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Emmy Awards Open Thread | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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The 2009 Emmy Awards Open Thread

Pajiba After Dark / Seth Freilich

Miscellaneous | September 20, 2009 | Comments (87)

Not a terrible night for television, but with the media focus on the Emmys, this is ostensibly an open thread devoted to that. However, should you choose to ignore the TV Awards (and the only reason to watch this year is the host, Neil Patrick Harris, and a rumored live “Dr. Horrible” performance), tonight’s other highlights include “Giants vs. Cowboys” on NBC (fuck them both!), the 7th season premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (!) and the premiere episode of “Bored to Death” on HBO, and “Mad Men” on AMC, which will be competing against itself, since it’s up for for an award in most drama categories.

To kick off tonight’s open thread, here my list of who I want to win, and who I think will win (of course, predicting Emmy wins is almost as pointless as the Emmys themselves but, still, it’s fun to play along) the bigger categories:

Best Comedy. “30 Rock” should win, and I actually kind think it will, although I could see “Family Guy” being a sleeper, not be cause it deserves it, but because of the novelty of a cartoon in this category (and if “Weeds” or “Entourage” win, I officially declare comedy dead).

Best Drama. “Breaking Bad” should win by a fucking mile, but I expect “Mad Men” will take home the gold. “Big Love” is the sleeper.

Lead Actor — Comedy. Alec Baldwin will win. Alec Baldwin should win. Tony Shalhoub and Charlie Sheen should die.

Lead Actor — Drama. Bryan Cranston should win this shit by a fucking landslide, but since he won it last year, I suspect it’s Jon Hamm’s year. But I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Gabriel Byrne, Hugh Laurie or Michael C. Hall sneak in for the win.

Lead Actress — Comedy. Mary-Louise Parker is the best out of this bunch, but she shouldn’t win because “Weeds” isn’t a fucking comedy anymore! So I’ll say that Tina Fey should probably win, but I kinda think Christina Appelgate will get the actual win, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus a sleeper.

Lead Actress — Drama. Glenn Close should win for “Damages,” as she did last year, but I kinda have a feeling it’s going to be Elisabeth Moss, as I just think the gold is going to love “Mad Men” this year.

Supporting Actor — Drama. Aaron Paul should win (seriously, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I think “Breaking Bad” was the best thing on TV last year by a landslide - get yourself some DVDs). I think John Hurt will take the win though, with Michael Emerson a sneaky sleeper.

Supporting Actor — Comedy. Rainn Wilson should win, but host NPH will win.

Supporting Actress — Drama. Hope Davis should win, for “In Treatment” and, Jesus, I have no prediction on who will actually win. Let’s go with … anyone other than Sandra Oh.

Supporting Actress — Comedy. I suspect many of us want Kristin Chenoweth to win because we miss “Pushing Daisies,” and she’s probably the one who should win. But I kinda think Amy Poehler will win (she’s nominated for “SNL,” not “Parks and Recreation”).

Best Variety/Music/Comedy Show. This should be “The Colbert Report’s” year and it will be.

Best Reality Show — Competition. “Top Chef” should win, but “The Amazing Race” will win, because it wins every fucking year.

Talk amongst yourselves.


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Comments

I didn't know NPH was hosting.

I see it's time for some coffee....

Posted by: Aislinn at September 20, 2009 6:12 PM

Hi Dustin,

I think Mad Men is gonna sweep and 30 Rock will too.

I wouldn't mind few surprises. Bryan Cranston is awesome.

Posted by: Mebe at September 20, 2009 6:16 PM

Emmy Awards? fucking Emmy AWARDS?


Wedding Cake Wars is on, son.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 20, 2009 6:22 PM

Oh, and the ONLY comedy there is Family Guy.

The haters can choke on my thick, frothy, semen.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 20, 2009 6:26 PM

I wish I was cool enough to not care. Instead I will stay up all night (I live in Europe) and watch the show on live stream with crappy quality.
Fuck me.

