Emmy Awards: The Morning After

The Emmys aired last night, and the show was fine enough but hardly memorable. In terms of predictions, it seems that it's not a good idea to go in blind with the miniseries, TV movie, variety, and reality categories, having seen nothing but "The Pacific" and "Alice." I only got the two locks - "The Pacific" for Best Miniseries and Al Pacino for Best Actor - correct, and nothing else. In the main series categories, however, I got 11/18, including the guest acting categoriese that were handed out a week earlier. I'm happy to report that, after being too gutsy last year by suggesting wild upsets, I managed to accurately predict both Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series. I don't have all that much to say about the ceremony itself, but here are a few notes:

- Jimmy Fallon wasn't bad as a host or anything, but aside from his humorous tributes to departed series and his quip to Tom Hanks about Steven Spielberg running out of wars, he didn't have all that much to do.
- It would have been a nice to see a few clips of the nominated shows rather than just the sectional montages. Also, is there any reason the Drama one had to contain only spoilers for the season ender of every major show and nothing else?
- It's interesting how Ricky Gervais pretty much gets free reign to do whatever he feels like, and he deserves it, because he's genuinely funny.
- For every trend-breaking win, there's another one that continues. As "The Amazing Race" loses for the first time, "The Daily Show" still manages to edge out the competition, including Conan. Glenn Close loses, and Bryan Cranston wins again. "30 Rock" finally loses, and "Mad Men" triumphs again.
- Though both Michael C. Hall and Jon Hamm really deserve Emmys, Bryan Cranston deserved his Emmy more than ever this year. It's a fantastic show and he does a magnificent job of creating a broken, somewhat evil character. I should probably be more excited for Aaron Paul, though he did deserve his award a bit more last year. Also, no recognition for the not-even-nominated Anna Gunn still stings. For those tired of Cranston repeatedly winning, fear not: "Breaking Bad" won't return until next summer, so he will not be eligible this coming year.
- In the biggest surprise of the night, Kyra Sedgwick defies the odds and manages to take down lock Julianna Margulies. It makes me very happy because she has now catapulted ahead of Hall, Hamm, Hugh Laurie, and Steve Carell in terms of winning later on in her show's run. A well-deserved win, and Margulies already has an Emmy for "ER," so it's all good.
- Archie Panjabi was also another great surprise, making it even more shocking that Margulies didn't win. She was a fun choice, and it's good to see that kind of role get recognized.
- Kudos to the writing categories, rewarding the best drama and comedy episode, respectively, of the season.
- I'll admit I was a bit surprised by the win for "Dexter" in the directing category. An interesting choice, to be sure.

- No goodbye prizes for departing shows. "Lost" didn't win anything, and neither "24" nor "Law & Order" were even nominated for major awards.

- The big winner of the night is... "Temple Grandin." I haven't seen it, but it won a lot - TV Movie, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, and Directing. That officially puts it one behind "The Pacific," which won seven trophies at the Creative Arts Emmys and one more at the prime time ceremony. "Temple Grandin" won two last week.

- I'm not a "Big Bang" fan necessarily, but Jim Parsons' win is still fun. Same goes for the inclusion of the "Community" cast in the commercials.
- Whatever happened to pausing between "And the winner is..." and the name of the winner?

Anything I missed? Who was your favorite winner? It's never too early to start predicting for next year!