EMMYS
Let’s get this out of the way before the real analysis begins – thank goodness every audience reaction shot was not of Affleck. It was nice to see a very glowing and beautiful J. Garner, but at least we were not subjected to countless images of his smarmy movie star grin.
There must be several closeted Trekkies permeating the Emmy committee, because I can’t fathom how William Shatner won again, let alone over two of my Lost boys (Terry O’Quinn & Naveen Andrews). Along the same lines, there must be a huge James Spader constituency with voting power, because he won the Lead Actor in a Drama Series trophy for Boston Legal, robbing a clearly superior Ian McShane for his stellar work in Deadwood. I do not know one person who watches Boston Legal, but series creator and writer David E. Kelley has a golden track record, including Ally McBeal and The Practice, plus critical favorites like Chicago Hope and Picket Fences.
As entertained as I am by the deliciously bad Desperate Housewives, the offscreen drama of the diva cast (exaggerated and/or fabricated by the soap opera-hungry media) does nothing to entice my interest in the second season. That being said, I am a big fan of Felicity Huffman, dating back to her Sports Night days. I was thrilled that she won the Emmy last night for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, especially given that she deserves it far more than her overrated co-star Teri Hatcher. I was surprised that Desperate Housewives was in the Comedy category in the first place, because for every pratfall that Hatcher performs to attempt to convince us of her physical comedy skills, there are darker twists and turns that outweigh the lighter moments. In addition, ABC probably also considered that Housewives would have had to compete with their other cult hit, Lost, in the Drama Series category, and submitted the show for Comedy Series consideration instead. Keep an eye out for Transamerica, an independent film that comes out later this year starring Huffman as a male-to-female transsexual; there is already Oscar buzz about her performance.
I’m sure I’m not the only one lamenting the fact that Everybody Loves Raymond got the sentimental vote for best Comedy Series over the most deserving show, Arrested Development. We all know that Will & Grace jumped the shark years ago with the revolving door of guest stars that serve only to fill the Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy category every year. Scrubs ranks second to Arrested Development in my book, and when NBC finally realizes that this is the only funny show on their network, perhaps they’ll reward it with a consistent and decent time slot.
I was pleasantly surprised that Patricia Arquette won Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Medium, given that the show has only been on for one season. Her victory reminded me that Jennifer Garner won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Drama for her first season of Alias, but then again, so did Keri Russell for Felicity. Aside from small roles here and there, Russell basically disappeared for a while, but she is going to be in next year’s Mission: Impossible III. It bodes well for Arquette that she also has a film career, should Medium‘s popularity wane.
Stay tuned for additional Emmy thoughts later this week.