Gosh, I love the awards shows.
- I sort of would have preferred if no “9/11” shows were in competition for an Emmy, but the one award that bugs me out of this subset is best sound mixing for 9/11. The show is comprised of footage shot with camcorders, so how can someone win for simply editing “nat sound”? Shouldn’t the award really go to the makers of Sony microphones?
- The Osbournes wins for best reality program?! The Osbournes are not winners, they are a blight on mankind and I invite the lot of them to [bleep] the [bleep] out of my [bleep]ing [bleep].
- I can understand the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City getting a lighting award, since the event had to be specially lit for television — but best costumes? Does this mean if NBC hadn’t been there the dancers would’ve been in the street clothes?
- Moving on to the E! pre-show. It only took two interviews for Joan Rivers to screw up, citing Dulé Hill as being nominated for Best Actress in a Series.
- Overall I was rather disappointed in Conan O’Brien. His monologue fell flat. There were flashes of wit (such as the bit with Jennifer Aniston and the Telestrated seating chart), but what stands out in my memory is how deliberately slow he was in his delivery; as if he was remembering some old lessons from Speech 101.
- Actually the funniest lines were from presenter Jon Stewart. [“The director of a comedy series has a week, seven days, to take 30 pages of script, a jaded veteran ensemble, a binder of network executive notes and bring them all together for one simple purpose: to get themselves a film commitment and out of the hell that is episodic television.
“Does it happen? No. Some snot-nosed trust fund kid with two rap videos under his belt, he gets a three pictures from New Line. — But you? Nawww. You’re stuck slogging away in the mines on your eighth Tim Curry pilot.”] I vote the Academy gets Jon Stewart to host next year. - I was very pleased to see John Spencer win for best supporting actor on The West Wing. He is excellent on that show and I’ve been a fan since L.A. Law.
- The first big disappointment was in the comedy writing category. Normally I would be rooting for Late Show with David Letterman, but I was secretly hoping The Daily Show would get it because their nightly topical humor is usually spot on and hilarious. Unfortunately, SNL got the award.
- But the biggest disappointment was in the Outstanding Performance for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program category. Wayne Brady might be more versatile, but no one is funnier (and on command, no less) than Ryan Stiles. For some lame-ass reason the Academy gave the award to Sting, for playing the part of Sting. Yeah, tough gig, Sting; I’m amazed you pulled it off.
- The night’s big shocker for me was the fifth consecutive win for Late Show with David Letterman. Dave is of course The Man, but I wouldn’t’ve minded either if The Daily Show might’ve gotten it.
- HBO’s The Gathering Storm received several awards tonight, making me regret having completely forgotten to watch it.
- The touching moment of the night was seeing the men of “E” Company rejoicing over the win for Band of Brothers, followed by Major Dick Winters’s short and moving acceptance speech.
- I don’t watch Everybody Loves Raymond that much, but the cast certainly had the funniest acceptance speeches.
- I know everybody’s been saying how great Friends has been; to me, the last season seemed rather average. Nevertheless, it’s about time it won, even though earlier seasons were more deserving. And it’s about time Jennifer Aniston won too (and the same goes for Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry).
- Jennifer Aniston looked quite pretty, as did Kristin Davis.
- Allison Janney is so good on The West Wing, her character is so strong, that I’m surprised to be reminded this is her first win as Best Actress.
- This was supposed to be the year of the rookies. New shows like Six Feet Under, 24, Alias, The Shield received nominations in several major categories. This got everyone’s hopes up that the Academy would be much more adventurous; however the actual voting was very conservative. I’m not complaining though. I’m glad The West Wing won. It’s a superior show with excellent writing and sparkling performances. Plus, I’m sick of hearing about Six Feet Under. So there. (Of course, my TV viewing is pretty much set in its way too.)
