I made my feelings on the Emmys pretty clear in Friday's column, but I'm professionally obligated to watch them. I'll be too busy writing my story for tomorrow's paper as I go (deadline about five minutes after the show ends) for any kind of liveblogging, but I'm going to open these comments up for y'all to snark and, on rare occasions, applaud as the show moves along. I'll try to weigh in if/when I can during the show, and will definitely have some things to say after I make my deadline.
Seacrest. Sigh...
UPDATE: Doing a fair amount of commenting now while it's still early and I don't have a column to worry about yet.
INT. FOX - DAY
ReplyDeleteA roundtable meeting is in progress to discuss who should host the Emmys this year:
EXEC 1: How about Hugh Laurie?
Everyone murmurs about what a good idea it is.
EXEC 2: Ryan Seacrest.
Everyone murmurs about how that's EVEN better.
I understand Bill Belichick will be taping it.
ReplyDeleteFirst awkward moment of the night.. reference to Isiah Washington and then a shot to TR Knight. Nice.
ReplyDeleteAt least Ryan didn't sing.
Only a few minutes in, and already Seacrest is more brutal than I was fearing.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the cut to Hugh Laurie in the front row was just cruel.
ReplyDeleteDid everyone else's audio go out when Ray Romano started to tell the Frasier joke?
ReplyDeleteUgh - while it could have been worse - anything from Two and a Half Men, Jeremy Piven was my second last choice for this. Rainn Wilson or NPH should have pulled it off.
ReplyDeleteAnd why not get Ray Romano to host if he was going to do a monologue?
Terry O'Quinn? I'll be darned. I was fearing Shatner.
ReplyDeleteGood speech, too. See what happens when you give awards to new people, Academy? See?
ReplyDeleteThis show is a trainwreck. As if snubbing The Wire weren't bad enough - Ryan Seacrest? A Family Guy intro? They should be ashamed of themselves.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my audio cut out for the Frasier joke, but if it did, it was so quick that I didn't notice.
ReplyDeleteI am happy for Terry O'Quinn. I don't faithfully watch Lost, but he was great from the get go. And his winning confirms the delayed reward theory of the Emmy voters.
First lawyer thanked, Jamie Pressley, 8:23 p.m. EDT.
ReplyDeleteWell I was rooting for Jenna Fischer but Jaime Pressly was a close second. Her speech could have been better though.
ReplyDeleteOOOH Kyle Chandler...
Jaime carries more of the comic load on her show than Jenna does, but good lord, did the voters not watch the final Talking Head of the Office season finale?
ReplyDeleteBTW, I asked a friend in the theater about the Romano thing. He said Ray told a joke about Frasier screwing his wife and the censors obviously panicked.
ReplyDeleteHaden Church was very good in Broken Trail. Liked the shoutout to David Angel (one of the three Wings co-creators) who, along with his wife, died on one of the 9/11 planes.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Hi-jel for best supporting actress? Are you f'ing kidding me? Absolute last person in that category I would've picked, especially after this past year. Talk about movie star envy in the TV Academy.
ReplyDeleteit's hard to believe just one year ago kyle chandler was best known as dylan, bomb squad guy.
ReplyDeletenow i can't look at him without wanting to yell 'clear eyes, full hearts, cant lose'
I actually thought Heigl did a good job this year, no matter how annoying her character was. But I'm one of the few who likes her, for some reason, so...
ReplyDeleteand the Sopranos shut-out is in full progress . . .
ReplyDeletethey just cut up to the ceiling again when heigle mouthed "oh shit"
ReplyDeleteSandra Oh should have been the one from Grey's Anatomy to win if anyone did.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched Conan recently but I still think that Stewart and Colbert are far better. But they aren't on a network and old people (aka Emmy voters) don't watch them.
and the Sopranos shut-out is in full progress . . .
ReplyDeleteAll the talk about how the show was going to sweep ignored the fact that shows in their final season rarely do well. I may have to put the show on pause for a few minutes to figure out the last classic series to win a best comedy/drama Emmy for their final year.
they just cut up to the ceiling again when heigle mouthed "oh shit"
Too little, too late for that one.
i'm surprised no one has brought this up, but i actually found the seacrest/terri hatcher joke a bit funny
ReplyDeleteAnd Robert Duvall wins 18 years too late for "Lonesome Dove." (He's great in "Broken Trail," don't get me wrong, but that was one of the bigger Emmy miscarriages of justice ever.)
ReplyDeleteFrom the group that gave you the Lauren Graham rule only to keep shutting her out - it's Katherine Heigl as Best Supporting Actress. Suddenly Britney Spears winning Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics next year doesn't seem so far fetched...
ReplyDeleteWhat's the point of giving out awards at the Technical Awards ceremony if they're just going to read the nominees during the regular show?
