Monday, September 21, 2020

Last Night's Emmy Awards

 Here’s the best part of last night’s Emmy Award show:  An actual comedy that strives to make people laugh swept the comedy category.  Not a “dramedy” that has a few smiles or a quirky message show, but a real honest-to-goodness COMEDY.   So congratulations to SCHITT’S CREEK and all the Levys. 

 

Not only was it an unprecedented sweep, I hope it sent a clear message that comedies are supposed to be FUNNY. 

 

I’m told WATCHMEN and SUCCESSION are terrific shows.  Like most Americans, I’ll have to start watching them now. 

 

As for the show itself, sorry, I couldn’t get through it.  I give them credit for attempting a very ambitious feat, and Jimmy Kimmel did his usual solid job of moving it along.   But the bits were mostly painful.   And the In Memoriam section omitted my good friend Earl Pomerantz and David Schramm from WINGS.   And as blog reader Bradley pointed out, they also forgot to honor Billy Goldenberg, Orson Bean, Lynn Cohen, Paula Kelly, Jerry Herman, Terrence McNally, Saul Turtletaub, and I’m sure two or three more.  Disgraceful.  But they had 5 minutes to devote to that stupid bit at a race track featuring the cars delivering Emmys. 

 

I turned it off after the In Memoriam.  I so didn’t give a shit the rest of the way. 

 

I thought to myself, if you’re not in the TV industry, why would you be watching this?  And my guess is, not many people were.  Ratings have been horrible when you could see all the actors and dresses.     

 

UPDATE:  Last night's ratings were the lowest of all-time.  Only 6.1 million people watched, down 12% from last year's previous all-time low.  In key demographics it was down 25% from last year.  Of course, when not a single network show wins an Emmy that could be an added problem. 

 

I appreciated all the winners telling everyone to vote, but I’m sure they were preaching to the choir.  However, for those of us who share their views of compassion and justice, their sentiments were greatly appreciated.   Even the Canadian winners implored us all to do the right thing. (Another reason why I'm glad they won.) 

28 comments :

Troy McClure said...

I've been meaning to watch Schitt's Creek. I love Eugene Levy!

It's rather appropriate that many of the winners were Canadian. After the Republicans steal the election, as I know they will, I imagine most of the creative and artistic people in Hollywood will move to Canada to escape the forthcoming Trump dictatorship. Next year's Emmys will most likely be held in Toronto.

Unknown said...

We need more awards shows.

Glenn said...

I've never found Kimmel funny. Sadly, most of the late night hosts are all horribly not funny. I miss Letterman.

John Parrish said...

Ken: Run, don't walk, to see Succession. Fantastic show that illustrates why it ain't so grand to be in a rich and powerful family. Can't wait for it to come back for season 3.

Elf said...

Come on Ken, you know why they did the bit at the race track. It was a commercial for Kia. And they'll always make room for commercials.

(I'll mention Kia since we recently got their Niro hybrid and we love that thing! No, I don't work for Kia or any organization affiliated with Kia.)

Mike Barer said...

I watched the Seahawks vs Patriots instead. Who got missed in the Memorial?

tavm said...

At least the Academy didn't go outside of their circle and include Ruth Bader Ginsburg among the people in the "In Memoriam" montage...

Rob Greenberg said...

Succession is actually funnier than Schitts Creek.

Buttermilk Sky said...

I did see Earl Pomerantz's name scroll by but he wasn't as significant as Frank Langella's publicist, apparently.

Actors are now described as "performers," which could include Butch from FRASIER. Maybe "speciesism" is the next frontier.

iamr4man said...

I saw only the first episode of Watchmen. As I’m sure you know it dramatized the Tulsa Race Massacre, something that I had never heard of. I’m guessing most people found out about that with the airing of the show.
Here’s something else I had not heard of until recently. During the depression hundreds of thousands of Mexican Americans were rounded up and “repatriated” to Mexico. Look it up in Wikipedia, it’s pretty shocking.

Mike Bloodworth said...

Only by coincidence did I catch part of the "In Memoriam." I was surprised by some of the inclusions. Max Von Sydow for one. Yes, he was a great actor, but he is primarily known as a motion picture actor. He did do some television, but it wasn't the major focus of his career.
The same thing with Chadwick Boseman. I have to careful with this. I was surprised and simultaneously not surprised that he was mentioned. In the current climate he couldn't not be included. Yet, much like Von Sydow, he is primarily known for his movie rolls. I looked him up on IMDb. Most of his TV appearances were one episode guest shots or a few episodes within a series.
Probably the most surprising was your friend, Kellye Nakahara. Aside from "M*A*S*H," where at best she was a supporting player, most of her other television work was the occasional guest shot.
One would think that the Television Academy would have put a little more emphasis on bigger TV stars or those with more significant television credits.
Political correctness prevents me from commenting further.

M.B.

P.S. All of the exclusions Ken mentioned above are included on the Emmys'© website.

Rob Greenberg said...

Also, along the lines of political correctness, why was Tyler Perry given the Governor's Award without having produced a single piece of redeeming television? Mass production is not an invovation; it's the exact antithesis of the very standards the Emmys exist to honor.

blinky said...

Here is a possible Friday question: Why does the entertainment industry have such a hard time doing an entertaining awards show? I know this is probably an unanswerable question but entertainment is their business. Is it that the showrunner is just the wrong person for this type show? Is it that suits are in charge? I mean come on people!

Anonymous said...

Off subject but a web site has just named 30 best TV themes.
Frasier was Number 13 and Cheers was number 1

https://uproxx.com/tv/tv-theme-songs-rankings/

Brandon said...

