The Emmys: Really Boring

The 2009 Emmy Awards were really boring.

Sure, there were some funny moments, some bright spots, but not many at all.

Neil Patrick Harris, a CBS star and Emmy nominee himself, was the host of the awards broadcast on CBS. Harris had hosted the Tony Awards on CBS back in June. I guess CBS execs thought he'd be a good fit for the Emmys.

He was. He did a nice job. Harris wasn't edgy or controversial in any way, just nice. That's not bad, but it's not terribly interesting. Nonetheless, Harris is getting positive reviews.

There weren't any memorable acceptance speeches, nothing too political or offensive.

The biggest surprise of the night was that Obama didn't make an appearance. I know Obama is preparing for his Late Show with David Letterman special and a little bit of business at the UN, but Harris could have talked with Obama via satellite.

I'm surprised the academy didn't award him with a special Emmy in recognition of his many prime time performances.

In general, I found the show incredibly dull.

I could not care less about the winners. I don't care about the nominees for that matter.

I guess I watch because it's live and there's always a chance that a celebrity will implode.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Reporting from Los Angeles and New York -- The surprises came in the form of new and old at the 61st Primetime Emmys on Sunday as dark horses such as Toni Collette and Kristin Chenoweth beat out the favored winners while veteran actors took home nearly every other acting award.

And though it was hardly a shock that AMC's "Mad Men" won for the second year in a row for drama series and "30 Rock" won for the third consecutive year for comedy series, repeat wins in drama categories by Glenn Close for lead actress for FX's "Damages" and Bryan Cranston for AMC's "Breaking Bad" were not entirely expected.

Including the Creative Arts Emmys handed out last week, the big winners were PBS' "Little Dorrit," with seven awards; HBO's "Grey Gardens," which took six; and NBC's "30 Rock," which won five. But a wide variety of programs were represented: In all, the 28 Emmys handed out Sunday went to 20 shows.

Hosted by a wry Neil Patrick Harris, the three-hour-long program was spiked with jokes about the diminishing influence of broadcast television and old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing musical numbers.

NBC's "30 Rock" had gone into the awards show with 22 nominations, more than any other series. But as the night went on, it won only a handful, including Matt Hubbard for writing and Alec Baldwin, who won for lead actor in a comedy for the second year in a row. The win for comedy series made it all go down a bit easier.

"Whew! That was a nail-biter," exclaimed Tina Fey, the show's creator, star and writer as she collected the statuette. "The night was full of interesting and unexpected things, and I thought that didn't bode well for us," she told reporters later.

The win for "30 Rock" was no doubt a disappointment for "Family Guy" fans: The bawdy Fox show was the first animated series to be nominated in that category since "The Flintstones" 48 years ago.

The Flintstones...

That was good television.

Dino didn't have a crush on Wilma or have sexual relationships with women. Brian, the dog on Family Guy, finds Lois, the mom on the show, attractive. He also dates women. Weird, but Family Guy does have some funny moments.

So much has changed in the last 48 years.

On May 9, 1961, Newton N. Minow addressed the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, DC. Minow said, "[W]hen television is bad, nothing is worse." Minow called what filled the airwaves "a vast wasteland."

It's strange to think that TV was considered a wasteland nearly half a century ago. If it was a wasteland then, what is it now? A sewer?
________________

Here's a list of the Emmy Primetime telecast nominees and winners.