The Emmy Awards: Quick and Painful
September 2, 2010 by Liz Cooper
Filed under Feature, feature overlay, Television
LOST lost. Big time.
Despite the fact that Jimmy Fallon was hilarious and Modern Family took home the Emmy for best comedy, LOST didn’t win anything so I hated the Emmys. I’m heartbroken and reeling all over again as I’m forced to accept that the series really is over, and maybe everyone really didn’t love it as much as I did.
Before I share my sorrows, let’s run through the highlights of the night as quickly as the presenters gave out the awards:
Breaking Bad: What are you? Who are you? Apparently this show is going on its fifth season, and I have no idea what it is, but Bryan Cranston won for best actor (aka Matthew Fox did not), and Aaron Paul won for best supporting actor (aka Terry O’Quinn was robbed). I still think of Bryan as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, and I have no idea who Aaron Paul is, so I’m less than impressed.
Comedy winners for acting: That’s right, Edie Falco, you aren’t funny, and your feigned surprise/modesty is annoying. Amy Poehler is actually the funniest woman on the planet, and Parks & Recreation became pee in your pants funny during its second season–so again, robbed. And, Jim Parsons, really? Who are you, what is your show? Glee’s actors should have dominated these awards, even though I don’t think it is totally fair to throw comedy and musicals in the same category. I can swing a joke, but that doesn’t mean I can sing out loud without clearing a room.
Archie Panjabi: I really love you, but your speech was the worst. The Good Wife is an awesome show (even though I stopped watching after 6 episodes, how did that happen?), and I have loved Archie ever since she played the annoying sister in Bend It Like Beckham, but who gets up there and says, “thanks, this award will be great for my career”? They aren’t even serving booze at this awards show, so I don’t know why she would be that honest. I wanted tears and funny speeches. This is not a networking event, Archie.
George Clooney: Dream boat. George definitely deserves the crap out of that Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. He told us to keep the spotlight burning on issues that are important even after the media (liberal fascists!) gets distracted by another Duggar baby. But really, a tip of the hat to Mr. Clooney. I’m going to go donate blood now. Or something.
Temple Grandin: I should probably watch this made for HBO movie because it was winning left and right. I will try to ignore the fact that I can’t stand Claire Danes since she stole Mary Louise-Parker’s baby daddy.
Best Variety show: RIP The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Hopefully Conaw will kick The Daily Show‘s ass next year…even though I really think The Daily Show is the best thing on TV. So torn.
Bucky Gunts: Got the most hilarious introduction for his win as director of a variety, musical or comedy special (or something along those lines). Ricky Gervais is the second most hilarious person in the room after Amy Poehler. I wonder if the beers he brought out from backstage really were non-alcoholic?
LOST: Ghost times sad cat.
I’m still not ready to talk about LOST ending, hence why you never saw a review of the finale from me. Truth be told, I laughed the entire finale and was so disappointed that even my homemade Dharma beer couldn’t console me. However, there is no denying that LOST is the biggest thing to happen to TV since the clicker. It had such an amazing ensemble cast (please ignore most of season 2, I’m talking to you Nikki and Paulo), great story lines, and was all around bitchin. Now, I admit that my perception of how good the show was in its final episodes, let’s get real–seasons, was definitely clouded by my unwavering obsession with the concept of the show and unrequited love for JJ Abrams.
But still, I think LOST deserved legit recognition for being such a cultural phenomenon. You cannot deny that Matthew Fox and Terry O’Quinn gave unreal performances this past season (even though the stuff they were forced to say was stupid and repetitive most of the time). You also cannot deny that in the grand scheme of things, LOST was the best drama this year. You could not walk down a street the week of the finale without overhearing people mumble “4,8,15,16, 23, 42″ to themselves. Even if the actual season wasn’t that great, I was so affected by this series ending that I think it deserved its name to be etched next to the words “drama” on that GD Emmy. This show actually interfered with my daily life as I pondered the fate of the flight 815 passengers and the Others and struggled to accept that it was all over, and that it didn’t live up to my expectations. For a show to connect that deeply with viewers (I know I’m not the only one, I read the message boards), it definitely deserved to win the Emmy. I don’t care if that makes me lowbrow. I’ll take Mad Men any other year, but 2010 will always be the year LOST went off the air and made the lives of people who watch TV a little less fulfilling.
