Emmy Live Blog 2012: Golden, Winged, Deadly
Sunday, September 23, 2012 at 10:28PM 
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6:25 I thought about calling this Emmy Live Blog: Now With Less Pneumonia! (I think I'm on the mend) or Pneumatic Emmy Live Blog! but they both sound too contagious.
6:30 I love the Emmy statue but I don't think any golden statues should have deadly points. There's already enough drama without weaponizing the things.
6: 32 "It involves sex, sharp objects"... actual quote from Lena Dunham just as I was typing that thing about Emmy Statues. I'm not making this up.
6:39 Charlize "J'Adore Dior" commercial. I secretly wish she would introduce all her red carpets outfits that way. A golden aggressive strut to each camera with a breathy whisper ... "Gucci".... "Dior Haute Couture" ... "Valentino"
6:42 Max Greenfield's date would like everyone to know SHE'S WITH MAX GREENFIELD. Clingy!
I want an Emmys night full of redheads! @_juliannemoore and Christina Hendricks #FTW
-awesome TFE reader @Luiserghio
YES. Ginger looks good holding gold. Speaking of...
The stars of the new "Nashville" Connie Britton & Hayden Panetierre
I watched the pilot of "Nashville" (Not Related to the Altman Classic!) and I dunno. MORE EMMY TALK...
It's one of those shows that was trying to do a lot in one "Introducing...!" episode. But Connie Britton was great (duh*) and Hayden was actually unterrible as a deliciously narcissistic auto-tuned über bitch.
*this is like saying Nathaniel loves Actresses. It goes without saying.
7:00 Tina Fey is talking about the end of 30 Rock. Only 13 more episodes. *crying*
7:01 Guiliana tells Emily VanCamp that "you are kind of an 'it' girl". Oh Guiliana... there is no such thing as "kind of" when it comes to "It". You either are or you aren't.
7:05 January Jones and Elisabeth Moss have switched hair colors. Nothing in the world makes sense right now.
7:07 Sofia Vergara is the new Charo (sans catchphrase unfortunately). Shameless!
Julianne Hough gets 3 minutes. Julianna Margulies gets 30 sec. At this rate, Julianne Moore will be lucky to get 3 seconds air time. #Emmys "
-awesome TFE reader sortathatboy
7:23 That's so true about arrivals. They arrive in order of fame which just goes to show you that the big stars don't really like working the carpet that much. Show up late. Be done quick.
7:27 This shot of Christina Hendricks laughing is brought to you by my fear that she'll lose again so we will drink up all her happiness right now.
7:28 It's going to be so weird to see Claire Danes with boobs. Just a few months from now!
7:33 Nobody can make "I'm really excited about it" sound more like "I'm not excited at all" than Zooey Deschanel.
7:39 Julianne Moore is in YELLOW. FYI.
Gaze away. She's used to it.
THE SHOW
8:08 I should probably start a new post but I'm too weak. cough cough. I never know how to live blog opening monologues because they're so rapid fire. Or montages for that matter. If you type you miss everything. Supporting Actor Comedy Series goes to... Eric Stonestreet in Modern Family.
8:13 Off to the side of stage there seems to be a miniature red carpet where the winners have to go through the flashbulb gauntlet again. It's right on the stage -- like a magazine sidebar, made flesh and blood!. The Emmy Statue next to it appears to be the same color as Julianne's dress. It's a sign!
8:19 In case you're wondering I don't recommend attempting this from home. With pneumonia.
9:20 Best Writing Comedy Series goes to... Louie "Pregnant" Episode. Oh god, I forgot to include him in our awesome ginger poll up top. His show is brilliant. Watch it.
8:23 I would just like everyone to know that E! said repeatedly during arrivals that Kat Dennings is not wearing hardly any makeup! She's so amazing. If that's their idea of "hardly wearing any makeup" what on earth would qualify as wearing a lot of it?
8:26 Best Supporting Actress Comedy Series goes to...Julie Bowen in Modern Family. This is a sign of a night of repeats which is why I can never remember the Emmys the next day. All the years bleed together.
