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Review: The 60th Emmy Telecast
Sunday (Sept. 21) night's 60th Annual Emmy Awards concluded two minutes early and I'm fairly certain that all 40 people with the patience to stick around to the end were mighty grateful.
Pundits had already been bemoaning the show's inevitable low ratings for weeks, complaining that mainstream viewers with no awareness of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Damages or even 30 Rock wouldn't bother tuning in to see them honored. So producers responded by giving those few dedicated viewers one of the sloppiest award shows in recent memory.
I wasn't in the Nokia Theater on Sunday afternoon (Pacific time), but I wonder if there were any early walk-outs as the five-headed MC-ing team proved that just because you can pick up an Emmy nomination for hosting a reality show doesn't mean that you should be hosting an Emmy show. Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Jeff Probst, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel stood in the center of the stage and spent nearly five minutes bantering about how they had no material. They weren't wrong, but why did anybody think that this was a viable way to hook viewers?
The entire gambit of letting the Emmy-nominated hosts handle the show proved a dud on nearly every level. None of them were funny and because there were so many of them and each of their egos had to be stroked, the bloat kicked in almost instantly. Say what you will about Seacrest's solo turn as host last year, but he -- like the reality show Mussolini he is -- kept the trains running on time. Instead, we were left with Mandel remembering his time on St. Elsewhere, Probst looking confused and lost on some vintage set and a hideously misogynistic bit in which Bergeron and Shatner stripped off Klum's tear-away tux, making it manifestly clear that while the male hosts were being honored for their skills, she was only worth recognizing for her legs.
And, really, why were we paying so much attention to these reality show hosts in the first place? After a year in which the industry was crippled by the writers strike, were the producers trying to make a point by glorifying these allegedly unscripted marvels? For a category in its first year, a category very few people thought actually represented the best in reality hosting (Cat Deeley was robbed!), to take a central place at the end of the show, before only the outstanding comedy and outstanding drama, was a bit of a travesty.
Thanks to the "We've got nothing!" opening and a series of clip packages and extended on-stage bits, the show was running long immediately. There were a few pleasant enough diversions, including Ricky Gervais' tribute to the Emmy acceptance speech (and his "tension" with Steve Carell) and Steve Martin's introduction for Tommy Smothers, but a Laugh-In tribute seemed to go on forever. There will be split opinions on Josh Groban's rendition of snippets from dozens of TV themes. I thought it was the most personality Groban's ever displayed in his life. I know at least a couple critics, though, who thought it was excruciating. And who could argue that Groban needed to take a stab at the theme from The Greatest American Hero?
Either way, the show was less than half over when it became clear that presenters were having their normal teleprompter banter cut out to speed things up. In terms of comedy brilliance, that's no loss, but it was lethal for the pacing of the show, which became rushed and choppy and then confused when people like Don Rickles were allowed to go all Don Rickles, time-be-darned.
Throw in a number of technical glitches -- lighting and mic snafus -- and I was growing increasingly impatient. This just wasn't an example of the Television Academy putting its best foot forward for this anniversary year.
As 2008 is an election year -- you may have heard something about it somewhere -- there were several speeches urging people to vote, including a direct plea from President Bartlett (or maybe Martin Sheen). While a woman most recently seen impersonating Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin (Tina Fey, whose wins for acting, writing and producing on a comedy series have to be unprecedented, right?) got to make three separate speeches, nobody mentioned the names "Obama," "McCain" or "Bush" the entire evening (Palin's name was mentioned in the awkward opening). Smothers made an impassioned (albeit typically halting) speech about peace, Stephen Colbert advocated in favor of a prune and John Adams scribe Kirk Ellis was cut off in the middle of a lamentation about the lack of articulate politicians in our current climate. The mostly unspoken political edge was another awkward distraction within the telecast. Conservative viewers will whine that those darned Hollywood liberals were up to their old tricks, while liberal viewers will wonder why those darned Hollywood liberals were so quiet and toothless. Nobody will be happy.
At least the awards contained a few pleasant surprises in addition to the Emmy voters' typical banal embrace of Jeremy Piven and The Amazing Race. I was especially pleased by the wins for Zeljko Ivanek, the writing staff of The Colbert Report and Barry Sonnefeld's direction of the Pushing Daisies pie-lette. On the speech front, I thought Rickles' acceptance was a stand-out, as were all three of Fey's acceptances.
A final question before putting the disappointing Emmy telecast to bed: It was nice to see Mary Tyler Moore, star and producer of several of the small screen's finest sitcoms, presenting the outstanding comedy Emmy along with Betty White. That was appropriate. How, then, did we end up with outstanding drama series presenting by none other than the legendary Tom Selleck?
It was that kind of night.
Very accurate review.
Mike | Sep 21, 2008 9:48:46 PM | #wow! i am usually very forgiving of awards shows... but this was terrible. absolutely terrible. how could the writers and producers not be completely embarrassed? the problem is critics and internet-ers complain all the time about awards shows... especially the emmys. so it's gonna be just "yeah yeah... it's just another bad emmy show"... but that's not the case... this one was really really bad. just bad. bad bad bad bad bad.
dom | Sep 21, 2008 10:06:38 PM | #i must emphasize... bad! worst awards show i have ever seen... in the history of my consciousness... which is going on 35 years.
dom | Sep 21, 2008 10:08:44 PM | #It's like they wrote it last night, didn't rehearse it, didn't allow for anything running over. Just an awful mess. NPH didn't get to sing, which I missed. Feh. Horrible. And it's not like they can blame the strike.
Eric | Sep 21, 2008 10:33:13 PM | #The director obviously expected the various presenters to wow us with their wit and creativity. Only Don Rickels could manage it.
