Fallon was missing the effervescent charm he displays to great effect on his show. A trio of parody songs, written to commemorate fallen shows Lost, Law & Order, and 24, crossed over from incredibly funny to incredibly weird - a theme of the night for Fallon's hosting duties. The telecast's funniest moment came from presenter Ricky Gervais, waxing hilariously about his hosting job at last year's Golden Globes, and at one point distributing beer to the crowd.
Many wonderful moments, and winners, did triumph - Top Chef finally trumped the previously undefeated (and seriously aging) champ The Amazing Race for Reality Competition; Jane Lynch's win for her already iconic role of Sue Sylvester on Glee was met with one of the night's most endearing (and scattered) speeches; and Modern Family was met with lots of love throughout the night as the comedy series of the year (full list of drama, comedy, and miniseries/movies winners at the end of this post).
However, the Academy made a number of strange choices. For Supporting Actress (Drama), The Good Wife's Archie Panjabi won over Mad Men's Christina Hendricks; I've heard nothing about Panjabi, and Hendricks was robbed for her breathtaking and transformative work. Julianna Margulies seemed to be a lock with her television return as Actress (Drama) in The Good Wife, only to be beat out by The Closer's Krya Sedgwick; Sedgwick is part of a dying cable series that long past its prime buzz. I was rooting for an upset by January Jones (Mad Men) or the under-appreciated Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), but never suspected a win by Sedgwick...
The most upsetting award was for Actor (Drama), where Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad won for the third year in a row. Cranston is undoubtedly talented, but he stole Matthew Fox's trophy. No question. Fox, on the final season of Lost, was more than just a sentimental choice; he excelled in the sixth season, performing on a beautiful level that had never been seen from him. I hate when the Academy rewards the same actor over and over again for the same role; this was Fox's first nomination for Lost, and final chance to win. It's beyond disappointing that his astounding look was overlooked.
The Academy completely disregarded the power of Lost; the show's final season did not win a single award during the Emmy telecast. While the sixth season was certainly not the show's strongest full season, it was a beautiful example of what television, as an artform, can accomplish. For example, I thought Jack Bender's directorial work on the series finale was a no-brainer; he lost to Dexter's Steve Shill. I am enraged that Lost was completely snubbed, without a moment to demonstrated how Lost made a vast and lasting impact on modern television... However, for the big award of Series (Drama), at least Lost was beat by the ever-brilliant Mad Men; Matthew Weiner may be the most annoying man working in television, but the man was at his creative best (so far) during the season three.
The 2010 Emmys robbed Lost, demonstrating the Academy's odd unpredictability and perplexing choices; it's a sad omen that one of the crowning achievement of modern television was not given its moment to shine on television's biggest night. The Emmys always seem to be struggling to correct the mistakes made the previous year. While the emotional impact of a Lost win was sorely absent, the cast of HBO's Temple Grandin biopic did imbue the night with much-needed raw emotion and passion; Temple Grandin was undoubtedly the biggest star of the evening. With the real Temple Grandin in the audience (she was brought on stage for the presentation of Outstanding Movie), the cast and crew were obviously overcome from their experience with this incredible and inspiring woman. Too bad the Emmys couldn't come anywhere close to incredible, or inspiring.
2010 EMMY AWARDS
Drama
Series: 'Mad Men'
Actor: Bryan Cranston, 'Breaking Bad'
Actress: Kyra Sedgwick, 'The Closer'
Supporting Actor: Aaron Paul, 'Breaking Bad'
Supporting Actress: Achie Panjabi, 'The Good Wife'
Direction: Steve Shill, 'Dexter' (The Getaway)
Writing: Matthew Weiner & Erin Levy, 'Mad Men' (Shut the Door, Have a Seat)
Comedy
Series: 'Modern Family'
Actor: Jim Parsons, 'The Big Bang Theory'
Actress: Edie Falco, 'Nurse Jackie'
Supporting Actor: Eric Stonestreet, 'Modern Family'
Supporting Actress: Jane Lynch, 'Glee'
Direction: Ryan Murphy, 'Glee' (Pilot)
Writing: Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd, 'Modern Family' (Pilot)
Movie/Miniseries
Movie: 'Temple Grandin'
Miniseries: 'The Pacific'
Actor, Movie: Al Pacino, 'You Don't Know Jack'
Actress, Movie: Claire Danes, 'Temple Grandin'
Supporting Actor, Movie: David Strathairn, 'Temply Grandin'
Supporting Actress, Movie: Julia Ormond, 'Temply Grandin'
Direction, Movie: Mick Jackson, 'Temple Gradin'
Writing, Movie: Adam Mazer, 'You Don't Know Jack'
For the full list of 2010's winners, click here.
Great review, Alex! Couldn't agree more with your analysis!
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