8:33 Best Direction of a Comedy Series goes to... Steve Levitan Modern Family "Baby on Board"
I wouldn't be standing here without my faith in me."
Good line but ohmygod it's so boring that this show wins everything. Parks and Rec, Louie, Nurse Jackie, 30 Rock, etcetera. So much good comedy on TV. Wait why did Modern Family just get their own skit reel? Is that part of the winner's gift bag?
8:38 Best Actor in a Comedy Series goes to... Jon Cryer for Two and Half Men again. "I didn't actually win this. This did not just happen". If only, Jon, if only.
I'm trying to think of the Oscar equivalent of this win. Anyone?
Some suggestions from followers on Twitter (they keep coming in): The Zeéeee in Cold Mountain, She Who Must Not Be Named, Crash (lol!), Sally Field, Shakespeare in Love, Roberto Benigni, Cuba Gooding Jr, they keep coming in. I don't agree with all these but I love thinking about them in this context. For the record I prefer Shakespeare in Love to Saving Private Ryan. Shut it, I do!
8:45 Best Actress in a Comedy Series goes to... Julia Louis Dreyfuss in Veep. She really is excellent on that show but I was so pulling for Amy Poehler. Beautiful acceptance speech and HILARIOUS bookend with Amy Poehler jokes. Amy Poehler is the Greatest Loser of all time. If that little bit doesn't win her the prize next year.
8:52 Best Reality Competition Series... The Amazing Race again. The TV Academy could save *so* much money by filming the ceremony once every 3 years. Replay it each year with "added" footage.
It takes them so long to get out of ruts!
8:59 Best Reality Show Host - the guy from Dancing With the Stars. Seth MacFarlane has kind of a sexy voice. I was napping when he started talking. (Pneumonia + The Amazing Race = better than ambien). This is how I know.
9:02 Those Once Upon a Time clips were meant for the "Unintentional Comedy" montage later in the show. Oops, wrong clipreel.
9:06 Best Supporting Actor - Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad. Isn't he really a leading actor? I mean I've only seen a few episodes but it's pretty much a show about two guys and their fucked up relationship.
9:15 Best Writing in a Drama - Homeland "Pilot". Sorry Mad Men.
9:20 Best Supporting Actress in a Drama - Maggie Smith in "Downton Abbey". My god. Injustice! Maggie is hilarious but what does Christina Hendricks have to do to win an Emmy already? Criminal. For four years now I've just MARVELLED at what she can do even from the background of a scene, let alone when they give her delicious episode-center stuff like "The Other Woman".
9:24 Best Direction in a Drama Tim Van Patten for Boardwalk Empire. No show has bored me as much from afar*
9:26 Oh this is not in good taste. Making fun of the awards tradition In Memoriam with Jimmy Kimmel, the host, being memorialized.
9:27 Best Actor in a Drama Series - Damian Lewis for Homeland. Best Actress in a Drama Series - Claire Danes for Homeland. It's a matching set! Really terrific show but this means that Mad Men goes home completely empty-handed. bummer.
Claire Danes says "Mandy Patinkin - holla!" in her acceptance speech and though it's the only time I'll ever hear that sentence... seconded, Claire, seconded.
It's worth noting that Kathy Bates' Harry's Law clip was her saying "THIS IS WRONG THIS IS WRONG. WE HAVE TO FIX THIS" [twilight zone music] She's talking about the Emmys themselves. So meta! This awards show has turned on itself.
9:41 Oooh the "Year in Variety" started with Madonna at the Superbowl. My queen.
9:55 Sorry, I've totally lost interest. The guy directing the Emmys won an Emmy for directing the Tony's earlier this year. Such much back-patting and nobody even knows whose hands and whose backs they are! It's like that orgy sequence from Top Secret (1985).
9:56 Best Variety Series Goes to Daily Show. Again.
9:58 Oh the movie categories. Why did they save these for last? Shouldn't they have saved Drama for last?
10:07 Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries -- Jessica Lange for American Horror Story.I'm starting to admire the creativity Hollywood shucksters employ to come up with new ways to perform Category Fraud each year. They're REALLY good at justifying doing whatever the hell they wanna do!
10:08 How are they going to pull off that In Memoriam section after already making a gross joke about it? Uncool.
