The worst show on television honors its best

Another Emmy Awards show has come and gone and, frankly, it didn’t go fast enough. 

I usually avoid watching award shows and equate them to being told about a great party but not being allowed in once you get to it.  You’re forced to watch from outside and who wants that?

Bad parties are bad news and you can’t get out of them fast enough and so it was with the Emmys tonight. It was a very bloated three hours in length and the best thing about it was that it ended on time.

As expected, the show had many unfunny moments, most involving host Jimmy Fallon. (Fallon’s comedy escapes me. As it is, I only watch his show when an interesting guest is on.) The opening musical number was pretty good despite his being the focus of it. Tina Fey, Jon Hamm and Betty White had some of the best lines in the piece and, fortunately, the ensemble didn’t decimate the great Bruce Springsteen song Born to Run. I know that this opening was inspired by the show Glee (which I don’t watch but seems like a weekly themed version of the movie Fame) but from now on, I will now be questioning Springsteen’s judgment when it comes to the use of his songs by others.

As in the past, usual suspect HBO was the big winner of the night and their top earners were mini-series The Pacific (eight awards) and movie Temple Grandlin (seven awards). I was very disappointed that Kevin Dillon, who plays insipid wannabe actor Johnny “Drama” Chase on Entourage, a long-time HBO staple, was not nominated this year. He has previously lost out to castmate Jeremy Piven who plays superagent Ari Gold. With next season reported to be the last for the show, he needs HBO’s support for the great work he does in that part.

My personal favorites, Modern Family and Mad Men, made excellent showings. Both shows won Best Show awards in their respective comedy and drama and writing categories.

Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet, who plays the over-the-top gay dad, Cam, won the statue for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy. “We’d all joked before the show that if one of us won, the others were going to be visibly upset by punching the winner in the stomach. But the truth is that a win for me is like a win for Sofia (Vergara) or Julie (Bowen) and Ty (Burrell) or Jesse (Tyler Ferguson). We’re proud of our show and we just love our jobs,” he said to the press room as reported by  Deadline Hollywood. I’m personally disappointed that young Rico Rodriguez, who plays old-soul-for-his-age Manny, was not nominated; he is great in that part. Both of these guys make me happy that my DVR has a back-up button that allows me rerun their best lines for double the laughs.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, no ABC network sitcom has won Best Comedy since 1988 when The Wonder Years won. This was a huge win for Modern Family which is a hit with viewing audiences and television critics.

George Clooney was rewarded for his good deeds to humanity. Now that he is a big big BIG movie star, this was a rare television appearance to accept the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. I remember when he was on the Roseanne show and then jumped to ER which made him a star. If there is ever a film of Cary Grant’s life, I nominate him for the lead. He has a Grant-like sophistication, particularly when in a tux, and some of the same humble roots.

Now that the awards have had their night to themselves, the big Monday morning fashion quarterbacking borefests start tomorrow on the first news show of the day. All the fashion pundits will weigh in with their opinions of what the female nominees, presenters, and audience members were wearing and, frankly, who cares what they think? We know that some of this commentary, usually by out-of-work stylists whose opinions don’t matter anyway, will be vicious and ongoing so that they can have their own very temporary 15 minutes of fame. Just remember, Emmy girls, you all have real jobs to return to while these so-called fashion experts will fade back into obscurity where they will bore each other until the next awards extravaganza. Just remember who said what about you and your choice of dress and don’t hire them when they come looking for a job.

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