Bob | Sep 21, 2008 10:34:46 PM | #The opening bit that included stripping Heidi Klums pants off reminded me of a high school improve I unfortunately saw long ago. How could they not realize how stupid that was, not to mention highly insulting to the half of the audience that is female.
The only explanation can be that the Emmy producers and director are sexist old dinosaurs who desperately need to be either a) replaced, or b) enlightened.
In case they missed it, women are human beings. Wake up old men, or get the hell off my television, whichever works for you.
ForgetU | Sep 21, 2008 11:33:38 PM | #It's a good thing you weren't at the Shrine Auditorium since the show was held at the Nokia Theatre.
Paul Shefrin | Sep 22, 2008 2:16:17 AM | #After an hour, I could not even bear to watch the show.
This was the worst! Let's just skip the awards next time, shall we? Use the money spent on the production to bail our a failing financial institution.
Jeremy Piven Owns you........
Ron | Sep 22, 2008 6:34:03 AM | #What a boring awful show - did the writers really think it was going to be good? Are they sick? ... And Josh Groban? How pathetic was that... he was sooo out of place... The show was a disaster after the first two minutes...and it never improved... Have Tina Fey write the show for next year...She obviously knows what works!
Saranne | Sep 22, 2008 6:52:05 AM | #Regardless of a painful night for this year's Emmy awards, I'm putting my vote in right now for Ricky Gervais to host next year's Emmys. I thought his bit was not only the most entertaining of the night, but if you listened to the audience - they were actually laughing! I think he would be awesome as an awards show host!
Josh | Sep 22, 2008 6:55:15 AM | #The Emmy's were on last night? Just think, I could have watched that instead of watching the US win back the Ryder Cup (on my DVR). Just my luck, darn it!!
Rick | Sep 22, 2008 6:56:16 AM | #Ha! Ha! Sounds like you folks who actually give a darn about these spoiled Hollywood types were bored to death by a seemingly juvenile show with a ridiculous amount of equally boring left-leaning political jabs thrown in to boot! I on the other hand spent my evening clinging to my guns and religion and had a wonderful night!
Sona | Sep 22, 2008 7:00:26 AM | #I turned it off when the MCs stated that they had absolutely nothing on the teleprompter. Yes they are reality tv host but not improvisational geniuses! It would have been more funny if they got the guys from "Whose line is it, anyway?" At least we would have been entertained.
It seems that Hollywood cynicism has come full circle when it start cannabilizing itself. I felt embarrassed for them.
Boring...Boredom...Bore...Boring...BORING!
Tom | Sep 22, 2008 7:18:13 AM | #Agree with an earlier comment, Ricky Gervais should host. And while I knew it never really had a chance, I was hoping the Extras Christmas special would take something - if for nothing else, at least Gervais would be on again and possibly Stephen Merchant.
And ditto on Rickles. Man had the best bits out of everyone.
Awful. Just awful. I expect more from the TV industry's tribute to itself. The show was a complete train wreck. I was truly mortified that they made the comedy pioneers from Laugh In drone on like that (they deserve better) and what was with all the fake sets?There's a time-honored tradition of clips with voiceover. Try that next time rather than weird skits.
Jeanne | Sep 22, 2008 7:36:10 AM | #i noticed that Glynn Turman was the only one of color to receive an award and that all the nominees and winners of last night lacked any DIVERSITY. maybe the TV entertainment industry isnt interested in shows featuring African, Latino, Oriental, Indian, or any other ethnic groups. just a thought.
Anonymous | Sep 22, 2008 7:45:35 AM | #That was the absolute worst awards show I've ever seen. The "hosts" if you can call them that, were terrible. I made it till the Laugh In disaster, and finally turned the channel. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Carla | Sep 22, 2008 7:46:36 AM | #Agreed. 100%. This was the most poorly produced show since I started watching these things back in '92.
When you trot out TV legends, they deserve much better treatment and much better material.
Have Tina Fey write next year. At least she will be able to show them the respect they deserve as she does every week when she trots one of them out for a spot on "30 Rock".
Add in some Ricky Gervais to add some biting wit and satire to Fey's biting wit and satire...then you have yourself a well-written show that presenters can participate in without having to come up with their own jokes about how lame the jokes are.
Let's be glad that they have atleast been coming in on time over the last few years. Now we just need to work on the Oscarcast.
Terrence | Sep 22, 2008 7:48:46 AM | #That was unspeakably bad. Horrible on so many levels, I don't even know where to start.
Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais were the only good things about the show. PLEASE let Gervais host next year.
CJ | Sep 22, 2008 7:51:33 AM | #And whose idea was it to a) create an inane category as reality show host and b) to present it just before Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series as if the award really carried the same weight as a Lead Actor or Actress in a Comedy or Drama?
Terrence | Sep 22, 2008 7:51:55 AM | #And FIVE egomaniacal hosts each grappling for a piece of the mic but with nothing clever or intelligent to say??? NEVER again. EVER. Someone needs to be fired.
Terrence | Sep 22, 2008 7:56:07 AM | #I totally agree with all the comments above. Bad, boring and a complete waste of time. Since I only have basic cable, I never even heard of most of the shows or the actors in them. I guess I won't be watching next year's show.
Kathy | Sep 22, 2008 7:59:41 AM | #I actaully sat through the whole thing and Aweful is an understatement! How could they possibly not have an opening piece? Seriously its all about the opening and there was NOTHING!!
The hosts suck, everytime you saw them..its like they stood there with nothing to say but they had to make something up just cause a camera was on them!
I love award shows...what the hell was this? Bring back Ellen or someone who can actaully make a show of it!
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