10:14 Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries - Tom Berenger for Hatfield & McCoys. Is this Berenger's first award? Somewhere Anne Rice is smiling.
10:17 Ron Howard talking about playing Opie leading in to In Memoriam. Sadness.
10:26 Writing in a Miniseries or Movie - Danny Strong for Game Change. OMG. One of the Supervillians from Buffy. He's too short for the mic' awwwww.
10:30 Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie - JULIANNE FUCKING MOORE for GAME CHANGE. It's about time. Get it girl. You never win anything and you deserve it all.
This is so validating because Sarah Palin gave me a big thumbs down."
Yes. They are NOT attempting to play God off the stage. They are NOT. Ugh, I hate the Emmys.
10:41 Kevin Costner adds an Emmy to his shelf (which already has Oscar and Globe) for Hatfield & McCoys. More Game Change wins too. I lost track of everything after Julianne.
I died.
10:48 Julianne Moore announces Best Drama Series Goes to... Homeland.
10:56 Final award of this very dull Mad Men free evening (sniffle) Best Comedy Series goes to... Modern Family.
GOOD NIGHT. I leave you with this tweet via God herself from her limo with hubby Bart Freundlich.
It was worth the trip!
Christina Hendricks, Connie Britton, Emmy, Julianne Moore, Live Blog
Reader Comments (77)
Thanks for the live blog! Hope you feel better soon.
And the award for biggest shut out in Emmy history goes to Mad Men! 0-17!
Nat. I think she deserved it,too
But then I do not think mimicry is a horrible form of acting and you have constantly knocked Streep lately.
Nathaniel, what are your 3 favourite Julianne Moore performances? Love to hear them!
Rick I'm the only one who knocks Streep in these parts. Nathan remains silent when he doesn't have something flattering to say about her. Streep didn't win on the strength of her performance—it was very political and it was a choice between her and further expanding Best Actress.
It would be nice if people didn't bring up Streep in conversation concerning other actresses. This is Julianne's night—her Oscar was stolen by Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Too many repeat winners. Yes, Aaron Paul was great this season (as always), but why not give it to Giancarlo Esposito instead when he gave us arguably the best villain in TV history? I don't mind Cranston losing since he already has 3 Emmys, but Paul already has one too. Esposito doesn't. It's a shame that the Emmys only seem to credit such small portions of these casts...Modern Family fits the bill as well with its two repeat winners this year.
Also, too bad Christopher Lloyd didn't show up to accept for Modern Family. Seeing him onstage with Michael J. Fox would have been golden.
The only thing I really enjoyed was Louis CK winning two Emmys. It almost makes up for him losing to Jon Cryer in the acting category.
Edwin, it's a popular misconception, but Christopher Lloyd, producer of Modern Family, is not the same as Christopher Lloyd, Back to the Future's Doc.
Ryan T- Thanks for that bit of info. I've never watched Modern Family, but several of my friends have told me things like, "Christopher Lloyd co-created it! Doc Brown! You should watch it!" Now I can tell them they're misinformed.
Anyway, I'm going to make a call here: Mad Men never wins Best Drama Series again. The Emmys tend to develop crushes on shows that lead to winning streaks, but once the streaks are over, it's rare that they return to awarding the shows unless it's their last season. I'm aware Mad Men only has two seasons left and could thus win again 2 years from now, but it will A) presumably be up against Breaking Bad also in its final season, and there may be more urgency to reward that show given it's never won (and the final season promises to be explosive), and B) if Homeland gets better as many dramas do in their second and third seasons, expect a new Emmy streak. Jon Hamm could still win, but as of now, my guess is that Mad Men is finished winning the top prize.
4rtful.
I am not interestedin your cmments...Nat can answer on his own.
I don't follow the Emmys and your liveblog makes me proud of that fact. Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men... again?!? Eek.
The stars were as bored as the viewers. They didn't even applaud! Thank God I recorded it.
PS Mad Men's 0-17 is a shame.
Julia-don't forget that Ed Harris is also there!
