Television patted itself on the back and again bored millions of viewers Sunday night at the 45th Annual Emmy Awards.
This was to have been a big year for cable, and HBO’s “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom” took home four major awards: best miniseries, best actress (Holly Hunter), supporting actor (Beau Bridges) and writing.
It might have won more, but there is not yet an award for Longest Title.
“Picket Fences,” the bold CBS series, was awarded the best drama award, and its Kathy Baker and Tom Skerrit won awards as best actress and actor in a drama.
The best comedy award went to NBC’s “Seinfeld.” But Ted Danson of “Cheers” beat out stiff competition from Garry Shandling, John Goodman and Seinfeld for lead actor in a comedy, while Roseanne Arnold took home the statue for lead actress in a comedy. Neither was on hand to accept.
Nor was Robert Morse, surprise winner as best actor, miniseries/movie for PBS’ “Tru,” beating out such heavyweights as James Woods, James Garner, Robert Blake and Robert Duvall. But “Tru” lost in the made-for-TV movie category, which went in a rare tie to HBO’s “Stalin” and “Barbarians at the Gate.”
Returning to its traditional spot on one of the big three networks after five years of dull broadcasts on Fox, the awards show spent three hours on ABC, hosted with class by Angela Lansbury, who again failed to win a best actress in a drama award in this, her 13th try. Mary Tyler Moore won her 8,975th Emmy-actually her seventh, tying her for most Emmys with former co-star Ed Asner, for her supporting role in Lifetime’s “Stolen Babies.”
Most of the winners did not exceed the allotted 30 seconds for their acceptances, spewing out thank-yous to family, colleagues and, most important, those agents and managers.
This was efficient but so markedly lifeless that it made me yearn for an outlandish outfit, tipsy starlet, or a political statement, even one as goofy as Richard Gere’s Academy Awards rant.
The presenters, too, were bland. The comic Sinbad was fairly funny about the value of directors, but such other, better-known laughmeisters as Seinfeld and Shandling were stiff.
Emmys in 26 categories were awarded during Sunday’s telecast. (Fifty-five other technical awards were handed out Saturday).
One presentation that warmed the heart of any critic was for best miniseries, which went to PBS’ brilliant “Prime Suspect 2,” besting such tripe as bios of Frank Sinatra and the troubled (Michael) Jackson clan.
Providing “entertainment” between awards, there were such interludes as a look behind the scenes of the Garry Shandling Show; Barbara Walters discussing the history of TV; “tributes” to great series finales; and the miniseries; endless ABC promos; and, unevenly, comic Paula Poundstone wandering behind the scenes at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where the awards ceremonies were held.
The show was also peppered with strange factoids about television. Strange? A few of them were downright frightening, such as “For every child born today, a TV set is manufactured” and “Three out of four Americans depend on TV for news.”
Since you are obviously that one out of four who chooses to get your news from another source, here are the winners in most of the major categories:
Drama series: “Picket Fences,” CBS
Comedy series: “Seinfeld,” NBC
Miniseries: “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” HBO
Made-for-TV movie: “Stalin” and “Barbarians at the Gate,” HBO
Miniseries: “Prime Suspect 2,” PBS
Lead actor, drama: Tom Skerritt, “Picket Fences,” CBS
Lead actress, drama: Kathy Baker,”Picket Fences,” CBS
Lead actor, comedy: Ted Danson, “Cheers,” NBC
Lead actress, comedy: Roseanne Arnold, “Roseanne,” ABC
Lead actor, miniseries or special: Robert Morse, “Tru,” PBS
Lead actress, miniseries or special: Holly Hunter, “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” HBO
Supporting actor, drama series: Chad Lowe, “Life Goes On,” ABC
Supporting actress, drama series: Mary Alice, “I’ll Fly Away,” NBC
Supporting actor, comedy series: Michael Richards, “Seinfeld,” NBC
Supporting actress, comedy series: Laurie Metcalf, “Roseanne,” ABC
Supporting actor, miniseries or special: Beau Bridges, “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” HBO
Supporting actress, miniseries or special: Mary Tyler Moore, “Stolen Babies,” Lifetime
Individual performance, variety or music program: Dana Carvey, “Saturday Night Live: Saturday Night Live’s Presidential Bash,” NBC.