Was that dramatic enough?
For more on Lost, click here.
For more on the Emmy Awards, click here.
Photographs courtesy of ABC.
OK just to clarify: this whole post was meant to be a catharsis now that 1. LOST is over and 2. I realize that I had an unhealthy emotional connection to it. I appreciate the fact that there are better shows out there, but this was to pay homage to that fact that this amazing show mattered to people, and whether through its own fault (probably) or that of its critics, I feel like it didn’t get its due in the end. In the shadow of all that is LOST and how much I know it mattered to fans, this post was for them.
How sad for you that you don’t know who Aaron Paul and what Breaking Bad is. In short, it’s the best drama and the best (lead)supporting sctor currently on TV.
Yes, better than Mad men, Dexter and, let’s be honest, Lost. It should have won best drama, and best scripts, so ifanything BB was robbed.
No one was robbed in the acting category. Fox is solid and MOQ and Emerson are brilliant, but Cranston and Paul are in a league of their own. No comparison. Seriously, it’s a ridiculous to even argue otherwise.
So, yeah, sorry for your lost. *badum tish*
Ok, just to let you know, Aaron Paul 100% deserved that emmy and Terry O’Quinn was in no way “robbed” and since, unlike you, I’ve actaully SEEN both shows, I would say my opinion counts just a bit more, don’t you think?
Maybe you should watch Breaking Bad before you make assumptions that Matthew Fox and Terry O’Quinn were robbed? Just a suggestion. I’ve watched both and I’m absolutely convinced the rightful winners took home the trophies. And yes, I CAN deny that Lost was the best drama in the grand scheme of things, even though Lost deserves its credit for taking a great chance with storytelling and actually remaining popular. It does not mean it deserves the best drama credit. Its last season fell very short of its expectations.
Breaking Bad just finished its third season, not fourth.
Watch Breaking Bad, which is arguably the most shocking show currently on television, and The Big Bang Theory, which is one of the funniest shows currently on television and then maybe rewrite this. Matthew Morrison deserved his nomination, but Parsons deserved the Emmy. He should have won it last year. What he does with Sheldon Cooper is phenomenal. I was also fairly depressed that Lost did not win, but Mad Men was amazing this season.
That’s usually the Emmy’s problem. They don’t award the awards when they should. It should have won for the first season, but I think giving it to them this year when they weren’t the best just because it was the last season would have been wrong. Look at Jon Cryer, I think it’s pretty widely believed that last year’s supporting actor should have went to Neil Patrick Harris, but they gave it to Cryer to make up for all the years of him not getting it. It’s stupid so I hope that they are going to start straying away from that. They also awarded a lot more first time Emmy’s than usual which was a nice deviation from the usual.
WOW!!! Where do I start with your…review?? For someone who writes for a pop-culture website you should have a better finger on the pulse of things in Hollywood. First of all it’s sacrilege to feign ignorance over what is undoubtedly one of the most riveting shows on television right now, Breaking Bad. The fact that this show hasn’t hit your radar is surprising considering you’re a television reviewer. I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that you felt LOST deserved to win big (get a clue, it didn’t and rightfully so, having been an avid LOSTie since day one myself) or your disdain for Claire Danes purely for her romantic association and not her amazing performance on yet another Hollywood production you knew nothing about. I recommend you climb out from underneath the rock you’ve apparently been living under and get with the program if you want to continue “reviewing” for television. Having LOST as your barometer for what’s provocative on television these days is so 2005. Good Luck