I saw Eugene and Daniel win their awards, and thought that was cool. But as much as I love Tracie Ellis Ross, I thought the exchange between her and Jimmy was awkward. I switched over to football on NBC and didn't look back. I have nothing against Kimmel, and I'm sure ABC wants to promote its late night lineup, but is he going to host every major thing for them? He hosted the Oscars before, then "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", now the Emmys. There has to be someone else at that network who can do a show.

I'm out of the loop for 99% of the new entertainment that comes out of Hollywood, so I always draw a blank during Emmy, Grammy, or Oscar season. At most, I might be able to identify "that guy from that show about that thing..."

Cowboy Surfer said...

According to a taxi driver on Nantucket, Lowell accidently sent Roy's picture to the Country Music Awards...Half the country now thinks Roy was a bass player for the Oak Ridge Boys.

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous
That list of TV's greatest themes is ridiculous, and shows the temporal bias of the people making the list.
The 1950's and early 1960's were the golden age of TV themes-and there is not one in there from that period (the Beverly Hillbillies, good but not great theme is the closest.
The TV themes for Westerns and detective show were tremendous. I notice the list called The Rockford Files theme the greatest detective theme. Hell, it's not even the best theme of a show starring James Garner - try Maverick.
Detective themes- sorry Rockford Files, The theme for M Squad was created by Count Basie (and was the point for takeoff of the Naked Gunn theme). As good as that one is. how about Peter Gunn? Henry Mancini at the his best. Along the lines in the genre were the 77 Sunset Strip, I Spy theme and the Mission Impossible theme (with some members of the Wrecking Crew at work, that bass line is Carol Kaye) and even the Wild Wild West theme is memorable.
Westerns? Besides Maverick, you have some even better themes - Have Gun Will tRavel - The Ballad of Paladin (see Stand By Me), the Rawhide theme (see Blues Brothers) and Bonanza, a bona fide top 40 hit.
there are themes to even bad Westerns that are pretty good. Wanted Dead or Alive
And that doesn't even extend to comedies -the I love Lucy theme is as memorable as any single TV theme. Check out even a bad sitcom like The good Guys - great theme. Dobie Giliis theme was written by Lionel Newman.
Every one of those theme songs and plenty of others could be in the Top five of that list.

D McEwan said...

I had brains enough to pre-tape it. With the judicious and merciless use of Fast-Forward, I got the show down to 90 minutes.

Orson Bean was in the "In Memorium" segment at the Creative arts Emmies the night before, as were most of the other notable exclusions.

Anonymous said...

This is anonymous responding to anonymous I do agree on what you said. But alas we live in a time where history is only 20 years old (or so).
Not to mention where is the MASH theme?
Specifically agree about Maverick and what about Peter Gunn or T.H.E. Cat themes

Rocketman said...

I thought Letterman's bit was brilliant. Short,snappy and self-deprecating. I think he would be the perfect host for these times, where celebrities and awards seem absurd. He can draw attention to the nonsense without being nasty like Gervais.

McAlvie said...

Like so many things, they were probably listening to the bean counters and watching micro demographics. Been years since I watched because they were always ignoring shows I thought were far better in favor of shows that were trendy. I doubt if most of them will be remembered as well the ones I thought should have won.

But I have watched Schitts Creek, and agree that it really is a comedy and, even though it's not my usual taste, I found it a lot funnier than I expected so its good to know it was recognized.

Kendall Rivers said...

Never watched the emmys. Find them dull unless a show or actor I like wins lol. The only Emmys show I've seen are bits and pieces of winners on Youtube from past shows like Frasier, Kelsey Grammar and David Hyde Pierce wins, the Everybody Loves Raymond wins etc. Other than that I find award shows pretentious and dull. That being said I'm happy that Eugene Levy, Michael Douglas and Regina King won. Nice to see actual talent win awards again. Also @Annonymous You're nuts, man, The Rockford Files theme to this day isn't just one of the greatest detective themes of all time it's also one of the greatest themes of any show of any genre of all time.

Kendall Rivers said...

@Rob Greenberg As terrible as this politically correct climate is, I don't think you have to worry about blow back when Tyler Perry's concerned lol many, MANY black people don't claim him anyway, especially after his no writers room "work ethic" foolishness earlier this year.

Sue T. said...

Anonymous @6:23 PM -

As you probably know, the MASH theme ("Suicide is Painless") was not original to the TV series. It was merely the theme from the MASH feature film that preceded and inspired the TV series.

Howard Hoffman said...

Jimmy did a great job, given what he was given. And I'm so glad he's back on his show. With due respect to people who disagree, I think Kimmel has been shining during the pandemic (at least until he took the entire summer off). I think you mentioned, Ken, that his radio background gave him the perfect timing between laugh lines - instead of waiting for the laugh ala Colbert and Fallon, he just plowed on as if he were talking to me, not an imagined crowd. The Emmys? Fell asleep after the Schitt storm. Bravo to the Levys.

Patrick said...

Friday Question:

Does an Emmy award even matter anymore now that the general public doesn't watch or care? It seems particularly self congratulatory now that the audience for these award shows has fallen away. Back when an Emmy award could save a show from cancellation it seemed to really matter who won what - now with so many shows on so many platforms - do these awards even matter anymore? (Besides to those who won?)

Kendall Rivers said...

FQ: I'm curious as a writer how you feel about Tyler Perry's "work ethic" several months ago? I don't think you'd really seen much of his work(you're not missing anything) but I as a writer myself found it arrogant and foolish. I could only imagine how a pro like you would feel.

mike schlesinger said...

Three other unforgettable themes: "Mr. Lucky," "The Avengers" and "Jonny Quest."

I imagine "MASH" wasn't included because it's the movie theme and thus not original.