Posted by: Margrete at September 20, 2009 6:39 PM

"the ONLY comedy there is Family Guy.".

That is the saddest thing I've seen all day.

Posted by: Greg at September 20, 2009 6:40 PM

That is the saddest thing I've seen all day.

Posted by: Greg at September 20, 2009 6:40 PM

------------------------------------------

Nope, the saddest thing you've seen all day was your mom in hair curlers.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 20, 2009 6:45 PM

NPH is hosting. I think that means we all win.

Posted by: Annie UhOh at September 20, 2009 6:46 PM

I see that Family Guy is a perfect fit for you. If it wins, I suggest you chug a quart of tequila. If it loses, too.

Posted by: Greg at September 20, 2009 6:50 PM

Emmys, schmemmys.
Football, son. Plain and simple.
Football.
And beer.

Posted by: Spender at September 20, 2009 6:53 PM

Seth, I'm so with you on Breaking Bad deserving a clean sweep.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 7:18 PM

If you folks on the east coast could just let me know if that Dr. Horrible thing happens, that would be great. Otherwise, I won't waste a second of my time on this silliness.

GO COWBOYS!!!

Posted by: DarthCorleone at September 20, 2009 7:18 PM

And by the way, Family Guy is dung.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at September 20, 2009 7:20 PM

....The SQUEAL my sister just made at the sight of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart >.

Posted by: Aislinn at September 20, 2009 7:24 PM

You watching a western, Darth?

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 7:28 PM

Why the Tony Shaloub hate? Not that I think he should win or anything, I'm just surprised by the vitriol.

Posted by: Candace at September 20, 2009 7:31 PM

I will be watching the whole thing only for the possibility of a live Dr. Horrible performance.

Posted by: buttercup at September 20, 2009 7:37 PM

I totally mean offense, Slim, Family Guy is still the least amusing series of images I've seen on T.V. since the morning of September 11th, 2001.

Posted by: George at September 20, 2009 7:38 PM

I really hope Breaking Bad wins. That show is the best. I love seeing chemistry take a main role in television show. Who doesn't secretly dream of taking their chemistry degree and becoming a Chrystal meth supplier?

On a side note, I just found the funniest blog: popewatchnow.wordpress.com

Posted by: caty at September 20, 2009 7:45 PM

OK, that run of stations was impressive, cheesy though the song was.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:05 PM

Less than 5 minutes in for the first Kanye joke.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:07 PM

oh nph, i will not pick up the remote every again.

Posted by: buttercup at September 20, 2009 8:08 PM

Family Guy is genuinely awful. Really, just crap. I’m with you George.

Posted by: general rhubarb at September 20, 2009 8:08 PM

OK, glasses ain't funny ladies.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:12 PM

KC freaks me the fuck out. Between her face, ridiculous boobs, screaming loud dress and elf voice, I be scared.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:15 PM

CHENOWETH!!! Totally deserved it.

Posted by: Julie at September 20, 2009 8:16 PM

Wow, a 9-11 joke. That's so... unnecessary?

Anyways, I'm going to continue watching old episodes of Newsradio and ignoring the Emmys, NPH though it may have.

Posted by: SaBrina at September 20, 2009 8:17 PM

"Family Guy is not funny"

This is coming from the same crew that loves Juno. You hipster-clowns wouldn't know funny if you were stuck in a car with 17 others of your kind.

So in conclusion Family Guy IS funny and you need to go back to jacking-off to your How I Met Your Mother DVDs. Here's a clue: HIMYM it's basically just one premise, i.e. "Barney does something 'outrageous' or they reminisce" that shit was played 33 episodes ago.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at September 20, 2009 8:19 PM

I was kind of digging KC's dress. It looks like put on a dress lined with sticky adhesive and rolled around in a big pile of broken mirrors. Its so sparkly. With all these plain black dresses walking around, its got spunk.

