There are several things that I can tell you about any given awards season: The shows and films I like probably will be snubbed. The awards telecast will have a number of sucker punches coming from my left. And the best part will be watching the red carpet and seeing who is wearing what.
That was pretty much the case with last night’s 2012 Emmy Awards. I went 5-for-26 in my Emmy predictions, which sounds bad – but considering I started 0-for-11, I consider it to be OK. I heated up over the second half, much as Rickie Weeks did this year for the Brewers.
I have to admit host Jimmy Kimmel did acknowledge what we all know is true in his opening monologue. There aren’t a lot of Republicans in Hollywood. Just how much of the applause for his gag on the subject was celebrating the lopsidedness, and how much was from actual Republicans, I am not sure. But you can bet folks will probably say it was the former as opposed to the latter.
Last night’s show proved to be a case of, “here’s another statue for your mantle.”
“Modern Family” hauled in a lot more Emmys, including honors for Best Comedy, Best Supporting Actress (Julie Bowen) and Best Supporting Actor (Eric Stonestreet). We even got to see a cool skit featuring the cast in which co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson goes ape when the actress who plays young Lily is eating what is obviously a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. The fact she ends up “replaced” by Ken Jeong is simply hilarious – and in this case, probably is an admission against interest of Hollywood’s intolerance by what is arguably television’s biggest sitcom at the present.
Awareness of perceived intolerance aside, Hollywood really went out to stick the finger in the eye of Republican audience members. Not only did “Game Change,” the hatchet piece on Sarah Palin’s rise to the GOP ticket, wind up with four Emmys (including Julianne Moore’s win – followed by her spiking the football and giving an “in your face” to Gov. Palin), but comedian Louis C.K., who was booted from hosting the Radio and TV Congressional Correspondent’s Dinner after vile tweets about Palin came to light, won Emmys for writing in a comedy series and outstanding writing in a variety special.
Guess civility isn’t a two-way street in Tinseltown.
Even though I battled under .200 in predicting who would win the Emmys, I still found this awards show to be predictable, if only because the highlight was watching the red carpet. The jokes were the expected sucker-punches from the left. Most of the series I enjoy (“NCIS,” “Blue Bloods,” “CSI: NY” and “CSI”), got overlooked – even though they tend to get more audience than the cable shows that dominate the nominations.
In other words, it was just what I thought it would be. I expect the same will be the case for the Oscars, Golden Globes, the SAGs, and whatever else emerges from Tinseltown’s awards season.