‘Glee’s’ hallelujah chorus

The misfits beat the cool kids.

“Glee,” the comedy-drama-musical about high school social outcasts finding redemption in a glee club, scored a surprise victory in winning the Golden Globe for best comedy or musical series, triumphing over traditional favorites “30 Rock,” “The Office” and “Entourage,” as well as the season’s hottest new comedy, “Modern Family.”

The win by “Glee” overshadowed the other major TV honor for AMC’s “Mad Men,” which won its third consecutive Golden Globe for best drama series.

Exuberant cast members of the Fox series almost fell over themselves as they rushed the stage when the win was announced.

“Thank you, Hollywood Foreign Press and Barbra Streisand,” quipped creator Ryan Murphy. He praised studio and network executives who felt that a musical would work on network prime time and noted that “Glee” stressed the importance of arts education.

Staying true to the show’s outcast theme, Murphy dedicated the win to “anybody and everybody who ever got a wedgie.”

The other big TV story of the night was the tight race in the drama category, where “Mad Men” faced off potent competition from the highly praised “Dexter,” “Big Love,” “House” and “True Blood.” Even the show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, said earlier in the evening that he didn’t expect his drama to win because “it’s another show’s time.”

“I’m surprised and completely unprepared,” said Weiner as his large cast gathered around him. He thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. “for putting us on the map.”

“Dexter,” about a blood-splatter specialist who moonlights as a serial killer, scored wins for best actor in a drama (Michael C. Hall). Alec Baldwin won his third Golden Globe as best actor in a comedy for “30 Rock.”

Julianna Margulies won best actress in a drama series for her portrayal of an attorney in CBS’ “The Good Wife,” and Toni Collette won best actress in a comedy or musical series as a woman with multiple personalities in Showtime’s “The United States of Tara.”

greg.braxton@latimes.com