Emmys

Despite what I said back when I talked about the nominations, I did end up watching the entire Emmy telecast. Or, I was at least half-watching while doing other things, which is as much attention as something like this possibly deserves. I've long since learned not to put stock in awards shows, so various upsets and injustices don't really bother me. I was happy about a number of things, including Lost's win for best drama, J.J. Abrams' win for directing the Lost pilot, William Shatner and James Spader's wins for Boston Legal, the relative low number of wins for Desperate Housewives in categories it doesn't belong in, deserved wins for The Daily Show, and writing wins for Arrested Development and House, two shows I don't watch but definitely respect. I'm not even that annoyed at all the undeserved wins for Everybody Loves Raymond, since I find it charming and amusing enough that the obligatory valedictory awards don't upset me. I'll be far madder if Will & Grace cleans up next year for its final season (especially since there are several new shows premiering this month that should be able to liven up the anemic comedy categories).

As for the show itself, it was your typical bloated awards show (although it did come in on time), full of awkward moments and lame jokes and long, pointless segments. The "Emmy Idol" bit was particularly awful, though, as amusing as it was to see Donald Trump in overalls and to hear the Star Trek theme belted out by an opera singer (shame they didn't use the lyrics). And the opening number with Earth Wind & Fire and the Black Eyed Peas singing about the past TV season was one of the most painful things I've ever seen on any awards show. I love Ellen DeGeneres, but most of her segments were really flat, and only her monologue had any real good jokes in it. Still, not any worse on the whole than the Oscars, as long as you don't take these sort of things too seriously (and who does, besides the nominees?).