William Shatner
Sophomore host Ellen DeGeneres' performance offered little more than a plethora of stale jokes so consistently safe they made John Stewart's poignant rift at federal aid after Katrina appear only a lick short vile (although alarmingly clever and hilarious). There was a strange charm to DeGeneres' lifeless, prolonged parade into mediocrity which was overshadowed only temporarily by the often awkward TelePrompTer chitchat required by innocent presenters embarrassing themselves for no apparent reason.
2005 Emmy Awards
A terrifyingly odd American-Idol like sing-song
fest added to the mélange of dull bits which allowed viewers to vote for
their favorite star(s) singing memorable theme songs like Fame (sung by
a surprisingly upbeat Kristin Bell) and the theme from Green Acres
sung by Megan Mullally and Donald Trump…that's right, Donald Trump in farmer
overalls and a hat. It tanked, predictably, but at least it mixed up the
telecast a bit.
Emmy voters were seemingly not in sync with the current affectations of
viewers and critics alike (with the exception of awards to Lost, Geoffrey
Rush, and S. Epatha Merkerson) by continuing to award the recently sub par
Everybody Loves Raymond over more creative fare like Arrested
Development and Scrubs.
Amusing acceptance speeches from some of the more commendable winners of
the evening brightened the mood a bit. Arrested Development creator
Mitchell Hurwitz won the writing award for a comedy saying "we would be
remiss not to mention that twice the academy has rewarded us for something
you people won't watch." I here ya. And Emmy winner for Best Actress, Comedy
Series Felicity Huffman jokingly acknowledged her TV Movie staple husband
William H. Macy for "taking a chunky 22-year-old with a bad perm and glasses
out into a cow pasture and kissing me and making me his wife."
The occasional mention of Iraq and the Gulf Coast breathed reality into
the show enough to warrant a Hurricane Katrina survivor and the star of
Everybody Hates Chris urging viewers to donate at cbs.com. Previously,
Winner for her supporting role on Huff, actress Blythe Danner had proclaimed
"I know [the late Bruce Paltrow] would want me to pay tribute to New Orleans,
his favorite city, and all the Gulf Coast and our kids in Iraq. Let's get
the heck out of there." Then a tasteless Patricia Arquette, winner of her
first Emmy for Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Medium, inadvertently,
at least we hope, created a debacle of her acceptance speech stating gallingly:
"this is a great honor, being nominated. That's beautiful. But this [Katrina]
is happening right now. And trucks are coming back from the South saying
people need diapers, supplies." Really?
It appears that everybody still loves Raymond, or at least the
Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences do. As usual, the unstoppable cast of
Everybody Loves Raymond slid gallantly into sabbatical after a
nine year run with an Emmy win for Best Comedy Series (in an unforgiving
upset for the far better contenders), Brad Garrett for Best Supporting Actor
in a Comedy Series and, ho hum, Doris Roberts for Best Supporting Actress
in a Comedy Series to which she proclaimed "I have four other ones at home
and this morning, I said, 'Girls, move over. I'm coming home with another
one.'"
Odd but surprisingly deserving, Hugh Jackman won for Best Variety for music
performance as host of this past year's Tony awards. Oscar winner Geoffrey
Rush won Best Actor for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and
S. Epatha Merkerson got a deserving Best Actress in a Miniseries of Movie
award for her role in Lackawanna Blues-which she gleefully collected
after explaining that her acceptance speech was actually lost down the midsection
of her Pilar Rossi gown. Also deserving was the award for Best Drama Series
which went to the producers of ABC's hit Lost and a dual win for
Boston Legal with awards going to William Shatner (Supporting Actor
in a Drama Series) and James Spader (Leading Actor in a Drama Series) to
which he acknowledged a career full of "sex and weirdness" perhaps too outlandish
for his grandmother to tolerate.
Also in attendance were recently retired correspondence dynamo Dan Rather
and Tom Brokaw saluting their peer of over thirty years, Peter Jennings,
after his death due to lung cancer this past August. The pair commended
current coverage of Katrina and bid a final farewell to Jennings in a touching
clip of his final bow at World News Tonight.
Most poignant of the evening was a moving tribute to the late Johnny Carson who passed in January. David Letterman made a rare appearance on the telecast to honor the legendary late night host with a clip of Carson's most memorable shows. Letterman recalled how Carson was once asked by an audience member how he became a star to which Carson replied "I started out in a gaseous state and then I cooled." Letterman later said "With all due respect to the laws of physics, Johnny Carson's star never cooled."
Stay tuned for updates.
|
Add to Heffee!