ReplyDeletedid anyone else hear how quiet the clapping got when they announced schlamme and s60 for best directing
ReplyDeleteSopranos shut-out ends with the third category it was up for.
ReplyDeleteSeacrest. Awful.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I like Late Night with Conan, I don't get them winning writing over either TDS or Colbert, but the writer name clips for each of the shows were very funny- with Letterman's lagging behind.
Oh yeah, the Emmys are this month...
ReplyDeleteShut out definitely over. Then again, I've seen shows in the past win for both writing and directing and nothing else that year. (Malcolm in the Middle comes to mind.)
ReplyDeleteWhoever gave the order to play Chase off is gonna get whacked.
ReplyDeleteDid I miss the Jersey Boys tribute to Roots? That sounded like it would be fun.
Man, I hate Tom Brady.
Yay - The Daily Show wins... although I suppose it was too good for it to be a tie.
ReplyDeleteAnd then Tony Bennett wins? Why is he even in the same category as a daily comedy show. At least this gives Colbert fodder for future shows.
Have I mentioned that I hate Emmys in the round? It's putting even the funny people off their game. This show is death, death, death.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Ryan, this round thing is setting him up to fail. If Jon Stewart can barely pull off a funny, Seacrest doesn't have a hope in hell.
ReplyDeleteMarcia Cross' face appears to be made of a space-age polymer, but the rest of her is spectacular.
ReplyDelete"I don't know where she is, but I know she'll be thrilled?"
ReplyDeleteWhat is going on?
My guess is she was in the bathroom and didn't even make it out in time like Christine Lahti at the Golden Globes. If she wasn't in attendance, someone would've told Marcia.
ReplyDeleteThen again, it's been a night full of snafus, so who knows?
Where in the world is Judy Davis?
Pretty brutal so far. Seacrest definitely got things off on the wrong foot. The funniest thing, as always, is the nomination videos for writing in a variety/late night show. Those submissions should get voted on for an award of their own.
ReplyDeleteOkay, given the ridiculous nominations, this is... pretty good till now. The drama categories, at least. Terry O'Quinn was overdue, Sopranos win a double, and I have to say I've always been on the Heigl front. so it's great for me till now.
ReplyDeleteAlan, movie star envy? Don't think so! How many times in the past have they had the chance to rightfully award a movie star but didn't? *cough* Glenn Close *cough*
Anyway, it's too bad that BSG didn't win anything, god knows they may never get another chance. But... it's The Sopranos.
Where in the world is Judy Davis?
ReplyDeleteDr. Kimberly Shaw lured her to the basement, where she knocked her unconscious and bound her with duct tape.
is it me or does MLP look abnormally out of it tonight, both here and then before when she looked as though she was going to kill that E reporter (i'm not sure if it was guliana or kristen)
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add that the tribute to Roots was nice. I have read the novel, but have never seen the series and it was weird to see a really young Levar Burton.
ReplyDeleteIt also makes me wonder why there are not great mini series like that anymore (well maybe on HBO, but I don't get the sense that even those are as good)
*on the Heigl camp*
ReplyDeletesorry, I'm writing on like ten different sites simultaneously. LOL
"I can't take my eyes off you" with clips of characters being killed? Isn't that a little dark for an awards show?
ReplyDeleteA real tribute for the sopranos. It gave me chills--a genuine moment in television history--
ReplyDeleteI still remember when Roots first aired when I was a kid, and everyone watched it. We'd go to other people's houses and all watch it together and talk about it. That was of course before the days of DVRs, VCRs and cable, and unfortunately that's why there won't be those great seminal miniseries again. No one tries to reach that kind of universal audience over multiple nights any more.
ReplyDeleteI think I missed something; what does the cast of "Jersey Boys" have to do with the Emmys?
Nicole, I get the feeling HBO is the only channel that even tries anymore with respect to miniseries. Networks are way too scared (probably of budgets) to even touch them. Although I agree the quality has been lacking lately for HBO, every once and again they'll catch lightning in a bottle (The Corner, Band of Brothers) and it will probably be the best thing on TV for that year.
ReplyDeletedon't you see the big connection- i mean the sopranos takes place in jersey and the jersey boys are from jersey, i mean come on, this is the genius of fox/ataas at work here
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing the Jersey Boys sang for the Sopranos because of the Italian American New Jersey connection.. But I would have loved Journey.
ReplyDeleteAh, of course. I was out of the room, heard the music and thought I was watching last year's Tony Awards. The song was so much longer than the Sopranos cast part, or perhaps just seemed so.
ReplyDeleteHelen Mirren's had a good year. And well deserved.
Helen Mirren : making fun of the play out. Jane Tennison is a magnificient character and the Final Prime Suspect was deserving of the Emmy.
