The Triple Zzzzz's - Morning-After Review

What in the name of Bad TV happened last night at The Emmy Awards? Did I/we witness The Worst Award Show Broadcast Ever? AND, why did I feel as if I'd walked into a gaudy, cheesy Gay Bar from the late 80's? The Set Designer must have spent too much time at all of the Most Awful Colorfully Offensive Gay Bars in the world for inspiration. Were the producers thinking something akin to: Hey, the Host Is Gay, after all. Let's make him feel comfortable.

I think it's great that Neil Patrick Harris is Openly Gay and that he is okay with the whole thing, as are his viewers and colleagues. But WTF were all of those Almost Constant Innuendos and Direct Flirty Actions & Words with NPH and the male dancer(s) about? Did we need to be reminded every five minutes that Neil Is Gay and that It's Okay To Be Gay, so look here – and here – see, we in TV are Really Cool About The Gay Thing.  In fact, watch this Epic Moment! Let's have Jane Lynch and Neil make it clear they wouldn't enjoy kissing the other! Wow! How radical is that?

With the exception of Edie Falco's tribute to James Gandolfini, everyone else's "tributes" were self-consciously written and looked stilted, insincere, rushed, forced. Watching talented actors stiffly stand next to a Tall Faux Tower filled with a screen showing the face of a deceased actor with nary a clip to be seen of the Tributed Dead Celebrity to add to The Words-Words-Words-Only script, was one of the most absurd aspects to the evening. We want to SEE their work and their iconic moments. TV is a Visual Medium, right? Words are just half of the equation. It is not The Writer's Guild Awards!

The 65th (and don't you forget it cuz' the writer's certainly didn't) Annual Emmy Awards' Production Budget must have been slashed in half so that the money would be used to produce insipid and utterly out-of-context pre-recorded segments focusing on Neil Patrick Harris.

Rather than watching a program devoted to Excellence In Television, we were given Mind -Numbingly Boring Music Numbers, intrusive produced segments, and very little space actually given to those who the event was to have honored. For much of the Ambien-Fueled Festivities it seemed as if we were watching a tribute to NPH – yes, "NPH" – that's how we're to refer to him now that The Emmy's have shoved the Host in our faces instead of quality time allowed for those who weren't already on stage for most of the evening.

Beyond the Over Focus on the host, etc., the uneven, Demographic-Pandering to a younger audience element removed any sense of true TV history or perspective concerning the many changes in Entertainment Content that have occurred over the 65 years The Telly Has Ruled Our Cultural Universe.

I tuned-out from time-to-time, finding the Local News far more educational and entertaining. But, on a fairly positive note, I now have an understanding of why Kerry Washington has been so PR'd as The Next Coming over the past year: she is a Natural to be cast as Michelle Obama in any future TV or film revolving around The First Lady and her husband. She has A Solid Presence.

And with that, I'll set aside the Fluffy Focus and will see you on the Other Side Of Topics next time.

Have great Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Middle-of-the-night/Dawn!

Image via: http://www.lennierosswrites.com