I am so happy that I elected to go to bed instead of watching what appears to be a boring, repetitive telecast, at least from a results standpoint. As much as I enjoy "Modern Family," its dominance the past few years in almost every category simply is not justified. Furthermore, giving the award to Eric Stonestreet once again -- whose depiction of Cam has gone from endearing to annoying in no time flat -- instead of any of his co-stars reinforces a certain notion of how the academy likes its gays (*cough*Sean Hayes*cough*).
I actually dreamed on Saturday night that Jon Hamm finally won and Emmy for "Mad Men," which goes to show just how ludicrous it is that he still hasn't received one. It seems as though the television academy goes out of its way to make sure that none of the "Mad Men" actors win, even when they are arguable most deserving. What other series as lauded has seen NOT ONE of its performers rewarded for his or her work?
I tried my hardest to laugh at a single
fartjoke at Two and a Half Men, but I fail every time.Not surprised by the Mad Men loss...the overboard coverage of Megan was too much. No one cared about her after that first ep of singing and dancing.
I'm guessing Jon Hamm will win in the very last season, unless Matt writes a really epic scene for one of the actors.
More epic than this season, than that kiss on the hand and goodbye?
I mean, people are bitching about Hendricks, but Hamm and Moss should have won, too. Moss' performance is fantastic, specially.
And even Jones would have been nominated. She nails her two episodes in a heartbreaking way.
Let's not even talk about Vincent Kartheiser, the best supporting actor on tv since the beginning of Mad Men. Nobody topped his Signal 30 episode this year.
Ditto everything you said about Moss and Kartheiser, cal roth. She would already have two trophies if I had my way.
I agree, all the actors have nailed their work, even Kiernan Shipka. I guess, what I mean is...they need some sort of hysterical, Claire Danes moment to catch the attention of the basic Emmy academy and their pedestrian taste.
I think secretly everybody pretended that Julianne just won an Oscar, not an Emmy. :)
Things I Loved Most About the Emmys Last Night:
Jon Stewart's line about how years from now, when the Earth is just a burning husk and the aliens discover it, they will find a box of Emmys and note how "fucking predictable" they were. WORD.
Claire Danes's Mandy Patinkin shout-out.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Poehler's bit during Julia's Best Actress in a Comedy speech. HILARIOUS. As in, I nearly snorted water out my nose from laughing so hard.
The highlight for me was Jessica Lange's victory. One of our greatest actresses, and the epitome of glamour in that terrific red gown. A lovely speech. Can't wait for American Horror Story to start.
Rick -- ugh i never said mimicry was a horrible form of acting. Just that it is hardly THE single greatest of acting talents, which every awards show would have you believe it is.
John -- Boogie Nights, Safe and Far From Heaven tower over the rest if you ask me.
This pretty much sums it up. http://theclearlydope.tumblr.com/post/32202771242/only-response
If Christina Hendricks wants to win an Emmy, she'd better make her competition come out.
It's interesting that Jon Cryer stopped winning when Jim Parsons began his own repeated wins. But his repeated wins would only last two years, until he decided to come out this year. I'm not a fan of either of them, but common, all of a sudden this season Jon Cryer has challenged himself so much now that Kutcher is his co-star, that he's deserving again? Something smells really rotten.
Also Hamm and Moss/Jones or any actress from Mad Men going lead, can say farewell to their possibilities now that Danes and Lewis have started winning.
CAROLINE -- omg. thanks for sharing that. Perfect!
IGGY -- I really really want to understand what you mean with that comment about Christina Hendricks but it's lost on me. So.... What do you mean?
it was just my paranoid self. My train of thoughts was the following. I thought Jim Parsons who had won two on a row lost this year, only because he has come out. So, If Cristina Hendricks or anyone who hasn't won and is deserving wants to win, she'd better make (convince?) her competition to come out, if she wants to have a chance. But admittedly, mine was a faulty logic because A) as far as I know ,there were no gay actresses in the Best Actress Drama lineup and B) there aren't as many repeated wins in that category as in the Jon Cryer category. My point was that I'm sure even Julianna Margulies would have stopped winning awards if she was gay and out.
Hope it's clear now. It was just my two conspiracy theory cents.
Where the hell was Julianna's husband?