Sunday night’s “50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” presented a paradox: It wanted to honor five decades of great television but it did so with a show that even Howdy Doody would have had a hard time sitting through.
Two decisions — to eschew a host and to broadcast for a superbloated four hours instead of the usual bloated three — conspired to make this the drowsiest Emmy broadcast in memory.
That didn’t matter so much to the night’s big winners, which included producer David E. Kelley and his young series “The Practice,” Chicago-reared actor Andre Braugher, and, especially, the NBC series “Frasier.”
The last program, which next week takes over the 8 p.m. Thursday slot vacated by “Seinfeld,” became the most honored comedy series ever, winning its fifth consecutive best comedy Emmy by beating such stiff competition as “Seinfeld” in its last year on the air and the hyperpublicized “Ally McBeal.”
The show’s star, Kelsey Grammer, won his fourth Emmy for best actor in a comedy, and costar David Hyde Pierce won his second best supporting actor Emmy.
Kelley’s comedy-drama “McBeal” did not win in any major categories, but in an upset, his lesser-known legal series, “The Practice,” won best drama after less than two full seasons on the air. Meanwhile, a talented member of its ensemble, Camryn Manheim, won best supporting actress.
And Braugher finally won best dramatic actor for his last year starring on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street.” “Hey,” he said, sounding surprised as he looked at the statue.
“Seinfeld” and its stars were stiffed, but another departing series, “The Larry Sanders Show,” did get best writing and best direction Emmys Sunday, nods, at least, toward a show that is on virtually every pro TV watcher’s Top Five Ever list.
Yet, perhaps not surprisingly, the show with the most wins after all the awards had been given out Sunday (and two weeks earlier, in a ceremony mostly for technical awards) was another ponderous festival of entertainment industry self-tribute, this year’s Oscar broadcast, with five.
Some of the Emmy wins were satisfying to TV critics, at least, who have been lamenting the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ perennial underrecognition of shows like “Sanders” and actors like Braugher.
And you could at least give the NBC broadcast credit for ending right on time.
But to viewers who endured one choppy, redundant, black-and-white clip reel after another, with only a disembodied announcer’s voice as a regular presence, there was little cause for elation with the Emmy program.
The announcer, it should be said, performed admirably, speaking in rich, rounded tones and pronouncing names better than did, say, actor Mark Harmon, who introduced Camryn Manheim as “Carmen.”
But while tons of major stars stepped on stage to present awards or introduce historical montages or other major stars, few of them were given or created much of interest to say.
Even the boatload of people on hand glib enough to have emceed often just stuck to the script. The might-have-been hosts included: Billy Crystal (winning an Emmy for his one-night Oscar hosting turn), Chris Rock (who should have been the host), Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres.
Comedy is the glue that can hold something like this together and this was, largely, a show without adhesion. Not only was there no host, but confusion also came out of the night’s multipronged agenda that included honoring great TV moments, celebrating the night’s honorees, justifying TV’s place in the culture, and, yes, promoting NBC stars and shows.
So one moment would be emotionally rich: early TV pioneers Milton Berle, Bob Hope and Sid Caesar receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, for instance; or Sigourney Weaver introducing her aged father, Pat Weaver, a TV pioneer who came up with the show concepts for NBC’s “Tonight” and “Today.”
But another would just fizzle, as when the president of the award-dispensing TV Academy came out to offer the inevitable platitudes about TV protecting the creative spirit and respecting the audience. Or there would be what has to be the 38th tribute to TV cop shows in the 50-year history of Emmy.
Unveiled throughout the broadcast were the 10 greatest TV moments, as selected by a survey of journalists covering television. Among them were Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” signoff (No. 9), the airing and popular reception of “Roots” (No. 2), and the top moment, the 1969 broadcast of images of men walking for the first time on the moon.
The crowd pleaser was Manheim, zaftig in a world of sylphs, winning in her first nomination as best supporting actress in a drama. Emmy producers chose two, much sleeker costars from her show, Dylan McDermott and Lara Flynn Boyle, to present awards.
But Manheim got the Emmy, and she shouted out, “This is for all the fat girls!” She also said, in an admission to being starstruck, “I brought my autograph book. I hope you all will sign it.”
