Emmy Awards 2021: Great Choices, High Energy, Bad Bits, Odd Oversights

Frankly I was pleased across the board with the winners Only those who don39t pay very much attention to television would argue against multiple wins for Apple39s Ted Lasso Netflix39s The Crown and The Queen39s Gambit HBO39s Mare of Easttown and HBO Max39s Hacks each of them a sublime effort in every way Yes I would have liked to see Billy Porter take home a second Emmy for his blistering portrayal of bombastic ballroom emcee Pray Tell in FX39s Poseamp160But really given the sheer amount of terrific programming these days more than any one individual could be expected to watch in a lifetime that old saying about the nomination being the award has never been more accurateWhen the show started I was concerned about the category for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie How to choose between Kate Winslet Easttown Anna TaylorJoy Gambit or Michaela Coel I May Destroy You Unless there was a threeway tie two of these amazing performers would be left in the shadows But all three got a turn on stage Winslet as the winner for lead actress TaylorJoy with the cast and producers of Gambit and Coel for writing What a rushAnother rush Watching Julianne Nicholson and Evan Peters take home supporting awards for Easttown Neither was favored to win both certainly deserved toThe opportunities to watch Jean Smart pictured at top accept an Emmy for her starring role in Hacks after a remarkable recent run that has also included Legion Watchmen and Mare of Easttown and Debbie Allen receive the prestigious Governor39s Award made the entire event worthwhile Their speeches were classy complete and very moving Young Hollywood should study them And how great was it to see the cast of Schitt39s Creek take the stage together which brought back memories of when they all won Emmys at last year39s lackluster virtual event along with the stark realization that twelve entire months have passed since then and the pandemic is still with us and is getting ever more dire in much of the countryWhich brings me to my legit gripes because again I am not going to complain about any of the winners since they were all marvelous First nobody in the Emmy tent with a cover over it that presenter Seth Rogen rightly objected to at the top of the show was wearing a mask I39m sure they were all tested and scrubbed and sanitized for public consumption but still amp8230 the optics The messaging The danger Haven39t we learned to play safe at least for the time being The Emmy celebration could have been a threeplushour primetime showcase for designer mask wear with said face coverings removed only at the mic when presenting or receiving awardsI guess I shouldn39t single out the Emmys in this regard because masks have been few and far between at other awards shows since the pandemic began but I39m oldfashioned enough to think that movie television music and sports stars are truly influential and as Spiderman39s late Uncle Ben and before him Voltaire once said quotWith great power comes great responsibilityquotMy major complaint though may be relatively minor by comparison but within the context of the event itself it is difficult to defend I39m talking about the In Memoriam segment which always brings criticisms about oversights This year39s primary complaints concern the exclusions of Tanya Roberts That 3970s Show Charlie39s Angels Emmy winner Michael Constantine Room 222 and Michael Nader Dynasty39s Dex Dexter among othersI would classify those as typical of the Emmys39 annual basic goofs But there were other missed opportunities that might have resonated with home viewers and inperson attendees alike The failures to focus for a moment or two on the dearly departed Ed Asner and Cloris LeachmanWhen it comes to Emmy Awards for performing Leachman remains the mosthonored actress in the history of the medium having received eight Primetime Emmys and one Daytime Emmy not to mention her Academy Award for The Last Picture Show Asner remains the mosthonored actor with a total of seven amp8230 and he is the only actor ever to win multiple Emmys for playing the same role on a comedy series and in a dramatic series Lou Grant the drama was a spinoff from The Mary Tyler Moore Show the comedySurely those historic distinctions warranted a clip or two rather than quick flashes of still images Watching Lou Grant tell Mary Richards quotI hate spunkquot would have been another highlight of the night Lord knows it is infinitely funnier than anything in the soggy scripted comedy bits that were interspersed throughout the Emmy telecast and managed to undermine the excitement the nominees and presenters had mustered in between them The show may have looked more like a lowbudget award program than a major Hollywood celebration but the attendees really did keep it fast and freshSpeaking of The Mary Tyler Moore Show Sunday night marked the 51st anniversary of its September 20 1970 premiere on CBS Which makes the failure of the Emmys which were telecast on CBS to give Asner and Leachman special moments in the memorial segment which also included their TMTMS costar Gavin MacLeod even more dispiritingClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Emmy Awards 2021: Great Choices, High Energy, Bad Bits, Odd Oversights

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Ed Martin

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Emmy Awards 2021: Great Choices, High Energy, Bad Bits, Odd Oversights

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