Emmy's Mixed Bag: Overrated Reality, Fey Love, and Rickles' Retort
by Vera H-C ChanSep 22, 2008
Emmy has not aged well.
Actually, let's take that back. For a lady who celebrated the big 6-0 on Sunday night, the winged statuette still shone with luster. But the people who threw her the party—for shame. Hollywood Reporter wrapped up the sour and dour critical reaction, and Fresno Bee observed that circus elephants fed on a month-long diet of "rancid chili and rotten boiled eggs ... could not create a bigger stinker."
What elephants deserved to get involved in the fiasco, who knows, but interest for "emmy" keyword searches slacked off 18% compared to last year. Maybe Sally Field should've been made the host to stir things up again.
Could any redemption be found? The comedy "30 Rock" not only got a slew of awards for best show and best actors, but also earned Tina Fey the most Web love out of all the nominees. She even bested hostess Heidi Klum—and Fey didn't need Tom Bergeron and William Shatner to tear her gown off to do so. Meanwhile, castmate Jane Krakowski didn't get a nomination, but her red carpet look of a loaner diamond waterfall earrings and black gown helped boost her online lookups nearly 2,000%.
Among the winners, Jeremy Piven boasted the fastest rising search bump (+780%), more from delivering a biting critique on the ceremony than scoring his third best supporting actor nod ... that and maybe kissing the pregnant bump of presenter Amy Poehler.
Mary Tyler Moore (reuniting with former crewmate Betty White) presented the best comedy award and received her due online respect (+1,132%) as a TV icon. Other salutes went to Steve Martin (+255%), Lily Tomlin (+70%), and the Smothers Brothers (+infinity).
The true buzz of the night though went to ... well, okay, it went to Fey and Klum, but following them was comedian Don Rickles. His appearance garnered look-ups for his bio, age (81), and his Emmy award-winning doc "Don Rickles Project." He also provided the cathartic laughter of the broadcast when presenter Kathy Griffin reminded him about the teleprompter after the octogenarian dared to go off script. Rickles replied dryly, "Oh, because it's a hot show. Let's read these funny lines they wrote for us."
Note to Emmy: Bring back the true funnymen and leave reality behind.