Emmy Night 2010

Well, the good news is that the Emmy Show itself wasn't bad. Usually major entertainment awards shows suffer from bad writing and drag through long periods of unsufferable boredom, but the 2010 Emmy Awards broadcast was actually written and produced pretty well. It zipped along, and the segments where questions were posed to the nominees on pre-shot videotape, such as "What did your Mother want you to be?" were fresh and witty. The most shocking news is that Jimmy Fallon wasn't a complete bomb. He'll never be really very funny, but luckily, they kept his participation as Host to a bare minimum, so he was able to come across as likable and amusing instead of obnoxious.
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(host jimmy fallon in the opening
musical number with the "glee" kids).
Better news is that some people who actually deserved their awards won them. How's that for fresh and different? But, of course, there were some real head scratchers, too.
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(jane lynch wins for "glee")

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(jim parsons accepts his emmy
from a very excited eva longoria)
In the category of "People Who Really Deserved Their Wins" were Jane Lynch for "Glee" and Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory". Lynch is a superbly talented comedic actor, and we knew from the very first episode of "Glee" that she would win an Emmy for the role of Sue Sylvester. We were right. And Jim Parsons won, finally! Parsons is one of the funniest guys on t.v. in his role as the geek of all time, Dr. Sheldon Cooper. But he failed to win in the past because he suffered from one of the silliest things that drives these type of awards; voters tend to shy away from voting for shows that aren't "water cooler" shows, those shows that everyone is talking about. And while "The Big Bang Theory" is incredibly funny, it's not a show that is on everyone's radar, so voters think it must not be good. Emmy voters are just like any other large populace mass, they vote how they're told to vote by big advertising, big marketing and hype.
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.The big shocker in the comedy category was Edie Falco winning for Lead Comedy Actress for "Nurse Jackie" over Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. What? Falco is not even a comedic actress, and she said as much, herself, when she accepted her trophy on stage, saying, "I'm not really funny". Truer words were never spoken, Edie. But Falco still rides "The Sopranos" wave of Emmy popularity. Note to Edie: When wearing a sleeveless dress, don't hold up an arm and flap it wildly in the air on national television. You've got some work to do before your arms resemble Michelle Obama's.
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(edie falco takes another emmy)

.But maybe the biggest shock of the night was "The Tony Awards" winning for Variety or Comedy Show Writing. Now get this: the writing for The Tony Awards" beat the writing for both Bill Maher and Wanda Sykes' stand-up comedy specials, "But I'm Not Wrong" and "I'm a Be Me", respectively. Are you kidding? The writing for the Bill Maher and Wanda Sykes shows was so funny that even after several viewings, those shows still make us double over in laughter. Where was the great writing for "The Tony Awards", the dumb jokes the hosts tell before they hand out a trophy? Somebody on The Tony Show production staff gave a lot of blowjobs in the bathroom to get that Emmy.
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Also in the "deserved" category was "The Daily Show"'s win over "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" for Best Variety, Music or Comedy Series. Okay, okay, we know that "The Daily Show" wins this Emmy every year, (it's won eight years in a row), and that everyone was anticipating a bitter, train-wreck of an acceptance speech from Conan, (especially us), but come on, "TDS" really is superb t.v., every single night. And come on, you didn't really think Conan's show was funny, did you? Conan's "Tonight Show" was uneven at best, and sometimes, even downright awful. But never fear, after that embarrassing, ego-driven acceptance speech by the "TDS" writer in which he more or less bragged that the show deserved its award, Jon Stewart's show might have just given away the Emmy for next year.
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("the daily show" writer who redefined the word "dick")
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."Mad Men" won its third Emmy in a row for Best Dramatic Series, and hype won over real quality again. We like "Mad Men", sometimes, but we dare you to watch the show and actually be able to stay interested for long periods of time. Meanwhile, two of the most original, riveting shows to come along in decades, "Dexter" and "Breaking Bad" continue to lose in this category. We're not fans of "Lost", so we're not going to join that crazy, fan-driven chorus of "Lost Wuz Robbed" drivel that you're going to read on every blog in the country for the next two days. Give it up, Lost'ers, "Lost"'s writing seemed at times as if a roomful of monkeys were plopped down in front of computers to come up with the storylines for the show, and then it was left to the show's producers and actors to pretend that the show made any sense at all.
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In the "Best Comedy Series", it all came down to "Modern Family" vs. "Glee", and "MF" took it. This was a toss-up; both shows are fresh, funny, well-acted, well-produced, and who knows why "MF" finally won. If we were voting, we would have given it to "MF" as well, simply because its writing was better. We love "Glee" as much as anyone, but sometimes it felt as if the "Glee" writers were making it up as they went along; the writing was uneven at best.
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(jesse tyler ferguson, george clooney and eric stonestreet in a video bit during the show).

.Another well-deserved win was Eric Stonestreet's for "Modern Family". Simply put, this guy is motherf**kng funny! The whole show, "Modern Family", is entertaining, but let's face it, most of the time you watch it, you're just waiting for more scenes with Eric Stonestreet. Well deserved, Mr. Stonestreet, well deserved.
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We thought Connie Britton should have won for "Friday Night Lights", but bigger star Kyra Sedgwick took it for "The Closer". Whatever. Seven-time Emmy winner, "The Amazing Race", finally lost the Best Reality Show award, to "Top Chef". "TAR" had won every Emmy Award given in that category since it began in 2003.
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Two of the most satisfying moments of the night came when the camera showed the sullen, glowering faces of Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Laurie when names other than theirs were called out for the golden trophies. Okay, we're evil, but let's get real, these two get a lot of hype in the press for their talents which is probably not, well... deserved. Less is more, Hugh Laurie, less is more. But the most awkward moment of the night came when Julia Ormand took the stage to accept her trophy for "Temple Grandin", and attempted the "I'm Going to Name the Other Four Women Who Were Nominated in my Category" schtick to show "how honored she was to be in their company", only Julia screwed it up. She got through the first three names, but when she got to Catherine O'Hara, she said, "Catherine O... Catherine O... oh, what's her name? Catherine O... oh well, I'm honored... (blah, blah, blah)." Ouch.
.For once, the show got the "In Memoriam" section right. Jewel sang a soaring, heartbreaking original song about a friend who had died from cancer, while the video montage of actors who died in the past year were given more than the traditionally-given split second of air time. Wow. It was almost like the television academy actually cared about those legendary actors who had passed.
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.(al pacino)

.The biggest winners of the night were "Glee", "Modern Family" and the HBO movie, "Temple Grandin". The biggest loser of the night was Al Pacino's long, unending acceptance speech. Pacino won for playing Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who famously pulled the plug on terminally ill patients, but yet Pacino was allowed to ramble on on life support for what seemed like hours. Ironic, huh?
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(the real temple grandin

in the red bolo tie)

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Our favorite moment of the night was when the real Temple Grandin stole the show every chance she got. Give this woman her own show, she's even a bigger ham than Hugh Laurie!