Sesame and this year's Emmys

[MelissaY1]

As I said, once the last soap opera is taken behind the barn and shot, they should completely disband the Daytimes and just award that stuff at the "Creative Arts" (read losers that no one cares about and we don't feel like giving attention to 'cause it's not flashy). I'm not up on all the latest categories, but they shouldn't honor Judge programming at all, and they needs ta give Maury Povich a sign that he's a waste of human life.




Sooo... commercial for Vegas disguised as an awards show is what I'm getting.

Dw... you NEED to give us more of your take on this. You REALLY have a passion for this subject matter, and I enjoyed reading every bit of your editorial.

Yeah aside from the soaps, all they awarded was the talk shows, the judge shows and the game shows. And let's be honest, aside from the people who work on these shows, does anyone really care if Price is Right gets another Emmy?

That segment was kind of a Vegas commercial but not as much as I would've expected. It was more of a commercial for the Hilton Hotel if anything. They only showed a couple of real quick screen shots of a few of the other hotels. I also got the impression that since most of the soaps are filmed out in L.A. now, there's not as much a hoopla surrounding it either.

 

[MelissaY1]

Can't add much more to what's been said. The whole ceremony was a tribute to Las Vegas for some bizarre reason. I guess they wanted to have it in an "exciting" location that wasn't too far from California since all the remaining soaps (except One Life to Live) shoot in L.A. where it used to be half and half CA/NY. But the whole time they would do some kind of feature on Las Vegas or even the one to two minutes(!) it would take for some outlandish Las Vegas performer to bring out the envelope with the winner in it, i'd just be thinking WHY can't you be using all this wasted time to show clips of the nominated actors - OR say who won the Creative Arts Emmys - OR announce winners of the major childrens categories awards?

I was at least relieved that gave As the World Turns a farewell tribute. The way things were going, i wasn't sure if they'd do that or not. Also hated how the Lifetime Achievement Award to soap creator/writer Agnes Nixon was essentially a big All My Children tribute with the other soaps she created (including One Life to Live which is still on the air) pretty much tossed aside as a footnote!

Since i'm one of those rare types who usually tune in for two reasons (my Sesame/Henson fandom and my One Life to Live fandom), i wasn't expecting this year to be a good one for OLTL fans. The show itself really took a major nosedive in quality the second half of last year and i was actually a bit pleased that it wasn't even nominated for Best Show or Best Writing this time around since they did so many deplorable things writing-wise that were out and out insulting to its audience. But i was still rooting for the three nominated actors and for the directing award. (I REALLY wanted to see Scott Clifton win an Emmy after he was among a major actor purge this spring where the show dumped a whole bunch of well liked actors - it would have been a nice little F.U. to the show that unceremoniously let him go in the same way where about four years ago, all three of the actors who won awards for the show were ones who had since been let go by the time of the awards ceremony.)

But this year, (after two years in a row of winning the highest number of total awards) they only won a grand total of one award...for casting. I actually have mixed feelings about that since one of the worst things they did last year was bring on a previously unknown-to-him daughter for Todd Manning who ended up being OLDER than his son Jack (which was totally absurd due to the whole backstory of her conception was so closely tied with an attempted kidnapping of his kids Starr and Jack). Fans ended up dubbing her "The Seven Year Old Teenager". However, given how that decision to make her unexplicably that old was most likely made by the producer/writers, i won't hold it against the casting people who would have been instructed by them to cast Danielle as a 16 year old, especially because the actress they did cast looks amazingly like a genetic cross between the two actors who play her parents. Plus this is the team who cast Scott Clifton, Brett Claywell, Gossip Girl's Amanda Setton, the first ever successful recast of Rachel Gannon played by Daphne Duplaix (all of whom are now off the show to viewers' chagrin) and giving us Shenell Edmonds as Destiny Evans - a heavyset African-American teen character not used as some shortterm comedy relief part which is pretty much never seen on soaps. So 7yr old Teen aside, the casting crew did earn its award for their work last year. And oh yeah, they also cast Matt Walton as Eli too (non soap fans may know him as the current Old Navy spokesman) which is the first really great love interest Blair's had in ages and they brought back original actress Gina Tognoni as Kelly Cramer! Still, like i mentioned i would have liked to see Scott Clifton pick up a statue as a "parting gift" and it was kind of sad to see Bree Williamson not walk away with an Emmy after being a major contender two years in a row. I also thought Brian Kerwin was deserving as well (he turned in some stellar work this fall) but i also knew that given the single episode reel rule, he wouldn't have ended up winning it.

