Unbelievable and Unorthodox.

Watchmen actress Regina King won for her performance as the show's kick-ass police detective, while Yahya Abdul-Mateen II took best supporting actor.

"This is so freaking weird," King said as she accepted her award sitting in an armchair at home while wearing a pink suit and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the face of Ms Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by police in her Louisville, Kentucky, home earlier this year.

In an interview after winning her award, King said she had been more nervous accepting the award at home.

"I like the real awards better," King said. "Not that these are fake; I don't know what to call it."

Watchmen, which went into Sunday's ceremony with a leading 26 nods, also won for writing.

Creator Damon Lindeloff dedicated the Emmy to the victims and survivors of a 1921 massacre of the black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which partly inspired the series.