Posted by: bubblegumshoe at September 20, 2009 8:19 PM

Isn't Dr. Horrible up for an Emmy? Let me know if it wins. I have to go take a shower. No really. That's not a euphemism for anything, I really do have to go take a shower.

Posted by: BWeaves at September 20, 2009 8:23 PM

Well, Slim, that one premise for HIMYM is one more premise than Family Guy has, so the hipster clowns win that one.

Posted by: Greg at September 20, 2009 8:25 PM

I... agree... with BarbadoSlim?

(By ignoring the Emmys, I meant reading this thread instead of watching. Obviously.)

Posted by: SaBrina at September 20, 2009 8:26 PM

Duckie!

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:27 PM

Bslim, sweetheart, you don’t know me, so just because I don’t like something you do, I’d prefer it if you didn’t make erroneous assumptions about what I do like.

Posted by: general rhubarb at September 20, 2009 8:27 PM

I'm glad to see Duckie win something, but I can't believe he took it over Neil Patrick Harris! Didn't see that coming.

Posted by: Brie at September 20, 2009 8:27 PM

I was rooting for Rainn Wilson. BUT yay for Duckie...

Posted by: bubblegumshoe at September 20, 2009 8:30 PM

Whee. Muriel for the upset.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:36 PM

LOVE Toni Collette!

Posted by: Chipwitch at September 20, 2009 8:37 PM

BWeaves - Dr. Horrible won at the earlier Emmys.

Posted by: Lainey at September 20, 2009 8:38 PM

Kind of wish I had a TV. Not for watching the Emmy's tonight, no, I'm just remembering the awesomeness of season 1 of Breaking Bad and wish I could've seen season 2.

Posted by: vegetable soup at September 20, 2009 8:39 PM

Not digging the shoulder pads on Leighton.

Posted by: bubblegumshoe at September 20, 2009 8:42 PM

Season 2 rocked the world veggie soup.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 8:42 PM

Does anyone else think of Tong Po (bad guy from Kickboxer) when looking at Blake Lively's hair?

Posted by: bubblegumshoe at September 20, 2009 8:43 PM

Seriously, Jon Cryer? I mean, Two and a Half Men isn't as bad as most people here say, but it's far from being on HIMYM and The Office's level.

Posted by: Radlum at September 20, 2009 8:44 PM

BarbadoSlim, I like Juno and Family Guy. The fandoms aren't mutually exclusive. I don't know what crawled up some people's holes and died to make them so bitter toward animated shows. I get it. Pushing Daisies was magical. No amount of Family Guy bashing is going to bring it back. And you guys are the same fuckers who refused to watch Sit Down, Shut Up yet lament the loss of Arrested Development. Their deaths are on your hands.

With few exceptions, I get more laughs out of Family Guy then any "Comedy" series nominated in any major category this year except for the Sarah Silverman Program. Then again, I laugh more at your average episode of Mad Men then your average episode of 30 Rock, so maybe I' not the best judge.

Posted by: Robert at September 20, 2009 8:49 PM

Oh Larry, you're fucked.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 9:29 PM

Dr. Horrible!

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 9:30 PM

DR HORRIBLE DR HORRIBLE DR HORRIBLE

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE

Posted by: buttercup at September 20, 2009 9:31 PM

Dr Horrible !!! I can't believe they actually used the character in the Emmys

Posted by: Radlum at September 20, 2009 9:31 PM

Keep setting up those straw men.

I don't watch How I Met Your Mother. Juno was passable, but I have no desire to rewatch it. The cancellation of Pushing Daisies can be attributed to a far worse phenomenon for quality television than Family Guy, and that's the reality TV plague. I have absolutely nothing against animation.

And yet, yes, Family Guy is a heap of dung.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at September 20, 2009 9:31 PM

Nathan!

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 9:32 PM

Dr. Horrible! Huzzah!

Posted by: Captain Tuttle at September 20, 2009 9:32 PM

Jessica please, please, please stop messing with your face!

