Five Things About the Emmycast That Were Actually Pretty Good

Much ink has been spilled, and rightfully so, about how wretched last night’s Emmy Awards telecast was. No doubt more will be said tomorrow night when Frankie and I get our chance to sound off on TV CONFIDENTIAL. But before we do, I actually found five things about last night’s show that I can honestly say I liked. Granted, most of these moments were ad-libbed… but maybe that’s the point.

5. Zeljko Ivanek winning Best Supporting Actor for Damages. I love Damages, so I thought this was well deserved–but I did not see this coming. I figured either Ted Danson (Damages) or Michael Emerson (Lost) and would have been happy either way (well, maybe less so with Danson). Nice to see the Academy is still capable of thinking outside the box.

4. Steve Martin’s tribute to Tommy Smothers. Funny, witty, droll and wry, as only Martin can be.

3. Jon Stewart’s save at the end of the Laugh-In tribute.  His remarks not only struck me as genuine, but restored some dignity to a talented cast of pioneers (Jo-Ann Worley, Ruth Buzzi, Gary Owens) after a bit that badly went flat.

2. (tie) The off-the-cuff remarks by Jeremy Piven (”What if I just kept talking for 12 minutes? That was the opening”) and Don Rickles (”Let’s read these funny lines they wrote for us”). Also glad that Rickles won an Emmy for his terrific HBO documentary special, Don Rickles: M. Warmth.

1. Ricky Gervais’ Dos and Don’ts on Acceptance Speeches (and props to Steve Carell for playing along).

Ed Robertson
Freelance Entertainment Journalist
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Tags: 2008 emmy telecast, 2008 television season, daily show, damages, Don Rickles, entourage, gary owens, hbo, jeremy piven, jon stewart, laugh-in, michael emerson, ricky gervais, rowan & martin's laugh-in, ruth buzzi, smothers brothers, steve carell, steve martin, ted danson, Television, television academy, Television Academy Hall of Fame, the office, tom smothhers, zeljko ivanek