Was it worth a three-hour wait to see “Arrested Development” win a much-deserved best comedy award at the Emmys on Sunday?
Don’t make me answer that question. Kudos to the superb Fox show, but none of us who went the distance with the leaden ABC broadcast can get those three hours of our lives back.
Aside from three “Arrested Development” wins, the Emmys this year were brought to us by the Ghost of Emmy Past.
Kelsey Grammer won as best comedy actor in “Frasier” — again. “Sex and City” and “The Sopranos” won big — again. And Allison Janney (“The West Wing”) and David Hyde Pierce (“Frasier”) won acting awards for their work on their respective shows — both of them for the fourth time.
Yes, the excitement was palpable.
Thank goodness for Elaine Stritch and “Arrested Development.” Broadway legend Stritch, accepting an award for best performance in a variety program (“Elaine Stritch at Liberty”), went wonderfully over the top.
“I’m so glad none of them won!” she said of her fellow nominees with winning honesty. As for one of the executives she thanked, Stritch said, “I don’t like him very much, but he got the money to do the show.”
Start the campaign now: Next year, Elaine Stritch as Emmy host!
If only the rest of the broadcast had the spark of Stritch’s exuberant acceptance speech. Host Garry Shandling seemed alternately sedated and irritable, and though much of HBO’s programming is top-notch, given the cable network’s staggering 124 nominations, the parade of wins for “Deadwood,” “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Angels in America” wasn’t exactly surprising. At all.
But credit where it’s due: Drea de Matteo deserved her first-time win for her turn as the doomed Adriana on “The Sopranos,” as did Parker, who won for the first time for her role as Carrie Bradshaw on “Sex and the City.” And certainly “The Sopranos” deserved its first-ever best drama award — the first best drama win for a cable program.
At least James Spader provided a much-needed surprise when he won a best actor award for his role on “The Practice.” And, truth be told, wondering if any other non-HBO shows would win anything did provide at least a minor diversion through the long death-march of a show.
There was a strange schizophrenia about the broadcast, as it alternately played up to the creative types in the audience by bashing reality TV — then had various actors, TV execs and even Shandling star in painfully unfunny sketches meant to resemble scenes from an unscripted show.
Two random folks from who-knows-where were brought onstage to help present the best reality show award. The deserving CBS show “The Amazing Race” won, but for a second time, so there wasn’t much drama there.
“The Daily Show” won two Emmys as well — for the second year in a row. And the “Daily Show” folks, bless their hearts, did contribute a funny pretaped parody questioning the wartime valor of none other than George Washington. At least they tried to help.
Shandling himself came off as a grumpy uncle who couldn’t understand this gosh-darn reality TV that the kids are so wild about. “It’s to the point now [that] when a television commercial comes on I say, `Thank god, professional actors in a story,'” he whined.
If Shandling’s jabs at unscripted television came off as desperate, the rest of his opening routine sounded like discarded standup material — Viagra jokes and Martha Stewart gags were the best he could do? I’d rather watch boardroom outtakes from “The Apprentice.”
Thank goodness for “Arrested Development” for giving the broadcast a few welcome high points. Whoops of delight went up every time the Fox series picked up one of its three awards, for writing, direction and best comedy. Those spontaneous yelps seemed to signify a sort of solidarity with the plucky show, which nearly didn’t make it to a second season.
“To the academy voters and the critics, thank you for keeping our show on the air,” “Arrested” director Joe Russo said. Russo spoke the truth; if the TV executives in the audience hadn’t bowed to pressure from the press and from award-giving types, the low-rated “Arrested” probably wouldn’t be around. How’s that’s for reality?
There wasn’t even much good fashion on display to distract from the leaden broadcast. Note to Stockard Channing — nobody looks good in teal. Note to Patricia Heaton — nobody looks good in a hallucinogenic spiral-patterned dress. Note to Deborah Messing — we’re loving your non-skeletal post-baby body, even when it’s in an overly plain A-line dress — keep the curves, lose the gown. Note to everyone else: Black is boring, no matter how many feathers are attached to your funereal gown.
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Emmy winners
List of winners at Sunday’s 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences:
Drama series
“The Sopranos,” HBO
Comedy series
“Arrested Development,” Fox
Mini-series
“Angels in America,” HBO
Variety, music or comedy series
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” Comedy Central
Made-for-TV movie
“Something the Lord Made,” HBO
Reality-competition program
“The Amazing Race,” CBS
Actor, drama series
James Spader, “The Practice,” ABC
Actor, comedy series
Kelsey Grammer, “Frasier,” NBC
Actor, mini-series or movie
Al Pacino, “Angels in America,” HBO
Actress, drama series
Allison Janney, “The West Wing,” NBC
Actress, comedy series
Sarah Jessica Parker, “Sex and the City,” HBO
Actress, mini-series or movie
Meryl Streep, “Angels in America,” HBO
Supporting actor, drama series
Michael Imperioli, “The Sopranos,” HBO
Supporting actor, comedy series
David Hyde Pierce, “Frasier,” NBC
Supporting actor, mini-series or movie
Jeffrey Wright, “Angels in America,” HBO
Supporting actress, drama series
Drea de Matteo, “The Sopranos,” HBO
Supporting actress, comedy series
Cynthia Nixon, “Sex and the City,” HBO
Supporting actress, mini-series or movie
Mary-Louise Parker, “Angels in America,” HBO
Individual performance in a variety or music program
Elaine Stritch, “Elaine Stritch: At Liberty,” HBO
Directing for a drama series
“Deadwood: Deadwood: Pilot,” HBO
Directing for a comedy series
“Arrested Development: Pilot,” Fox
Directing for a mini-series, movie or dramatic special
“Angels in America,” HBO
Directing for a variety, music or comedy program
“The 76th Annual Academy Awards,” ABC
Writing for a drama series
“The Sopranos: Long Term Parking,” HBO
Writing for a comedy series
“Arrested Development: Pilot,” Fox
Writing for a mini-series, movie or dramatic special
“Angels in America,” HBO
Writing for a variety, music or comedy program
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central
Announced in advance but presented at Sunday night’s ceremony is the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award: Danny Thomas
— By The Associated Press.
