The Host
I was initially skeptical about Jimmy Fallon as host, although I'm a fan of Late Night, but I think that was due more to my allegiance to NPH (I'll say it again, NPH should host every awards show). Fallon was able to win me over right at the start with his Bruce Springsteen/Glee inspired intro. It was fun, upbeat, tounge-in-cheek, and it all worked. Shock of the Night: Community's Joel McHale singing and dancing with the Glee kids.
Fallon continued to show his comedy/music chops with his musical tributes to 24 (as Elton John), Law & Order (as a member of Boyz II Men), & LOST (as Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day). The bit was funny, especially when you think that he channeled a 90's R&B group to honor the older-skewing L&O.
Not everything that Fallon did worked. His non-stop minstrel act in between presenters got old really fast, especially when he incorporated members of the audience (Kim Kardashian should be seen and not heard, and not even really seen for that matter). Also, the Tweet Intros was an idea that quickly crashed and burned. I know Jimmy appeals to Gen-Xers and Millennials, but there are limits.
Overall, Jimmy did a pretty good job, but he's no NPH. I'll just leave it at that.
The Winners and Losers
The best part of the night was the coronation of new blood, and I hope it is a trend that is not going to end any time soon. Of course, Outstanding Comedy went to one of the two newbies on the block: Modern Family. I was preparing myself for a MF win, and even went as far to say I'd be happy if the ABC comedy did take home Emmy; my tune changed once they actually won. I know Glee was uneven towards the end, and Modern Family was still a great show, but I consistently laugh more while watching the former than the latter. I hope Season 2 of Glee is tighter, and it's able to take home the hardware next year.
In another Modern Family vs. Glee Throwdown, Eric Stonestreet was able to avoid the MF three-way split to take home Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy. Again, I wasn't surprised that one of the Family trio won the statue, but I was really hoping that Chris Colfer shocked the world with a win for Glee. I don't begrudge Stonestreet and his win, Cameron was one of the consistent bright spots of the freshman season, and he deserved it.
The second biggest shock of the night was Jim Parsons winning for The Big Bang Theory. While the third season of Big Bang was not as good as 1 & 2, Parsons continued to be the best part of the show (although they are getting close to Flanderizing the character and using him too much). I'm glad Parsons was able to get the win relatively early in the show's run before the schtick gets old, and he also dethroned King Baldwin along the way.
Why So Serious?
While watching the awards show, it became very clear that I don't watch any TV dramas (at least not any that are apparently "good") because I did not have any horses in any of the Drama races. Well, I am a big fan of Friday Night Lights, but we all knew Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton didn't have a chance, and their noms were wins unto themselves.
The funny thing was the Drama categories was the least dramatic when it came to wins and losses. Mad Men won again. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) won again. I guess the wins for Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) were all surprises, but I don't watch any of those shows so I cannot comment. Apparently, Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) losing Outstanding Lead Actress was a shocker, but that show's not cup of tea, so I wasn't heart-broken.
The Drama awards didn't sway me to start watching any of these shows, and while I've been meaning to catch up on Mad Men, Dexter, and Breaking Bad, I'm not going to go out of my way to do so. I'm perfectly happy watching my musical dramedy, spy shows, family sit-coms, UST filled crime procedurals, and throwing in a little sci-fi/fantasy from time to time. I don't really need gritty, serious shows to bring me down.
Other Odds and Ends
- I'm so sick of Betty White, and to be honest I'm less likely to watch the season premiere of Community now that they've jumped on the band wagon.
- Speaking of Community, the forced car commercial ads were uncalled for and a little desperate. I like the show, but some of their tactics to grow their name are bush league at best.
- Modern Family's sketch about how to improve the show was pretty great (Ty Burrell/Phil still wearing the 3-D glasses was priceless), and incorporating George Clooney was predictable but still funny. I could've done with out Stewie though.
- Great banter between Fallon and NPH. I should start a campaign to have NPH replace Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show once he's done with it, and they can continue to good will started between Fallon and Ferguson.
- I miss Conan.
- Why did they waste so much time on the TV Movie/Mini-Series categories? It felt like the awards with the least amount of prestige took up the majority of the time. Some have predicted it was because of Hollywood A-listers were involved, but that's a bad excuse in my opinion.
- Back to Un-Reality: One of the benefits of having the awards broken into genre segments means I know when the Reality awards are going to be on, and when to change the channel.
The 2010 Emmys were good but not great, and it had its fair share of highlights and low points. In the end, it was an entertaining way to kill a few hours and it hopefully ushered in a new wave of good television.
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