ReplyDeleteLewis Black, I want to kiss you!
ReplyDeletePrime Suspect is on a roll... but if the Starter Wife is the competition, then this should be no surprise.
ReplyDeleteI second and third many of the comments on here.
ReplyDeleteSeacrest. Terrible. Ray Romano. Terrible. "In the round". Terrible. Jersey Boys. Terrible.
God, I can't believe I'm going to stay up late watching this.
Lewis Black must think Andy Rooney's job is available. Though it was nice of him to point out that the stuff he was mocking has been going on for six years, now. Garden fresh!
ReplyDeleteAlso, he should stop stealing Kathryn Morris' food.
As part of the target demo, I don't know anyone who has ever watched Current. Maybe THEY should start playing videos.
ReplyDeleteFirst, Prime Suspect winning writing, directing and acting but losing best miniseries just doesn't make sense. WTF?
ReplyDeleteSecond, when are the Nobels announced? Because Al Gore is on a roll. :P
"Bury my head between your knees"? Did the censors go home for the night?
ReplyDeleteI missed the Current thing. I'll catch it on YouTube later.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brad Garrett, for reminding us we're watching FOX.
I think the censors are watching something else because I am surprised Joely Richardson was able to say nipple on tv.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I knew Tony Bennett would win I repeat why the hell is his one time show in the same category as the Daily Show, Colbert Report, etc, etc?
If they can come up with a stupid internet category, they could fix this.
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ReplyDeleteHee. Rainn Wilson makes me smile. At least that was mildly amusing.
ReplyDeleteThis show is going to run so late. I thought I was golden with an 11:30 deadline; now I doubt the show will even be over by then.
ReplyDeleteI think Bruckheimer has something on the Emmy voters. I like Amazing Race, but Top Chef and Project Runway had better seasons by far.
ReplyDeleteAnd Elaine Stritch's line "I'm not faking this, I really don't know what the hell I am doing" really seems to capture the spirit of the night.
Gervais? Not that I'm complaining, but did anybody expect that? Ricky sure didn't.
ReplyDeleteThe Carell/Stewart/Colbert celebration was by far the comic highlight of the evening.
Wait. Alec Baldwin what?
ReplyDeleteSally Field? I call bullshit.
ReplyDeleteGervais was good in the second season but his non appearance lead to the best moment of the night.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone notice that Colbert incorrectly pronounced Carell's name in the nominations?
And Carell is a good sport to take part in that bit.
Thanks for classing it up, Sally
ReplyDeleteDid they black out Field because she made an anti-war comment?
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't Edie Falco accept as a proxy for Sally Field?
ReplyDeleteMy friend in the theater says she said (following up the "If mothers ruled the world..."), "There would be no goddamn wars in the first place."
ReplyDeleteI think it was the "goddamn" that invoked the disco ball.
Sally Field had a really classy speech before she did the flustered addendum at the end.
ReplyDeleteI think Colbert and Stewart expected Carell to win (I was certainly looking forward to it). I assumed they mispronounced his name so he could correct it, a la Heigl.
James Gandolfini what?
ReplyDeleteThis is one time that I won't complain about being forced to watch the CTV feed because I am getting the uncensored versions. I guess Canadians can handle "Screw" and "Goddamn" What heathens we are.
ReplyDeleteI want to swear now because Spader over Gandolfini.. no frickin' way.
i hate tv.
ReplyDeleteJames F'ing Spader. How did I know that was going to happen?
ReplyDeleteHugh Laurie I would have been psyched with. This?
Thirty years from now nobody will talk or think about Boston Legal or James Spader.
ReplyDeleteJames Spader? Really?
ReplyDeleteI might need to switch back to catching up with "The Wire." I'm sure drinking Scotch with Bill Shatner certainly trumps weekly one of the most iconic performances of the 21st century.
Gross.
Seriously, I don't watch the show so maybe it's the most brilliant thing ever, but does James Spader have dirty pictures of Emmy voters? How to explain the awards?
ReplyDeleteAlan, at least you can stop watching now and have your deadline story about the irrelevance of the Emmy Awards. I'm off to watch the 9th inning of Yankees-Red Sox.
ReplyDeleteSpader won (and boston Legal got all its nominations) because his character has shifted from the far more interesting shady, do anything to win litigator (for which he deservedly won an Emmy for Season 1) into David Kelley (and, I suspect, the audience's) political mouthpiece.
ReplyDeleteI seriously wonder if Emmy voters have cable. They have gone for the network actors more often than not. Although this makes the Ricky Gervais win even more puzzling. Maybe they don't understand that his "are you havin' a laugh" catch phrase is ironic?
ReplyDeleteI think it was the "goddamn" that invoked the disco ball.
