Staying awake and watching the Emmy Awards will likely be a one-time deal
There had yet to be a September where I had actually sat down and watched the Emmy Awards in their entirety. Last night was the exception, for no real reason other than I had stumbled across the pre-Emmy special and was curious to see how Conan O'Brien would do as host of the ceremonies.
This year's awards weren't too bad, but they simply have to do something about its interminable length. Like the Oscars earlier this year, there was an enormous gap midway through the show that dragged everything to a snail's pace. While variety programs, made-for-tv movies and mini-series should receive some airtime, the producers should really recognize that many viewers don't want to sit through the awards for writing and directing of these specials. However, they are starting to get part of it right, as when they used a briefer format for the award for guest star on a drama or comedy series: the winners had already received their awards and were announced in a short amount of time and then moved on. They have to start doing that next year with the variety and mini-series awards or risk putting the viewers to sleep, which I must confess I myself came close to doing on a few occasions.
If you ask me, O'Brien was pretty much the star of the show. His antics may not have gotten many laughs from the nervous celebrities in the house, but I found myself howling at home. O'Brien even managed to keep things sedate and serious during the "in memoriam" section. I still don't understand why they allow the audience's applause to be heard during those sections on awards shows though. Let's clap loud for one entertainer but not another one. It's really insulting.
Anyway, this year the Emmys seemed to have a better lock on what deserved mention. The academy recognized that some previous winners, such as the Practice or Frasier, weren't delivering seasons worthy of nomination and were excluded from the dramatic and comic series categories respectively. On the flip side, HBO continued to gain visibility with nominated shows like Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Sex and the City (none of which I have seen yet, personally). The big winner seemed to be The West Wing, which I'd have to say is a fair win for best drama based on the four or five episodes I saw last season. Allison Janney, John Spencer and Stockard Channing all took home acting trophies, although Martin Sheen was shut out in the best actor category by Michael Chiklis from the Shield, which is another show I have yet to see. I was disappointed in the lack of nominations or wins for ER or 24, which were my two favourite dramas last year, but at least 24 did steal an Emmy for best writing over shows like The West Wing -- reassuring its success isn't necessarily grounded on its format and concept alone.
Almost all of the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond took home an acting trophy except for Peter Boyle, who lost to co-star Brad Garrett, and last year's best actress winner Patricia Heating, whose award went to Jennifer Aniston from Friends, which, incidentally, also took home the best comedy series award for the first time in its long run. It was nice to see an old Halifax acquaintance, the chronically drunk Canadian Michael Moriarty win an acting award for the movie James Dean, although he couldn't even enunciate his words when he got to the podium. Band of Brothers took home the award for best mini-series, although when your group is up against Mists of Avalon and Dinotopia, there's not much competition. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks delivered thank you speeches because they are Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
The disappointment of the night had to be the inclusion of nominations for the America specials that aired after September 11th. While the shows may have been successful at the time and tactfully assembled, the producers should have removed the specials from eligibility just on principle alone. That's just my opinion. Oprah Winfrey gave a pretty good speech when she received a humanitarian award; I may not watch her show, but there's no denying that she contributes her celebrity status to good causes. I was certain that last year, reality shows received their own category or were eligible somewhere this year, but I must have missed the presentation for the awards or something. Overall, it was an okay show but unless they revise the amount of awards and the tedious pace, I won't be doing an Emmy-fest again next year, that's for sure.
