The 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards were broadcast live on CBS at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. Neil Patrick Harris, star of “How I Met Your Mother” which is on CBS hosted the awards show and he did it with class, flair, and ease. He was a fun host. He opened the show with a musical number titled “Put Down the Remote” and I learned that he doesn’t watch the news. Yeah, I agree even in hard economic times that you don’t want to watch the news for some negative news.
The awards are divided into genres to make it easy for the viewers to keep track of who won. I hoped that “Family Guy” wouldn’t have a prayer of winning an Emmy for Best Comedy Series. Why in the world would the television academy honor a show that is distasteful, uncomfortable, unfunny and annoying? “Family Guy” needs to be cancelled and never show up on the airwaves again.
Comedy Awards
Presenters: Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) & Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”)
Category: Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner: Kristen Chenoweth (“Pushing Daisies”)-no longer on the air!!
Presenters: Neil’s co-stars from “How I Met Your Mother”
Category: Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Winner: Matt Hubbard-30 Rock, “Reunion”
Presenters: Julia Louis Dreyfus (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) & Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation”)
Category: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner: Jon Cryer-“Two and a Half Men”
Presenter: Justin Timberlake
Category: Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Winner: Toni Collette-“The United States of Tara”
Presenters: Blake Lively & Leighton Meester (“Gossip Girl”)
Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Outstanding Guest Actor & Actress in a Comedy Series
Winners: Tina Fey & Justin Timberlake-“Saturday Night Live”
Category: Directing in a Comedy Series
Winner: Jeffrey Blitz-The Office, “Stress Relief”
Presenter: Rob Lowe (“Brothers & Sisters”)
Category: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Winner: Alec Baldwin-“30 Rock”
Reality Emmy Awards
Maksim & Karina from “Dancing with the Stars” performed a hot and steamy dance number that gave me goose bumps.
Presenters: Jon Cryer (Emmy winner for “Two and a Half Men”) & Hayden Pantierre (“Heroes”)
Category: Outstanding Reality Host
Winner: Jeff Probst-“Survivor”
Presenter: Tracy Morgan (“30 Rock”)
Category: Best Reality Competition Show
Winner: It’s no surprise—“The Amazing Race”
Mini Series & TV Movie Emmy Awards
Presenters: Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick (Husband & wife—Kyra stars in the TNT series “The Closer”)
Category: Supporting Actress in a TV Mini Series or Movie
Winner: Shokrel Agashdloo
Category: Supporting Actor in a TV Mini Series or Movie
Winner: Ken Howard-“Grey Gardens”
Presenters: Kate Walsh (“Private Practice”) & Chandra Wilson (“Grey’s Anatomy”)
Category: Best Actor in a TV Mini Series or Movie
Winner: Brendan Gleeson-“Into the Storm”
Presenters: Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”) & Patricia Arquette (“Medium”) are on CBS every Friday night
Category: Outstanding Writing in a TV Mini Series or Movie
Winner: Andrew Davis-“Little Doret”
Category: Outstanding Mini Series
Winner: “Little Doret”
Category: Lead Actress in a TV Mini Series or Movie
Winner: Jessica Lange-“Grey Gardens”
Presenters: Kiefer Sutherland (“24”) & Anna Torv (“Fringe”)
Category: Outstanding TV Movie
Winner: “Grey Gardens”
Variety Show Emmy Awards
Presenters: Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons & Johnny Galecki-“Big Bang Theory”
Category:Outstanding Directing in a Variety Series or Special
Winner: Bruce Gowers-“American Idol”
Category: Outstanding Writing Team in a Variety Series
Winner: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
Presenter: Jimmy Fallon (“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”)
Category: Original Music & Lyrics
Winner: 81st Annual Academy Awards-Hugh Jackman Opening Number
Presenter: Ricky Gervais (His new film, “The Invention of Lying” is now playing in theatres)
Category: Outstanding Variety, Comedy or Music Series
Winner: “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
Drama Emmy Awards
Presenters: L.L. Cool J & Chris O’Donnell (“NCIS: Los Angeles”)
Category: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Winner: Michael Emerson-“Lost”
Category: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Winner: Cherry Jones-“24”
Presenters: Stephen Moyer & David Boreanaz (“Bones”)
Category: Outstanding Guest Actor & Actress in a Drama Series
Winners: Michael J. Fox & Ellen Burstyn
Category: Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
Winner: Rod Holocomb-ER
Category: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
Winner: “Mad Men”
Presenter: Simon Baker (“The Mentalist”)
Category: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Winner: Glenn Close-“Damages”
Presenter: Dana Delany (“Desperate Housewives”)
Category: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Winner: Bryan Cranston-“Breaking Bad”
The final two big awards of the night
Outstanding Comedy Series presented by a television legend Bob Newhart still looking good in his seventies.
Winner: “30 Rock”
Sigourney Weaver presented the final award Outstanding Drama Series and the winner is “Mad Men”
Other highlights of the show:
- A bit involving a woman who was seated behind two tall men finding a better seat to enjoy the show
- An appearance by the President of NATAS-John Shaffer
- What’s an award show without a tribute to those who passed away since the last Emmy telecast? Sarah MacLahan sang the poignant “I Will Remember You”
- A joke about broadcast television going out of business for good
Overall, the show was fun, entertaining, and uplifting from the last year’s show. The fans voted “True Blood” as their favorite breakthrough performance on TV. Congrats to all the winners. See you next year at the 2010 Primetime Emmys
