Monday, September 19, 2005

Emmy Recap, Tons of Premieres, and TV on DVD Monday!

Welcome to an extremely chock-full edition of Pass the Remote! I've got full Emmy coverage, a special expanded edition of Premiering Tonight, and all the latest television news. So, let's dive right in with last night's 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

It was an interesting night filled with surprises, laughs, and a few predictable wins. Ellen DeGeneres combined her usual wit, charm, and funny stunts to give the awards show a light, but remembrance tone. The white magnolias adored on most of the attendees served as a constant reminder of those still suffering from Katrina's effects. The "Emmy Idol" was a bust, and Kristen Bell was robbed! How does Donald Trump beat Kristen Bell?? Robbed, I tell you! It was nice to see David Letterman pay tribute to the late Johnny Carson, and the piece on the three former network anchors - Tom Brokaw, the late Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather - was a moving segment that reminded us how much we miss our favorite. ABC's Lost and Desperate Housewives walked away with the most statues, taking six each. HBO reigned supreme over the networks, earning a whopping 27 wins over the course of both ceremonies (Creative Arts Emmys and last night). Overall, it was a fun night that gave us some truly deserving winners.

How happy was I to see Lost win best drama? I know I picked Deadwood because I really thought it was going to take the statue, but I really wanted it to go to Lost. No other drama in the category had the same impact last season. How shocked beyond belief was I to see Desperate Housewives not win the comedy category? Very, very shocked. I thought it was a lock, but the final season of Everybody Loves Raymond was fabulous, and it was a fitting tribute for the series to walk away with its second and final Emmy this year. Oh, and I was elated to see my girl Felicity Huffman take the best actress in a comedy statue! She was my "should win" pick, so it was a happy moment for me. And then, I was shocked once again to see Medium's Patricia Arquette take the best actress in a drama award. On the supporting side, I was disappointed that Brad Garrett won his third best supporting actor in a comedy award. I would have preferred Peter Boyle. Doris Roberts' win was no surprise, and neither was William Shatner's, although I thought the Academy would give it to fellow Emmy-fav Alan Alda. I was pretty shocked with Blythe Danner's win for Huff in the best supporting actress in a drama category, as I thought it belonged to Tyne Daly. For a full list of winners, click here.

Here's a look at the night's highlights (and lowlights):

Most Shocking Win: Patricia Arquette for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. This gets the edge over Desperate Housewives shocking loss because it just didn't seem like Arquette had a chance against such huge competition.


Funniest Acceptance Speech
: S. Epatha Merkerson for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. Merkerson informed us that she had prepared a list of thank you's, but it slipped too far down her dress for her to recover. Then when she was informed to "wrap it up," she simply looked at the camera and said "Thank you!"

Best Acceptance Speech: Felicity Huffman for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. After almost succumbing to tears, Huffman declared, "oh no, I'm becoming one of those actresses!" Later, she thanked husband William H. Macy by relaying a cute story about their courtship and eventual marriage.

Best Reference to Iraq: Patricia Arquette said that she prays that when the soldiers get to come home from Iraq, that they all come home safely.

Worst Reference to Iraq: Blythe Danner's political shout-out at the end of her speech to bring the troops home. Award shows just aren't the place for politics.

Best Moment of the Night: When young actor Tyler James Williams from the upcoming Everybody Hates Chris reminded us all to donate to Habitat for Humanity in order to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, he was accompanied by a young boy who knows the need first hand. It was a touching moment, and a fitting tribute to the Gulf Coast.

Funniest Ellen Joke: On the winners always saying that they didn't expect this at all: "You were nominated. You had a one in five chance!"

Worst Segment: The "Emmy Idol" didn't work for me. It was extremely pointless, and it took time away from the winners. Plus, my girl Kristen Bell was robbed!


Kristen Bell performs "Fame" at the 57th Annual Primetime Emmys

Most Robbed Nominee: Mariska Hargitay and Jennifer Garner. Incredible actresses who definitely deserved to win.

Best Dress: Felicity Huffman's red dress was simply gorgeous!!!


Felicity Huffman arrives for an afterparty after winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Finally, it's time to grade my (not so hot) predictions. I only got two out of ten correct (Doris Roberts and James Spader), so I'm giving myself an F, but that's okay because a lot of my "should wins" actually won, so I was happy!

Shifting gears a bit from the Emmys to the official kick-off of the new Fall Season! Today is September 19th, which means all our favorite shows are starting soon. Here's a quick rundown of what's premiering tonight in my special extended edition of Premiering Tonight!!!

*NBC kicks off the night with its new creature thriller Surface, then it's the third season premiere of Las Vegas, followed by the second season premiere of Medium with newly crowned Emmy winner Patricia Arquette.

*CBS begins its two-hour comedy block with King of Queens, followed by new show How I met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and new comedy Out of Practice. The fourth season premiere of CSI: Miami closes the night for the eye network.

*Fox premieres critical favorite Arrested Development and new comedy Kitchen Confidential starting at 8 p.m. EDT.

*The WB kicks off the tenth season of its family hit 7th Heaven, followed by the premiere of new show Just Legal. NOTE: I incorrectly reported on Friday that this show would premiere October 3rd, followed by an encore on TNT. The show will premiere TONIGHT. The partnership with TNT is for the October 3rd episode. I deeply regret the error.

*UPN premieres returning shows One on One, All of Us, Girlfriends, and Half and Half.


QUICK CUTS

*
NBC dramas Crossing Jordan and Las Vegas are set for a another cross-over this season. Crossing Jordan's Woody (Jerry O'Connell) once again travels to Sin City to work on the case of a dead showgirl in Boston who has ties to the Montecito Casino. There, he'll work with Las Vegas' Sam (Vanessa Marcil) while Jordan (Jill Hennessy) stays in Boston to work with Las Vegas' Danny (Josh Duhamel) on the Boston angle. This is the second crossover for the two NBC shows. The latest one starts on Crossing Jordan on October 2nd, and finishes on Las Vegas the following night.

*CBS is basking in the glow of good ratings for its 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards telecast last night. The show saw a 35% jump in the ratings from last year's telecast. It was the most watched broadcast since 2002. For full information on the ratings for the telecast, visit The Futon Critic.

*And finally, it's TV on DVD Monday! The big news this week is that the first season of Desperate Housewives will be on shelves tomorrow. Also look for Battlestar Galactica (season 1) and The Pretender (season 2) to hit stores tomorrow. For the full list of releases, visit tvshowsondvd.com.

That's all for this extra long edition of Pass the Remote. Be sure to tune in tomorrow as I introduce a new feature on the blog. Plus more premieres and all the latest television news. Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts on last night's Emmy awards. Were you happy? Shocked? Mad? Let me know with a comment.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, TVFan. This is Disasterfreak, btw. I just keep changing my username around according to the mood. Thanks for the awesome Emmy coverage! I obviously didn't watch them, don't know if I would've had the time if I had remembered (which of course I didn't--I never remember anything). But thanks to you I feel all caught up. I don't get the Kristen Bell being robbed thing though--wth was that all about? Emmy Idol I can imagine... but... robbed? Please answer.

TVFan said...

The viewers voted on the best performance of the night for Emmy Idol, and Donald Trump and Megan Mullally won for their redition of Green Acres. I wanted Kristen Bell to win because she did a nice job and she was totally 80s. Since she didn't win, I was just saying that she "was robbed" because I thought she should have won. I hope that makes sense. :)

Anonymous said...

It does! Thanks. From time to time I have some, uhh, language issues. :P