ReplyDeleteIt is FOX. Brad Garrett can make sex genocide puns, but Gidget can't criticize the war.
Spader's speech was classy, and five minutes of that show brings me some joy. But still, WTF.
My mind has been blown.. 30 Rock actually won?
ReplyDelete30 Rock, what?
ReplyDeleteOh, WAIT.
does anyone know what exactly field said about "the war" that got censored
ReplyDeleteI love bursting into spontaneous cheers and applause! Yay 30 Rock!
ReplyDeleteLIVE EVERY WEEK WHILE IT'S SHARK WEEK! WHOOOO!
ReplyDeleteparaphrase " If mothers ruled the world there wouldn't be any goddamn wars".
ReplyDeleteNothing that egregious.
And nice speech by Tina Fey.
i also loved tina thanking their "dozens and dozens of viewers"
ReplyDeleteWell, at least some of the Emmy voters put down their crack pipes long enough to vote for this show.
ReplyDeleteLove that Little Steven busted out his formal bandana for the evening.
A shame Chase didn't also swear. It would have been so perfect if they cut to black in the middle of his last speech.
ReplyDeleteSopranos gets the big one and all is well with the world.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say this, but there were some pretty good wins this year, although the show itself was not that interesting.
Ryan Seacrest can't be blamed entirely for this and he wisely stayed away from too much comedy and/or singing. If only the opening 'monologue' could have been skipped entirely - or just let Rainn Wilson, Elaine Stritch, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart improv for a bit.
Anyway, I look forward to Alan's thoughts on tonight.
Is it wrong that I was waiting for a Journey reunion?
ReplyDeleteNow that as a tribute to Sopranos -- that woulda been cool.
mostly a very painful night. ugggh.
Spader aside, this was a surprisingly good night. Forget everything else if you will, we get 30 Rock and The Sopranos as Best Shows. I mean, that's actually... right. What's wrong with the Emmys?!
ReplyDeleteNow, if perhaps they could put together a nominations list for next year that actually makes sense...?
The Spader win, coupled with the absolute heinousness of Seacrest in particular and the telecast in general, override any warm fuzzies I have about the two best series winners.
ReplyDeleteThe first paragraph of tomorrow's column: "Didn't I warn you not to watch the Emmys? James Spader? Really?"
Like I've said before, I consider stuff like the Spader win to be the norm, and stuff like 30 Rock and Gervais to be the flukes.
ReplyDeleteIt was, admittedly, a flukier night than most, but still... Spader?
According to Gervais' website, he did a show at Royal Albert Hall tonight.
ReplyDeleteI skipped over to TWOP to get a sense of what that crowd thought and you may be surprised to hear that Ryan Seacrest wasn't viewed as horrible. They also hate Katherine Heigl, but that's another story.
ReplyDeleteI found the comedy bits to be tiresome and considering it is a show to celebrate the best in television, it is a poor program itself. As much as I love Hugh Laurie, could even he have saved this sinking ship? Even the Colbert/Stewart bit was not that great and it's really the group hug (spontaneous moment) that made that segment.
Perhaps they could return to the multiple host thing, but also get better writers too. Like the ones who are nominated for best comedy writing.
am i the only one that has gotten increasingly annoyed with the fact that america ferrera is not ugly and has to get made-up (or down) to be ugly and play betty so as a result her wins are not in fact, a victory for "ugly" girls
ReplyDeleteWhich TWoP folder has the Emmy thread?
ReplyDeleteI tend to disagree with the consensus here. I liked it. They seemed to really ramp up the writing with a non-comedian as host, and Seacrest is a competent enough TV performer to handle it, as were most of the presenters. To me, the faults were more in the production (and some of the winners, of course, but it's the Emmys, it's pointless to get pissed about them if you know their patterns). The round was a little disconcerting (they should sloooooowly rotate the stage throughout he show if they do it again), but it was nice to have a different type of visual than usual for an award show. The announcer ("High-gel") was not good to say the least. The camera switch during the edits in addition to the muting was really absurd looking, almost as bad as how ESPN used to edit out weapon usage in pro wrestling in the early '90s.
I just caught a short clip of my local Fox news affiliates live Emmy coverage and I am without words. They had a reporter at the Emmy's and she claimed that some actresses learned "that free speech is not free" regarding the censorship of Sally Field, and suggesting that the Sopranos perhaps won best drama by "sympathy vote". WTF?!?
ReplyDeleteUgh - what a horrible show. Happy for 30 Rock, The Sopranos and Terry O'Quinn, but other than that, the show really sucked.
Full Emmy column is already up at NJ.com.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I thought of as the Jersey Boys - Sopranos connection? Wasn't Paulie's Aunt Ma on the way home from seeing Jersey Boys when she died?
ReplyDelete