Emmys turn the tables on themselves

Self-deprecation over self-congratulation
There was also plenty of self-deprecation, some of which helped advance the thesis that the Emmy awards really are ridiculous.

Presenting an award, John Lithgow pretended to be surprised that the Emmys were awarded even during years when he did not appear on television. “I don’t understand. Then who wins?” he asked. He was mocking his own ridiculous number of wins for “Third Rock from the Sun,” which are representative of the rut Academy of Television Arts and Sciences voters sometimes slip into, refusing to acknowledge anything new or creative and staying instead with what’s comfortable.

This year, there were plenty of comfort nominations (Megan Mullally has been nominated every year for the past seven years) and wins (Tony Shalhoub, who has been nominated for the past four years, won his third trophy). Perhaps most appallingly, “The Amazing Race” won its fourth consecutive Emmy for best reality series, even though the past year included the series' worst season yet, the boring travesty that was the family edition. Its competition, including “Project Runway,” was far more deserving.

Slide show   Emmy fashions Aubergine was the watch word as stars like Ellen Pompeo shined.

For the most part, though, the telecast was less about the winners than it was about Emmys themselves. In the pre-taped opening sequence, Conan traveled between different TV shows, including the “Trapped in the Closet” episode of “South Park”  that Comedy Central didn’t rebroadcast for months after its initial run. But in front of a much larger audience than “South Park” ever gets, cartoon Conan went into Stan’s closet. He soon fled, saying, “there’s someone else in there,” and Tom Cruise peeked out.

Perhaps most unexpectedly, the most intense criticism was directed at NBC, which aired the ceremony. Conan O’Brien opened the show with a musical number that acknowledged how much NBC has declined over the past few years, singing, “and now the Peacock’s getting it from both ends ... to prove things are going to hell / we’re relying on Howie Mandel.” He was referring to one of NBC’s few hits, “Deal or No Deal,” which the network will be airing twice a week this fall.

These segments were pretty edgy and substantive, at least compared to the fluff awards shows usually offer. That NBC allowed itself to be made fun of may be a sign of how desperate the network is. But combined with the rest of the telecast’s humor, it seems to prove that while TV people might give awards out to the wrong people all the time, at least they can laugh about it and themselves. That’s more than most of the people associated with the Oscars could ever do.

Andy Dehnart is a writer and teacher who publishes reality blurred, a daily summary of reality TV news.

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