The Blue Man Group did a very cool presentation of the Best Reality Show category—and doubtless drummed up some business for their Vegas show—but I don’t really like presentations by men-machines or animals or puppets or cartoons—it doesn’t feel truly live. What’s more, I couldn’t really tell what other shows
The Amazing Race had bested.
I like Blythe Danner as an actress, but having tried to watch
Huff and having given up in depressed disgust, I can’t get behind that choice. And did she mean to embarrass Keifer Sutherland by telling the world (or the bit of it that’s watching the Emmy-cast, anyway) that he used to baby-sit Gwyneth (but not her lesser-known son?). Ah, but she provides the first bit of political speechifying of the night, paying tribute to "our kids in Iraq. Let’s get the heck out of there." But she had the smarts to do something I’ve tried on conference calls—if you’ve been a bit abrasive, you end by saying, "Love you all." She might play the therapist’s mom, but she knows a thing or two about psychology.
I don’t think Blythe name-checked Apple, but she started a run of publicly proud grannies. The next award went to Jane Alexander for her role in
Warm Springs (which either ran while I was out of the country or few right under my radar—and I would say that "what’s on TV" is one of my areas of greatest erudition), who gave a shout-out to her “six grandkids,” and then two awards later came Doris Roberts who loves her two grandsons so much she brought them up on stage.
I cannot believe the Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies won an award—Katie and Bob’s inane commentary alone should’ve made that impossible (I don’t leave the country during Olympiads for nothing), and Jon Stewart’s going to have to come up with a new line—he only slightly reworked last year’s acceptance when he said that when they started the show people said you couldn’t have a late-night comedy show with a staff that was only 80-percent Ivy League-educated Jewish men. Oh, and I’m pretty sure I’m not a prude, but
Da Ali G Show went too far in the tape that accompanied their writing-award-nomination.
I was surprised by the massive hand for David Letterman, who came across as a mean, Sean Pennishly humorless mouth-mangler in his buildup to the Johnny Carson video tribute. I’m guessing a lot of the applause was really intended for Johnny. The tribute itself was fantastic—moving and hilarious. I don’t remember ever really watching the show (it was before my American TV days), but now I wish I had.
Labels: awards, emmys, live blogging, television