The male counterpart of her award went to Gordon Clapp of ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” an Emmy favorite that also earned directing and writing honors.
David Letterman’s “Late Show” won its first Emmy for outstanding comedy, music or variety series, a well-deserved tribute to the man who still has the best comic mind of the late-night hosts even if his show is often too brassy for its own good.
Another well-earned Emmy went to Gary Sinise, best actor in a miniseries or movie for his breathtaking performance as the notorious Alabama governor in TNT’s “George Wallace.”
Sinise’s excitement over the victory was tempered by the news that Wallace had died. “It’s a strange feeling,” the Steppenwolf Theatre cofounder said after the show. “I believe he had a private redemption happen to him — although it possibly took being shot to have that happen.”
In what was probably inevitable after Tom Hanks decided to produce it and it came out pretty well, HBO’s mammoth “From the Earth to the Moon” won best miniseries.
Lead actress in comedy went to Helen Hunt for the third year in row for her role as Jamie Buchman on “Mad About You,” besting, among others, Calista Flockhart of “Ally McBeal.” “I’m the president of I was not expecting this,” Hunt said. She was also the only member of that club.
As best actress, Christine Lahti of “Chicago Hope” won for the first time after two prior nominations. And Hyde Pierce’s win was a mild upset — many thought the late Phil Hartman would win for sentimental reasons.
HBO’s “Larry Sanders” won best direction of a comedy (Todd Holland) and best writing (star Garry Shandling and Peter Tolan). “Being nominated means nothing,” quipped Shandling, a reference to the “it’s just nice to be nominated” posture he has had to adapt when his show was setting records for nominations without wins.
Added Tolan: “I just think it’s nice for our industry and the country that in 1998 an award for comedy writing can be won by a gentile.”
THE BEST OF ’98.
Drama Series
“The Practice”
Lead Actor, Drama
Andre Braugher
“Homicide: Life on the Street”
Lead Actress, Drama
Christine Lahti
“Chicago Hope”
Supporting Actor, Drama
Gordon Clapp
“NYPD Blue”
Supporting Actress, Drama
Camryn Manheim
“The Practice”
Comedy Series
“Frasier”
Lead Actor, Comedy
Kelsey Grammer
“Frasier”
Lead Actress, Comedy
Helen Hunt
“Mad About You”
Supporting Actor, Comedy
David Hyde Pierce
“Frasier”
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Lisa Kudrow
“Friends”
BEST OF THE REST
Mini-series: “From the Earth to the Moon,” HBO.
Television Movie: “Don King: Only in America,” HBO.
Variety, Music or Comedy Special: “The 1997 Tony Awards,” CBS.
Variety, Music or Comedy Series: “Late Show with David Letterman,” CBS.
Actor, Mini-series or Special: Gary Sinise, “George Wallace,” TNT.
Actress, Mini-series or Special: Ellen Barkin, “Before Women Had Wings (Oprah Winfrey Presents),” ABC.
Supporting Actor, Mini-series or Special: George C. Scott, “12 Angry Men,” Showtime.
Supporting Actress, Mini-series or Special: Mare Winningham, “George Wallace,” TNT.
Performance, Variety or Music Program: Billy Crystal, “The 70th Annual Academy Awards,” ABC.
Directing, Drama Series (tie): Mark Tinker, “Brooklyn South,” CBS; Paris Barclay, “NYPD Blue,” ABC.
Directing, Comedy Series: Todd Holland, “The Larry Sanders Show,” HBO.
Directing, Mini-series or Special: John Frankenheimer, “George Wallace,” TNT.
Directing, Variety or Music Program: Louis J. Horvitz, “The 70th Annual Academy Awards,” ABC.
Writing, Drama Series: Bill Clark, Nicholas Wootton, David Milch, “NYPD Blue: Lost Israel, Part II,” ABC.
Writing, Comedy Series: Peter Tolan and Garry Shandling “The Larry Sanders Show: Flip,” HBO.
Writing, Mini-series or Special: Kario Salem, “Don King: Only in America,” HBO.
Writing, Variety or Music Program: “Dennis Miller Live,” HBO.
