Monday night we might have seen the final Emmy Awards on network TV.
There are reports that Amazon Prime, which only won 3 Emmys this month, is going to start hosting the show.
It may be just in time.
The Mariska Hargitay hosted show was a bust in the ratings, down 10% from last year to 6.7 million viewers.
It’s a horrendous number but not surprising. With a lot of competition, the Emmys came off pretty badly — poorly produced and written (sorry, Colbert team). They lacked and buzz or hip factor. Almost uniformly the presenters were dull and the winners weren’t much better.
The highlights: John Mulaney telling a dirty joke, Sally Field giving an impassioned speech. Nicole Kidman being a good sport. Michael J. Fox, a hero. You know things are bad when the In Memoriam is the best part of the night.
Hargitay had about 40 glam costume and wig changes. I guess this was her way of finally looking hot after three decades in drab police garb. She deserved this gift from NBC. What we learned: she can’t sing. And where was Christopher Meloni? Also, her Taylor Swift film was odd. But you know Mariska is a good egg.
The Emmys are there own worst enemy. I gave up on the Television Academy years ago. Shows used to be cool — Mad Men, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad. The late great Ronnie Lippin did the PR and made sure the press was enthusiastic about the event. But no one’s cared in a long time, and these are the results: no viewers, streaming.
There were appropriate complaints that all the winners were white. I really think once an actor wins an Emmy for playing a role, they are thereafter ineligible. Sterling K. Brown should have a shelf of these things. So should Janelle James. Jean Smart didn’t need five Emmys for playing Deborah Vance. But that’s Hollywood, it’s not going to change.