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 9:35 PM

Thank you for the Dr. Horrible confirmation my friends. I will watch the Emmys at the corresponding west coast time.

Cindy >> I'm watching a western because I use the word "dung," or are you mocking my Cowboys fanaticism?

Posted by: DarthCorleone at September 20, 2009 9:36 PM

Mocking, of course. With love, of course.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 9:43 PM

Wow. Michael Emerson.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 10:20 PM

Shit, this show is boring. I'm giving this 5 more minutes before I start doing homework out of sheer boredom.

Posted by: Brie at September 20, 2009 10:22 PM

Yeeeeeah, BEN!


Erm... congrats, Michael Emerson.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at September 20, 2009 10:22 PM

i luff u michael emerson.

What a sweet, concise acceptance too. A character actor's dream indeed. No one does creepy like you!

Posted by: Tati at September 20, 2009 10:23 PM

About time Michael Emerson wins one. I hate the death segment. Every year I recognize more and more of them…

Posted by: Anonymous Jerk at September 20, 2009 10:26 PM

I'm glad Michael Emerson won, like Alec Baldwin, he's a great character actor. Hell, often, character actors are the ones who give the best performance in a movie.

The only thing I care about is that Charlie Sheen doesn't win, he's both a worse actor and bigger douchebag that Alec Baldwin. It's a pity his father had to see what became of his children.

Posted by: George at September 20, 2009 10:27 PM

Michael Emerson totally sounded like creepy like Ben during his acceptance speech, too.

Posted by: Tati at September 20, 2009 10:28 PM

How did I not know Ron Silver died? When he came on the screen during the memorial I was shocked. Am I the only one who missed this piece of news?

Posted by: thebuttonator at September 20, 2009 10:31 PM

So pleased for Toni Collette.

Posted by: general rhubarb at September 20, 2009 10:33 PM

Yeah, Michael J. Fox!

Posted by: Chipwitch at September 20, 2009 10:35 PM

Aaand did anyone else's heart break a little when they saw the Swayze's earnest little face in that tear-jearker memorial downer parade? So soon.

Posted by: Tati at September 20, 2009 10:36 PM

Michael J. Fox is a cool muthafucking dude.

Posted by: buttercup at September 20, 2009 10:48 PM

Yes! BC takes the win.

Posted by: Cindy at September 20, 2009 10:49 PM

So glad that Sally Field didn't win. She's been doing the same performance for years, and she would overact on the stage.

Glad they fit Swayze in the memorial, and they did a good job of it. Heath Ledger's inclusion the the Oscar memorial was really random. Although Sarah McLachlan's singing didn't really fit, even if the song did.

Ron Silver died months ago, and I remember that it wasn't really publicized in the news, thebuttonator. That might be why you didn't hear about it.

Posted by: Brie at September 20, 2009 10:50 PM

Looks like you were wrong about The Colbert Report winning that award, Dustin. Or any award, for that matter. Congrats to The Daily Show anyway.

Posted by: Aislinn at September 20, 2009 10:53 PM

Entourage gets shut out. I thought it was obvious The Daily Show would take it again — it was a big year for them, what with Jim Cramer and the election and all.

I couldn't figure out why Sarah McLachlan was doing until they started the videos.

Posted by: Anonymous Jerk at September 20, 2009 11:00 PM

Vegetable soup, season 2 of Breaking Bad is available to stream, free, on surfthechannel.

Posted by: Lauren at September 20, 2009 11:17 PM

I'm okay with The Daily Show winning, it's a better show than The Colbert Report, in itself a tremendous feet, because Stephen Colbert is a genius.

However, I will always think of Johnny Carson as the god of late night T.V., because he entertained for 1 and a half hours a day, 6 nights a week, introduced the world to geniuses like George Carlin, and his zombie could kick Jay Leno's ass.

(My parents are 35 years older than me, that's how I learned of the genius of Carson.)

