Back in July when the Emmy nominations were announced, I was annoyed, as usual, with the TV Academy's refusal to actually honor the best in TV, instead throwing nominations at shows like Will & Grace (which simply isn't funny at all anymore) or The West Wing (which had a subpar season) as well as perfectly talented individuals who gained recognition more for their names than for truly being the best TV has to offer. At the time, I wrote this post lamenting the omissions of American Dreams, Gilmore Girls, Carnivale and, especially, Deadwood as well as its ridiculously neglected star Ian McShane. And then there was the travesty called The Reagans which, on a weird wave of sentiment – or specifically lack-of? – managed to get noticed even though it was an utter piece of shit.
Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a column on Friday focusing on who the nominees and the winners of the acting categories should be, and I have to admit, I probably agree with him on all counts. He's a bit The Wire-happy -- emphasized by his rave review of Season 3 which started last night on HBO – especially in the Supporting Actor category, but his premise that the show is one of the best true ensemble casts since Homicide: Life on the Street is as true as it is for just about every other HBO series.
But I digress, because I'm here to celebrate the Emmys for once, not rip them apart. Sure Kelsey Grammer's win was meh, and Sarah Jessica Parker's expected, but what the hell? She hadn't won one yet. As she said, it's nice "punctuation" to the series. My biggest disappointments were definitely Allison Janney, who I love but like the rest of her show this season, her win wasn't really justified, and her calling Mariska Hargitay (and the other nominees) up to the stage was just silly, and seemed kind of embarrassing for Hargitay who actually went. And I know that tons of people seemed to love James Spader on The Practice this last year, and his character is the main justification for its coming spin-off, , but with Kiefer Sutherland and James Gandolfini, not to mention Anthony Lapaglia in the mix, I just can't buy it. And again, Ian McShane was royally robbed.
Two wins by The Daily Show thrilled me, though, even though I wished Chappelle's Show could have received more recognition too. Angels in America received just what it deserved -- i.e., everything -- but I was especially overjoyed by wins by the brilliant Jeffrey Wright and Mary Louise Parker. Sure Meryl Streep and Al Pacino were the big names and given the most speech-time (especially Pacino; what the hell was that? Hey let him go on forever.), but Wright and Parker gave the most complex and moving performances in the entire miniseries, not to mention anywhere on television all year.
But none of that is as wondrous and fantastic as the news hinted at early in the evening and confirmed right before the end. When Arrested Development managed to beat out favorites Sex and the City and Curb Your Enthusiasm in the directing and writing categories, I thought, How nice that Emmy is throwing this heavily adored but still barely-watched show a little love. Still, I never thought the show would take home Best Comedy Series, and when it did, I have to admit I let out a little yelp of glee.
Was Arrested Development the best comedy series of last year? I've teetered on that very question all year. Along with Curb Your Enthusiasm, it was definitely far and away better than any other comedy on the air. But I would argue that while Curb started and ended brilliantly and every episode had moments, Arrested Development achieved a higher degree of perfection on all levels – especially writing and acting – while being as innovative as the Larry David series when it comes to recreating the half-hour comedy format.
Arrested Development's win is important for another reason, though. It's not often that people applaud network executives, and it's probably even more infrequent to read about me doing so here. But Fox head Gail Berman deserves major props for giving Arrested Development time to grow, find its audience and succeed. It's move to 8:30 PM on Sundays this season just help it enormously. It was originally paired with Malcolm in the Middle, but The Simpsons is actually a much more natural lead-in in terms of sense-of-humor and target audience. Additionally, it won't have to worry about losing audience to the various HBO series which dominate the demographic during the 9 PM hour. The publicity that comes along with an Emmy win and Fox's ability to tout that should convince a few people to give the show a shot.
As for the Emmy Broadcast itself … I thought it was perfectly pleasantly average. It wasn't awful or the most boring show in the history of television. It also wasn't great by any means. I liked the little opening with The Bachelor's Chris Harrison doing a narrative voiceover treating the show like just another reality program. And the later bit where they brought out two "real" people to announce the Best Reality-Competition Series was kind of cute. (Thankfully, The Amazing Race deservedly received its just rewards for the second year running.) Host Garry Shandling was uneven, often seeming very uncomfortable onstage. I know that's part of his schtick, but this just felt like he didn't really want to be there. Many of the sketches were mildly amusing, but as usual, the montages celebrating television were pretty boring and the one about departing series really could have just been the four shows that ended this year. For that matter, could someone please tell me how Just Shoot Me got into that mix? I don't remember it getting any big send-off, nor did it deserve one. It's reputation sure got a boost based on the surrounding company in this montage of great shows no longer with us. And also, did I miss it, or was John Ritter missing from the "In Memoriam" montage? Was he in last year's? I can't remember. I guess maybe since I believe he died shortly before last year's ceremony. But it seems odd that he wouldn't be in this year's even though they gave him a nomination.
Sure I have complaints, but overall, Emmy did good. Arrested Development, The Daily Show, Angels in America, The Amazing Race wins are better than just non-complaints, and The Sopranos finally receiving recognition with its first series win … maybe the Academy is getting a bit smarter. When the awards are worthy, I almost don't care if the show is a bit dull. Almost.
I believe John Ritter was in last year's In Memoriam. As for your other observations... amen! Nice wrap-up.
Posted by: Kelly | Monday, September 20, 2004 at 05:09 PM