Another Emmy ceremony came and passed last night, and the awards themselves were pretty boring.
Kyle Chandler of “Friday Night Lights” took Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama in a rather surprising fashion. Shame, because Hugh Laurie of “House” has been nominated in the category for the last five years and has yet to win. As “House” finds itself in the twilight of its run, one constant has kept the show afloat while the show’s quality has slowly dwindled, and that’s Laurie.
We’ve seen the season premiere of season eight of “House,” set to air Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. on Fox. Without giving away too much, the episode is a weak effort, but just like the last two subpar seasons, it’s Laurie yet again who carries what is otherwise a poorly-envisioned episode.
“Mad Men” won Best Drama — the only win out of their 19 nominations — its fourth-straight win in the category. While there’s no doubt “Mad Men” is one of the best programs cable has to offer, where’s the fun in that?
“Dexter,” my personal fave, has been nominated in the category for three straight years and hasn’t won, but in fairness, season five of “Dexter” was a bore. HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and “Game of Thrones” were critically lauded hits and “Friday Night Lights” is a mainstream success. It would have been nice to see a new face overtake “Mad Men,” but hey, it beats “Teen Mom” winning.
“Modern Family” got plenty of love, and rightfully so, winning Best Comedy for the second year in straight, with actors Ty Burell and Julie Bowen taking home prizes for supporting roles. With competition from NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” and “30 Rock,” the Emmys proved the networks have a lockdown on comedy, though the annual nomination for “Glee” in the category is always baffling.
The ceremony almost got a lift when it was reported that a joke from Alec Baldwin about the News Corporation phone hacking scandal was cut from the show’s opening skit. The Emmys were broadcast on Fox, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Why is Fox suddenly so skittish? We know about Fox News Channel’s political allegiance but their network has never really shown the same kind of bias. After all, we’re talking about the network that airs “Family Guy,” which has seemingly become creator Seth MacFarlane’s outlet for his liberal musings.
The show did have a couple of watchable moments. Host Jane Lynch (“Glee”) was a success, Charlie Sheen apologized to his former “Two and a Half Men” coworkers for his ramblings, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon “wrestled,” and a plethora of non-“Office” actors filmed a sketch on the set of NBC’s hit comedy.
Still, like almost every Oscars ceremony, nothing about the 2011 Emmys was particularly worthwhile.