Posted by: George at September 20, 2009 11:34 PM

Seriously, Charlie Sheen, your father fought for his country, killed motherfucking Marlon Brando, became president of the free world, and this is how you repay him. How the hell did you sleep with 5,000 women?

Posted by: George at September 20, 2009 11:41 PM

Top Chef didn't deserve best reality show this year; the fifth season was probably its weakest. Stefan's evil-and-competent-but-kinda-boring schtick was the best part of an otherwise nigh-traumatic season (Hosea? Seriously? Fucking Hosea?), which was further marred by the presence of the godawful not-funny-at-all-but-thinks-he-is Toby Young.

Not to say it hasn't deserved to win at least once or twice (my vote would go to season four, with this current season definitely a contender). But the simple truth is that the reason The Amazing Race wins every year is because it's consistently very good: the casting is brilliant, the editing sublime, and Phil Keoghan is the real best reality host on television, better even than Cat Deeley.

Posted by: mightygodking at September 21, 2009 12:09 AM

I have nothing useful to contribute, just wanted to pile on.

Family Guy used to be quite funny, then sometime after it was brought back (the second time?) it just went to shit.

I might have actually grown out of it a little bit at the same time, but for sure it's not nearly what it used to be.

Posted by: trippdup at September 21, 2009 1:10 AM

Eh, it has it's moments. Though the legalizing pot episode they showed earlier tonight was pretty lame/unfunny.

Posted by: Ken Hart at September 21, 2009 1:25 AM

My question is how the fuck does the Oscars telecast win every fucking year for best music!?! This year it beat the Colbert Christmas Special and Flight of the fucking Conchords! To quote the immortal John McEnroe "You CANNOT be serious!?!"

Carol Brown/Girls Friends of the Past is a lovely song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tErfaUvvw9A

WTF Emmys! Also John Cryer, lame! Cheers for surprises though.

Posted by: Mebe at September 21, 2009 1:26 AM

I couldn't fucking care less about the Emmy's, although it sounds like NPH is being all awesome, so I am glad for that. Dr. Horrible is great and I'm sure the reference is completely lost on 99.9% of the hipsters in the audience, TV and live.

Family Guy: Sick and wrong. And often hilarious. I watched the Inside the Actors Studio with the main talent for FG today, and while it was nowhere near as good as the episode with the cast of the Simpsons, it wasn't bad.

Also:
The Daily Show= Great
Johnny Carson= A God
Charlie Sheen= A Giant Douche.

Posted by: Lindsey with an 'e' at September 21, 2009 2:23 AM

missed connection hijack: i saw someone in a godtopus t-shirt on fillmore st in sf. who????

Posted by: ruby_nicole at September 21, 2009 2:37 AM

What the fuck does David Simon need to do to win an Emmy? No wins for Generation Kill. At least the Cowboys lost.

Posted by: coltaine at September 21, 2009 3:41 AM

My question is how the fuck does the Oscars telecast win every fucking year for best music!?! This year it beat the Colbert Christmas Special and Flight of the fucking Conchords!

The Oscars and the Emmys must be owned by the same people, it's the only explanation. But even so, it was the Colbert Christmas, the Toby Keith scene alone caused me to break my ribs laughing. I hope the Emmy people are shotgunned to death by him.

Posted by: George at September 21, 2009 5:49 AM

Brie, I'm confused... How could that song fit but Sarah McLachlan's singing not fit? It's her song! Do you mean that a cover artist would have been better? I thought it was nice anyway. And it really was so sad to see Swayze up there too.
Overall the show wasn't bad; at least it wasn't cringe-inducing the way so many awards shows can be. Did anyone else find it a liiiiittle condescending how people kept giving NPH props for what good job he was doing?

Posted by: b at September 21, 2009 8:49 AM

Sorry, b, I meant her singing it live, not the song itself. The memorials usually have some recorded voice, not a live performer, so that sounded weird to me. And whoever was singing McLachlan's backup was lousy.

