Emmy Awards – Yawn

Thank goodness I Tivoed the Emmy Awards show. I would have never been able to sit through it. I watched the beginning, flew through the middle, just caught the bits about “The Office” and Stewart/Colbert, then moved right to the end. As for this year’s host, Ryan Seacrest? Could he have been any more bland?

I don’t get these awards shows anymore. First of all, there are way too many of them. Secondly, it should be more about the awards and less about The Jersey Boys and other inane, staged routines. All the little lip-synced dance numbers might make a good show for the audience (well, 2/3 of the audience, forget about the people behind the action most of the time, thanks to the goofy theater-in-the-round stage they tried this year). But for those of us at home? Yawn…just tell me who won. They’re making it so much more appealing to catch highlights the next day. It ends up being a much better use of everyone’s time. Just cut to the chase. Give me the bottom line. Show me who looked beautiful…

And, come on, James Gandolfini lost to James Spader?! James Spader?!! Ridiculous. And, as for the women…I like Sally Field. I mean, yes, I really, really like her…but being awarded the Emmy over Edie Falco? What do these Academy folks have against the cast of “The Sopranos?” Sure, they awarded the show Best Drama, but I still think Gandolfini and Falco deserved awards. As even James Spader somewhat graciously acknowledged, they were robbed! The Academy apparently tried to make up for it with a cheesy tribute — what I’ve heard described as a curtain call. The Jersey Boys did their number, then all (or most of) the Sopranos cast members walked up on the silly round stage thing and received a fairly enthusiastic round of applause. It was all pretty goofy. I think they’d have preferred the awards. Okay, the awards AND the tribute.

What a disappointment.

On a positive note, I’m happy that Jeremy Piven (see photos below) won for his work on Entourage. He gives depth, interest and heart to the otherwise despicable character of Ari.

And I loved the elegant dresses and beauty of these two women:

Eva Longoria and Katherine Heigl

But I’ve decided that next year I’m just watching the highlights.

See more Emmy info in today’s New York Times.

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Images from the New York Times, Getty Images and the BBC.