Midnight Movie House

My Take On The Emmy's

Oh my god, I LOVED the opening, especially the Dateline: To Catch A Predator bit. I was crying laughing.

Mariska Hargitay. My god, if having a—what was it? 25-pound baby—makes you look that good, I might have to reconsider my no-way-in-hell stance towards having kids. LOL.

Ellen Pompeo is wearing my favorite dress of the night. Wow is that thing gorgeous!

The threat of “Bob Newhart dies!” if the show runs over 3 hours was hysterical.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Blythe Danner????!!!!! Nothing against her, but "The Nazi" was robbed! ROBBED! For those who aren’t regular viewers, I’m referring to Chandra Wilson's character on Grey's Anatomy. She is simply brilliant and makes tuning into that show fun. I could have lived with this if she had lost to the equally great Sandra Oh, but this was just wrong. Let’s hope she gets the recognition she deserves next year.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven! Okay, that slightly makes up for the robbery of Chandra two seconds ago. Piven is great, no matter what he does. The right person definitely won this category.

President Palmer and Will Graham from Manhunter—that’s right, Manhunter. (Screw Red Dragon, Brian Cox will always be the REAL Dr. Hannibal Lecter)—presenting together. Go guys go! Kelly Macdonald wins. What? No, Frau Blücher? *insert sound of horses neighing*

Commercial for The Guardian. For the love of god, Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher starring—and, I use that term loosely—in a movie together? I have a feeling I’ll be *prepare for a Patrick Dempsey worthy excuse here—bonus points for those who know the movie it’s from* "washing my hair . . . out of the country."

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES: The Daily Show! Yeah! The only other acceptable win would have been the brilliant Bill O'Reilly spoof, The Colbert Report.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES: Alright, Frau Blücher did win. *Again, insert sound of horses neighing* On the other hand, Laurie Metcalf was robbed. She was great in her episode of Monk.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES: Gregory Thomas Garcia for My Name Is Earl. I don’t watch this show but I think it’s incredibly cool to see this particular win because it was for the writing of the pilot episode. The show is only on the air and nominated for numerous awards today because of the pilot episode winning over enough people to keep the future episodes coming. That alone, warrants the writers an award so seeing Garcia win an Emmy, on top of that, is well deserved. Aside from that, his speech was so damn hysterical we would have been ripped off if he hadn’t won.

Dick Clark Tribute. His words were enough, especially in light of the bravery needed to make an appearance in his current condition. They should have cut from him to a commercial. I personally felt that the Barry Manilow appearance was just unnecessary and detracted from the whole thing.

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN A VARIETY OR MUSIC PROGRAM: What kind of sick world do we live in when Barry Manilow beats out Stephen Colbert??? For that matter, Letterman??? No, no, no. This is all wrong.

Love the newest addition to the Emmy accounting team. It’s just a shame that Kareem Abdul Jabar didn’t recite any lines from Airplane!.

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Kyle Chandler should have won this. His appearance on just two episodes of Grey's Anatomy was enough to cause you see to a future storyline with Ellen Pompeo's. You saw him as that, a potentially great romantic storyline, and not just as the-bomb-guy-who-you-kinda-remembered-from-the-episode-where-everyone-almost-blew-up. That’s an accomplishment and it deserved more recognition. With that said, though, WHERE THE HELL WAS THE NOMINATION FOR JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN?!?!?!?!?!?! His appearance, and eventual death, on Grey's Anatomy had more than just Izzie shedding tears. Anyone who watched fell in love with JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN and wanted to see him become a regular. The proof in that lies in Shonda Rhimes own comments about how they hated to kill him off because of how much they all came to like him even though he was hired as a character who would eventually be killed off. Fortunately, for JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN fans, his storyline has won him another TV show and you can always hope for Sam and Dean's dad to keep showing up on Supernatural (another great new show) as their dad is played by none other than Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Robert Carlyle is my choice as I’ve not seen any of these miniseries. This would be because I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since seeing his striptease-until-burning-himself-due-to-trying-to-remove-a-tshirt-while-smoking-a-lit-cigarette performance in The Full Monty.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY, COMEDY OR MUSIC PROGRAM: The Daily Show writers. Well, well deserved. No matter what political party they are ripping apart, they never cease to make you laugh. Also, I loved that Jon Stewart gave the shout out to The Colbert Report. You knew he would be supportive of something that spawned from a joke commercial bit on his own show, but it was nice to see him make the extra acknowledgement of this.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES: Yes! Yes! Yes! Tony Shalhoub for Monk! Touch all the heat lamps and use all the wipes you want, Monk! You deserve it! Oh, and congrats to USA for seeing what the network couldn’t and picking up the show after ABC decided not to run it. You have my gratitude every Friday night at 8pm.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829537/
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert presenting reality competition . . . one word: brilliant. Oh, and funny as hell. I find myself sitting here thinking that Stephen Colbert has Bill O'Reilly channeled to a tee and then I hear “I lost to Barry Manilow!” I’m crying laughing again.