Posted by: Brie at September 21, 2009 10:51 AM

I'm with you on that brie. The "doobie-dum-dum-dum"s were pretty gross. Actually, I have always kind of hated that aspect of that song. So cheese-mo.

Posted by: b at September 21, 2009 11:07 AM

She's got better songs than that one, namely all of them. I'm not even huge fan of hers (no one in Canada ever needs to hear the words 'Lilith Fair' ever again), but she's smart: That song is the Wrath of Can-Con, and as long as humans steadfastly refuse to stop dying, she's got a gig for years.

You've got to hand it to Hollywood: I don't even have a TV (sniff) and I'm sick to death of shows I've never seen with actors I've never heard of.

Though this particular show doesn't even come CLOSE to the top of my shit-list, B-Slim's comment reminded me of a conversation that I had a while back about HIMYM. I think it was to the tune of: references aren't a joke, a mummified premise isn't a storyline, and being able to hit 'rewind' and stick old footage into a new episode isn't exactly Fullbright Scholarship-smart. This show needs to stop fellating its audience by telling it about how smart it is for being able to remember last month's episode, and, I don't know: get the fuck on with it. Have those clowns even met this mother, or is it going to descend into some Ed Gein phantasmagoria?

I would totally hate having to collect the rent from television writers. I'm not saying that isn't a place for these cliches, or that everybody falls into them because it's a REALLY difficult job. But if I knock on a door, and the tenant says 'You have to catch me first!' or, 'I'll pay next month, stare wistfully at me', or, 'my rent really belongs to you, but there's this bogus subletting fiasco, and I just can't go there', or 'maybe I'll just change my locks', or 'oh no, did I forget to water my plants? Find out in four-and-a-half-months', I'd be unhappy.

Okay, fuck it. Maybe I should be glad I can't have a TV. Forget it! Forget all of its thrice warmed-over chicanery, and the inappropriate comparisons to calamitous world events it invites.

AND FUCK HOUSING DEPARTMENT HERE THAT NEVER, EVER FUCKING TELLS YOU WHEN IT'S GOING TO DO SOME SORT OF INSPECTION, AND WALKS IN ON YOU WHEN YOU'RE JUST GETTING OUT OF THE SHOWER, OR OUT OF BED, OR ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF LAUNDRY AND LOOK TERRIBLE, OR LEAVES A NOTE UNDER YOUR DOOR SAYING 'YEAH, WE WERE HERE'. I THOUGHT ALL OF THOSE COMPLAINTS I LODGED LAST YEAR WOULD GET IT THROUGH YOUR FUCKING SKULLS THAT PEOPLE HAVE LOCKS FOR A FUCKING REASON. WELL, FUCK YOU! I'M GOING TO BE THE TICK THAT BURROWS UNDER YOUR SKIN AGAIN UNTIL YOU FUCKING END THIS SHIT. WHO JUST HABITUALLY WALKS IN TO PEOPLE'S HOMES LIKE THAT WITH NO WARNING? THEY DON'T EVEN DO THAT SHIT ON SITCOMS ANYMORE! I (WAS) ASLEEP AT TEN IN THE MORNING BECAUSE I HAVE THE FLU, AND I'M PAYING FOR THIS BED, SO I SHOULD GET TO USE IT, CASSANOVA. WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO TEST YOUR SPEAKER SYSTEM FOR THREE HOURS STRAIGHT BEGINNING AT SEVEN IN THE MORNING?

In case you didn't notice, I like it when strangers walk into my apartment frequently and brazenly. Yes, my place is really clean (partly because I know I'm not anywhere near the only person who goes in, though I sure pay the rent by myself. Not the point, though. Man, if I were Rube Goldberg...if only.

Posted by: Jo 'Mama' Besser at September 21, 2009 12:15 PM

AH! Thanks, Lauren! I'll definitely be checking that out.

Posted by: vegetable soup at September 21, 2009 8:02 PM





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