The Emmys 2009

So, the 61st Emmy Awards took place on Sunday night...from the reviews that I've read and the clips that I've seen on youtube, it was a pretty good show, due in no small part to the considerable charm and talents of host and best supporting actor in a comedy series nominee (he parlayed his loss to Jon Cryer of Two and a Half Men into great material for the show), Neil Patrick Harris, who also did a great job of hosting the Tony Awards back in June...perhaps, the Oscars are next? Of course, it's all about the awards, the nominees and more importantly, the winners. I'm particularly pleased about 30 Rock winning the best comedy series award for the third consecutive year (joining a handful of shows that have achieved this rare feat). Normally, I hate repeat winners (and this year was full of them, with Mad Men, Glenn Close and Bryan Cranston all winning in the same categories that they won for the previous year) but 30 Rock is one of my favorite shows of all time so I can only hope that one day, it will match Frasier's (another one of my all time favorites) record of five consecutive wins as best comedy series at the Emmys.

It was a good night for Tony-winning Broadway stars, with both Kristin Chenoweth and Cherry Jones taking home Emmys for their supporting roles on Pushing Daisies and 24, respectively. I particularly enjoyed Kristin Chenoweth's category, where each of the nominees donned funny glasses when their names were announced...except for the diva that is Vanessa Williams...I wonder if that was because she genuinely did not want to participate or if her non-participation was her 'bit'.

The sublime Alec Baldwin won his second consecutive Emmy for his work on 30 Rock.



Jessica Lange beat out her costar, Drew Barrymore, to the best actress in a movie made for television or mini-series award for her role as Big Edie in HBO's Grey Gardens and she seemed more thrilled to win this Emmy than when she won her best actress Oscar for Blue Sky fourteen years ago. It was quite poignant when she said that 'this part was a gift and they don't come around that often for me anymore'. I was also really happy to see the elegant Shohreh Aghdashloo win the best supporting actress in a movie made for television or mini-series for her role in House of Saddam. I have been a fan of the Iranian-born actress ever since she was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her mesmerizing work in House of Sand and Fog. What a joy and a great inspiration to me to see someone like Shohreh, who comes from a culture so marginally represented in the western media and who came to Hollywood late in life, win one of America's highest-profile honors in mainstream entertainment.