My two other pet peeves this year: no preshow program and those idiotic text polls where viewers could vote for things like their all-time fave talk show host or their all-time fave soap actor (with just four pre-selected choices...HELLO - NONE of the above...i wanted to text a write in for Robin Strasser!) which were pointless anyway because i don't know where/when the results of them were given anyway.

As for next year, if Ilene Kristen and Hilary B Smith don't at least score nominations, i am SO over the Daytime Emmys for good! And while OLTL as a whole still continues to be a hot mess this year, i'm predicting they'll submit Bo and Nora's wedding for Best Show and Best Writing and end up actually winning both awards. (I still crack up thinking of "...to join my paw, Bo Buchanan and his lovely ex-wife, Nora Hanon Gannon Buchanan Hanon Buchanan Buchanan...if you're thinking "Colson" you're wrong, that marriage was annulled...")

D.W., I didn't know you were a big OLTL fan. I've gone to several events now with my mom who's a die-hard as well and met some of the actors. Catherine Hickland actually knows my mom at least by face from them having seen each other so often over the past few years lol She's very sweet though. A few years back for my parents' birthdays (they both are two weeks apart in March) my sister and I got them tix to the ABC Daytime's Broadway tribute that they do every year in NYC. We got them tix to the show and the after party where they got to meet some of the soap folks. She said Kassie DePaiva was a little stand off-ish

 

[dwmckim]

Yeah, i became hooked in 1992 when i saw the show featured on a talk show about how Linda Gottlieb, their then-exec producer was trying to both bring a lot of production values usually not seen on soaps to the show by hiring novelist Michael Malone as headwriter and doing lots of social issues storytelling including the gay teen story (starring then-unknown Ryan Phillippe) I tuned it and got quickly hooked - to date, that's been the only daytime drama i regularly watch. Tuned out a bit from about 97-01 when things got really too standard, but have gotten rehooked all over again. I tape every episode and my OLTL collection's the only thing that gives my Henson/Muppet video collection a run for its money.

I really loved Ron Carlivati when he started as headwriter but since the later part of last year, things have really gone downhill. Still watch though mainly because i know the show is probably nearing the end. (Still haven't quite forgiven them for dumping Kyle/Fish in their big actor purge a couple months ago!) The actors usually still bring it when the writing's not up to par. Dearly miss Cat Hickland as Lindsay - i was hoping she'd at least do a quick cameo for the B&N wedding stuff but still her wedding present was hilarious (though i'm surprised it didn't say something more like "Bo-Red"!)

And Robin Strasser is simply one of my all time fave actresses in any genre!

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah aside from the soaps, all they awarded was the talk shows, the judge shows and the game shows. And let's be honest, aside from the people who work on these shows, does anyone really care if Price is Right gets another Emmy?

Game shows have a large and vibrant fan base. Especially classic ones. I'm not really a fan, outside of maybe the occasional Jeopardy episode... sometimes Hollywood Squares when I was in the mood for it, or someone I liked was one of the panelists. But I'm sure a lot of people cared that The Price is Right won.

HOWEVER, I really don't think Judge programming should be recognized as a specialty genre let alone get an award for it. Sure, it isn't or wasn't anything new... but there was such a resurgence back in the Clinton era with that horrid Judge Judy, then a bunch of "if we copy the formula, maybe people will be dumb enough to watch something EXACTLY like it with a different name instead of the original" types came on the scene, effectively polluting the marketplace with a gluttony of judges that are "Smart, fair, and different." Different because unlike all the other judges that wisecrack with annoyingly folksy jibes about how stupid either side of the argument is in an identical studio, but they're named differently. Heck, one ultra corrupt Massachusetts judge that was all over our local news for botching a case (I think it was some sort of child sex abuse thing, but I can't remember) got a show that had terrible ratings and lasted 2 seasons.

