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Review:
1998 Emmy Awards
Written
by Rick Ellis, September 13th, 1998
Four hours is a long time. A REAL long time. In four hours I could
fly across the United States. In four hours I could make love,
well, we won't get into how many times I could make love. Let's
just say an average, manly number. I guess my point is that four
hours is a long time to watch any tv awards show. And tonight's
Emmys was no different.
This year was the 50th anniversary of the Emmy Awards, and producers
opted not to have a solitary host, but a revolving procession
of presenters, celebrities and segment hosts. That idea worked
well enough, and gave the awards a chance to show off a number
of unfamiliar of under-recognized faces from television history.
And the decision to air a number of segments that featured clips
of former award winners and old classic programming certainly
made sense. Although it was a device that hit the "over-used"
mark at the end of hour two.
But there were a number of things that didn't work, and not surprisingly,
many of the failed segments seemed designed to primarily showcase
the stars from the host network NBC.
The broadcast opened with a 17-minute piece featuring Bob Costas,
who hosted coverage outside the auditorium. Unfortunately, much
of his part was marred by a lot of pointless recapping of the
nominees and several interviews that never managed to get past
the mundane.
And Tom Brokaw's segment about television news (at least, I think
that was what it was about), came with absolutely no context,
and no discernable purpose, other than reinforce to America that
he's a news anchor on the network.
And the less we say about that DATELINE knock-off idea, "Emmy
Timeline," the better.
But there was great moments. The Garry Shandling/ David Duchovny
segment as presenters was hilarious, with a wry nod back to Duchovny's
earlier appearance on THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW. And it led to one
of funnier lines of the night, when Shandling told the audience
that "The Emmys were moved from Pasadena to Los Angeles this year,
so David could be closer to his wife."
There were a couple of other funny lines, including LATE SHOW
producer Rob Burnett's excited apology THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID
LETTERMAN won an Emmy. "I'm not sure, but I think I just kissed
a seat filler....sorry sir." And the short bits from the animated
cast of KING OF THE HILL were funny and in character.
While I still can't believe Helen Hunt won an Emmy over Jenna
Elfman, many of the eventual winners were unexpected and deserved.
THE PRACTICE not only won best drama, but co-star Camryn Manheim
won the award for best supporting actress in a drama series. She
encouraged celebrities to sign her autograph book, then held up
the Emmy and shouted, "This is for all the fat girls!"
NYPD BLUE won several awards, including one won by Gordon Clapp,
who was honored as best supporting actor in a drama series. "Somebody
asked me what my favorite television moment was ... and I think
it just changed," Clapp said as he picked up his trophy.
Jon Lovitz's piece on weird Emmy award categories was funny, and
David Spade was his usual acerbic self. And Chris Rock proves
again that he could be the funniest guy around.
But in the end, there was a lot of dead space. And what's worse,
the endless recaps of tv history forced the last several winners
to rush their acceptance speeches.
In other words, award shows-like sex, shouldn't last more than
three hours, counting bathroom breaks.
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