Emmy wrap-up

I stayed up and watched this last night. Not sure why, I don't really care about awards shows that much. I think it's because I didn't have to go to bed early and I can't stand the Dallas Cowboys and not much else was on. Anyway, I watched it, and I have to say it was pretty good. Here are some observations:

• Neil Patrick Harris was the host and he's funny. Maybe I should watch that sitcom he's on.
• Ken Howard won an award for something I didn't see. As far as I'm concerned, he will always be "The White Shadow", so in my mind, he won for that. I loved that show in high school! I know he's done other stuff. I remember he played Micheal Scott's former boss on "The Office". I thought it was odd that Micheal Scott's former boss used to be a high school basketball coach that played in the NBA.
• Justin Timberlake wore glasses. I was going to write a whole post ripping him for that, but celebrities wearing glasses as an affectation isn't something new. Plus, even though I don't care for his music, he's a funny guy and doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, so, hey, free pass.
• Rarely have I felt like more of a nerd than when they were listing the nominees for Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Series and I was torn between rooting for "Saturday Night Live" because I like Simon Rich and "Late Night" because I like Kevin Dorff and then being bummed because neither of them won ("The Daily Show" did).
• In general, all the acceptance speeches by the writers were more entertaining than any of the speeches from actors. Something about them being a little awkward and geeky, at least when compared to those who are supposed to be comfortable in front of cameras and an audience, was kind of endearing.
• For the first time ever, I was at least familiar with every single name they honored during the "In Memoriam" segment. Usually there are a few "who's that?"s but not this time. I wonder if that means I'm getting old or if there have just been so many high-profile celebrity deaths this year. I'm going to go with the latter.
• I like John Hodgman and appreciated his surreal commentary on the winners (re: Hugh Jackman on the Oscars: “This was the first time a musical number was written for a wolverine”).
• I know some people were upset that the Justin Timberlake & Andy Samberg short "Motherlovers" didn't win anything, but not me. Sorry, "Dick In A Box" was better.
• I like that Bryan Cranston won for "Breaking Bad", but disappointed the show didn't win Best Drama. I don't watch "Mad Men" (but I probably should) and don't have any premium cable channels like HBO, so to me, it's the best thing on, hands-down. Cranston is brilliant in it, and I couldn't stand him on "Malcolm In The Middle".
• Ricky Gervais and Bob Newhart were both on and they were both hilarious.
• Overall, it's the first awards show I've watched in a long time where I didn't want my money back when it was over.