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION: The Amazing Race. Yes! I low that show and have watched it from day one. Phil Keoghan is the man! This is the one reality show I’d kill to do. Of course, I’d probably get myself killed doing it, but I’d see some incredible stuff first. It’d be worth it. LOL. Also, I have to admit that I’m a late-comer to Project Runway. Those who know me know that I loathe shopping and could care less about designer labels so the idea of this show didn’t exactly have me running for the tivo when I first heard about it. With that said, I’m happy to say that my initial opinions were wrong. I’ve since caught up on the seasons (thanks to Bravo marathons) and I’m right there waiting for each episode this season. It’s really interesting to see the creative process with the challenges these people get assigned each week and it’s even more fascinating to see the participants defend some of the truly horrifying creations they’ve come up with. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder sometimes. That’s right, you heard me, Vincent. ;)

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES: Mariska Hargitay, it is about damn time! This was such a tough call. Frances Conroy deserves it solely on the episode of Six Feet Under that showed her dealing with the death of her son, Peter Krause, and Kyra Sedgwick is always wonderful in The Closer. However, Mariska has been overlooked for way too long and it’s about time we got to see her get the recognition she deserves.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: Kiefer Sutherland for 24! Go Kiefer Sutherland. I have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed by this one, but it was another tough call. Christopher Meloni, like Mariska, has been overlooked for way too long. It would have been nice to see him win. In addition, I’ve been a Denis Leary fan for a long time. Long before the show he was nominated for and it would be nice to see him win for a show that has such a personal meaning to him. For those who are not aware of what I am talking about, I’d like to invite you to visit his charity: The Leary Firefighters Foundation. Ultimately, though, my heart was going for Peter Krause. While I think that Michael C. Hall should have been nominated versus Peter Krause, I wanted to see Krause win for all the years he did Six Feet Under. I say that I wanted to see Michael C. Hall nominated instead because his work this season, particularly in the episode where he dealt with Nate's death, was nothing short of amazing. Unfortunately, this also meant Peter Krause had less to do at the end of the season, but it still would have been great to see him win for all the years he made us love--and sometimes hate--Nathan Fisher.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES: 24. I agree. The show makes you tense, especially as each hour ends. Can you remember the last time you watched something that had you consistently on the edge of your seat and got you so involved that your own heart began to race when you thought about the situations the characters found themselves in? I’ve been a regular watcher of this show since it first aired. I’m glad to see it finally getting this recognition.

Now, I'd like to add in my own write-in award:
ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING EPISODES OF TV EVER AND WHAT THE HELL WERE EMMY VOTERS THINKING FOR OVERLOOKING THIS: The episode of Six Feet Under entitled "Static." This is the episode I keep referring to that shows everyone dealing with Peter Krause death. Those who know me know that I do NOT cry when watching things. I had been able to say that for 34 straight years and then this episode of television came along. I think I may have been about 5 minutes into it when I felt a tear. I was a regular waterworks explosion for the entire rest of the episode. I can't remember the last time I saw something so moving and so well acted by every single individual involved. If it were up to me everyone who had anything to do with it would be walking away with an Emmy and, I mean, everyone. Producers, writers . . . hell, people who walked by the craft services table would be given Emmy's, it was that incredible. With that said, I have to say that I really, really miss this show. I hadn't realized just how much until I saw Frances Conroy and Peter Krause tonight. It's rare when something that good comes along and I thank HBO for bringing it to us all the years it did.

I Love . . .

. . . it when the announcers don't have a clue what they're talking about. I have E's coverage of the Emmy's on and despite the fact that we're only 8 minutes into said coverage they're already messing up. In one of those lovely staged "conversations" Guiliana DePandi asks Kristen Veitch about the new voting process for this year's Emmy's. Kristen attempts to give us the lowdown and mentions people and shows that were shut out. Among them, Lost (and, believe me, I've not forgotten the fact that my future husband, Mr. Josh Holloway, was overlooked this way *wink*) . . . and Mariska Hargitay. Kristen, honey, check your ballot. Mariska is up for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Where are the Teleprompters for these people when you need them?

Horses, horses, horses!

So, I just got back from helping my best friend in the world haul 3 horses. Below I've included a picture of my friend (and one of the aforementioned horses) in full show costume.

If you’re in Illinois this weekend, I highly encourage you to visit them both at the Northern Illinois Horse Fest. Now, I will return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Oh, and keep an eye out for my thoughts on the Emmy's tomorrow night!

CONTINUITY, CONTINUITY, CONTINUITY!

So, I’m watching the new USA show, Psych, tonight when I notice something that leads me to feel the need to post. First of all, though, I have to say that the scene with Shawn driving while listening to “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! was priceless! Now, with that said, I have to comment on . . .

CONTINUITY, people!

The scene with Juliet and Lassiter leaving the post office box place needed editors who paid a little closer attention. One shot shows Juliet with two wisps of her hair in her face. Cut to Lassiter, and then cut back to Juliet – two wisps of hair NOT in her face. Cut to Lassiter, and then cut back to Juliet – two wisps of her suddenly, magically back in her face. And, back and forth with the appearing/disappearing wisps of hair. You get the idea. I totally understand how this happens. When you’re editing you’re worrying about the sound levels matching, you cutting different takes together, you’re worrying about all sorts of other details, but when you’re putting a major television show out this sort of stuff should be noticed. It’s just distracting to the viewer (at least, it was to me). Anyway, with that said. Good episode. They handled disassociate identity disorder correctly (most shows bungle it and have the main “host” personality aware of the others which is never the case in someone who actually has the disease), the mystery was a good one, and Gus texting Shawn as a way of continuing his silent treatment towards him was very amusing. Also, I have to give the best line of the night to Gus with his “Enjoy your hepatitis” comment.

With that said, I also have to note something I observed during the repeated commercials for Sunday’s episode of The Dead Zone. People, that’s not a psychopath . . . it’s Uncle Fester. ;)

Oh, and a heads up to all the Trekkers who might be reading this. George Takei is on next week’s episode. Beam yourself up for it! (And, yes, I realize that ending was corny as hell). ;)~