Host Conan O'Brien gets into the Emmys groove.
Full of odd moments, the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards were anything but predictable.
The ever-awkward Conan O'Brien was a fitting host for this year's festivities. Opening with a jaunt through the scenes of some of the year's best television shows, O'Brien dropped in on Lost and then crashed The Office. He appeared on 24 before moving into House, then headed into the closet on South Park and finally Dateline: To Catch a Predator before ending up center stage for his opening monologue at the Shrine Auditorium. What, no Grey's Anatomy?
Megan Mullaly was one of the first to take home an award on Sunday night. She graciously accepted her award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy on the now-canceled Will and Grace, and delivered a heartfelt acceptance speech relaying her gratitude for the eight years the show was on the air. Bizarrely, Blythe Danner, winner of Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, earned recognition for her role on a show that's also canceled: Huff. She noted during her speech, "I guess I'm supposed to thank Showtime even though they've canceled us. Nice guys. They couldn't help it, I guess.''
Julia Louis-Dreyfus accepts her award.
While all the speeches on Sunday night were short and sweet, a few contained notable moments. A flustered Julia Louis-Dreyfus unintentionally provided comic relief when she had to be prompted by an audience member to thank her husband after the camera zeroed in on him while she accepted her award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for The New Adventures of Old Christine. But one of the best speech moments of the night wasn't an accident. My Name Is Earl's Greg Garcia's acceptance of his award for Best Writer in a Comedy Series neglected to detail the long list of people to which he was grateful for supporting him on his showbiz career path. Instead, Garcia rattled off the names of few people to which he offered no thanks, including a grade-school teacher. A well-deserved award, indeed.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of American Bandstand, Barry Manilow serenaded Dick Clark with his hit song, "American Bandstand," marking what was likely the show's lowest point of the night. To make matters worse, Manilow unexpectedly took home the Best Individual Performance in a Variety Show or Musical Program category for his PBS offering, Barry Manilow: Music and Passion, beating out Stephen Colbert, a man Time magazine recently named one of "100 People Who Shape Our World." Hmmm.
Colbert and Stewart: always a laugh!
Comedy Central darlings and Best Reality Competition Show presenters Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert offered up one of the brightest beats of the evening. Though the category winner Amazing Race proved to be a none-too-exciting Emmy event, the banter between Colbert and Stewart was anything but dull. In what was probably the funniest moment of the night, Colbert poked fun at the reality genre before he lamented losing out to Barry Manilow earlier in the evening: "I lost to Barry Manilow! Barry Manilow! I lost to the 'Copacabana.' Singing and dancing is not performing."
Poignantly introduced by Stephen Collins, Joan Collins, and Heather Locklear, the tribute to Aaron Spelling was made more touching thanks to speeches from Charlie's Angels' Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett. The montage celebrating Spelling's life chronicled snippets from such small-screen triumphs as Dynasty, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Charmed, Melrose Place, and Beverly Hills, 90210, to name only a few. Cameras revealed the drama of a family still divided after their loss as it cut between shots of daughter Tori Spelling sitting separate from her mother Candy and brother Randy Spelling in the audience.
First-time academy recognitions of the night went to 24's Kiefer Sutherland for Best Actor, Mariska Hagritay for Best Actress in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and favorite Jeremy Piven for his supporting role in HBO's Entourage. The Office took home the Best Comedy honor, and in a surprising twist of fate, Tony Shaloub rose up over Steve Carell and Larry David in the Best Actor in a Comedy category for his role in Monk. 24 beat out the Sopranos and Grey's Anatomy for Best Drama.
In keeping with night's theme of peculiarity, audience favorite Grey's Anatomy received no awards in the 11 categories they for which it was nominated. Seem strange to anyone else? Oh, well... There's always next year.
719 Comments
i hope you enjoyed it...The emmy's the best...But i wanted to see Prison and Gilmore here
