Emmy Awards: The Morning After

The Emmys aired last night, and I have to say that I found this telecast even less interesting than in the past. Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention, but there wasn’t all that much in the way of enticing content. I only missed the first five minutes – much of the pre-filmed Jane Lynch introductory segment, but by the end, I was hardly enthralled anymore. There were only a few truly memorable moments, but I will say one thing: regardless of whether they deserved it, every winner seemed genuinely honored and humbled by their wins. Even Jon Stewart and his crew, taking this award for the ninth time in a row, didn’t brag and were thankful for their being rewarded once again. Predictions-wise, I scored a dismal 8/25 for the televised awards, but a far better though still relatively embarrassing 9/18 for the main series categories, including the guest acting bids handed out a week earlier. For the second year in a row, I correctly predicted both Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series, though that wasn’t hard, given that they were the same honorees. Last night was an interesting mix of past and new winners, with “Modern Family” sweeping the comedy honors but rewarding for the first time Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen, both of whom truly deserved to win. With the exception of a Best Directing win for Martin Scorsese, “Boardwalk Empire” goes home empty-handed, and even Betty White didn’t win. I’m most thrilled about Margo Martindale’s win for “Justified,” and she clearly was so awestruck by finally winning a major award. I can also sympathize with Kyle Chandler’s victory, as well as the win for writing for “Friday Night Lights,” since most shows, like “The Wire,” don’t get that fantastic moment of winning after being ignored for so many years. What’s unfortunate about a win for Chandler is that it means that all the other nominees, most notably Jon Hamm, Michael C. Hall, and Hugh Laurie, are still Emmy-less. And worst of all, Steve Carell doesn’t get his swan song reward. Jim Parsons is great, sure, but there’s no reason that this category has to have so many repeats that Tony Shalhoub, Alec Baldwin, and Parsons, no matter how good they all are, have all won twice while Carell never won. I was less than excited about the win for Melissa McCarthy, who, out of that entire line of women who paraded up on stage for the Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series award, didn’t realize deserve it. It was supposed to be a contest between Laura Linney and Amy Poehler, and to have both of them lose is a shame. I’m glad that the writing jokes for the variety series nominees are still fresh and fun, and I did enjoy the lengthy nominee clips and the montages, even if it was a bit strange that there were some non-nominated shows in there, and that “Justified” showed up three separate times with its title listed in the bottom left-hand corner. Anyway, I can’t think of anything else too memorable from the ceremony, including any of Jane Lynch’s bits. I did hardly enjoy the new faces at "The Office" bit, but that's about it. The show was a bit of a disappointment, and I’m already to move on to other awards topics. What are your thoughts?