I have LONG been an opponent of this garbage. I miss old sitcom reruns. And the way things are going, they NEED to make a Best Infomercial category. I'm serious! That's the only thing ANY of these people want to air, since it's easy free money anyway. Give it to Kevin Trudeau and his perfectly fake "I'm a crazy conspiracy theorist that knows things, and you can trust me because I'm not a big conglomerate trying to make money, I'm a small time crook trying to make money" stare.

Think of it. The Creative Arts needs a new category too... Best Wire Frame Weight Gain and Loss composite in a shifty Weight Loss infomercial.

 

[MelissaY1]

Game shows have a large and vibrant fan base. Especially classic ones. I'm not really a fan, outside of maybe the occasional Jeopardy episode... sometimes Hollywood Squares when I was in the mood for it, or someone I liked was one of the panelists. But I'm sure a lot of people cared that The Price is Right won.

HOWEVER, I really don't think Judge programming should be recognized as a specialty genre let alone get an award for it. Sure, it isn't or wasn't anything new... but there was such a resurgence back in the Clinton era with that horrid Judge Judy, then a bunch of "if we copy the formula, maybe people will be dumb enough to watch something EXACTLY like it with a different name instead of the original" types came on the scene, effectively polluting the marketplace with a gluttony of judges that are "Smart, fair, and different." Different because unlike all the other judges that wisecrack with annoyingly folksy jibes about how stupid either side of the argument is in an identical studio, but they're named differently. Heck, one ultra corrupt Massachusetts judge that was all over our local news for botching a case (I think it was some sort of child sex abuse thing, but I can't remember) got a show that had terrible ratings and lasted 2 seasons.

I have LONG been an opponent of this garbage. I miss old sitcom reruns. And the way things are going, they NEED to make a Best Infomercial category. I'm serious! That's the only thing ANY of these people want to air, since it's easy free money anyway. Give it to Kevin Trudeau and his perfectly fake "I'm a crazy conspiracy theorist that knows things, and you can trust me because I'm not a big conglomerate trying to make money, I'm a small time crook trying to make money" stare.

Think of it. The Creative Arts needs a new category too... Best Wire Frame Weight Gain and Loss composite in a shifty Weight Loss infomercial.

Oh I know lots of people still enjoy game shows, my mom included and I'll tune in occassionally myself, but I don't think anyone like us to see the Sesame categories, I dont' think anyone was waiting to see people from Price Is Right on and if they won or not.

I totally agree there should be a creative arts category, though.

 

[MelissaY1]

Yeah, i became hooked in 1992 when i saw the show featured on a talk show about how Linda Gottlieb, their then-exec producer was trying to both bring a lot of production values usually not seen on soaps to the show by hiring novelist Michael Malone as headwriter and doing lots of social issues storytelling including the gay teen story (starring then-unknown Ryan Phillippe) I tuned it and got quickly hooked - to date, that's been the only daytime drama i regularly watch. Tuned out a bit from about 97-01 when things got really too standard, but have gotten rehooked all over again. I tape every episode and my OLTL collection's the only thing that gives my Henson/Muppet video collection a run for its money.

I really loved Ron Carlivati when he started as headwriter but since the later part of last year, things have really gone downhill. Still watch though mainly because i know the show is probably nearing the end. (Still haven't quite forgiven them for dumping Kyle/Fish in their big actor purge a couple months ago!) The actors usually still bring it when the writing's not up to par. Dearly miss Cat Hickland as Lindsay - i was hoping she'd at least do a quick cameo for the B&N wedding stuff but still her wedding present was hilarious (though i'm surprised it didn't say something more like "Bo-Red"!)

And Robin Strasser is simply one of my all time fave actresses in any genre!

That's awesome. I met Robin Strasser at the Broadway flea market back in 2005 along with some of the other OLTL and soap people (my mom's a diehard OLTL and AMC fan). I have to say she is much prettier in person than on T.V. The cameras dont' do her justice. She was really sweet too and genuinely wanted to chat with my mom and I. I have her autograph on the poster I bought.

 

[Drtooth]

I totally agree there should be a creative arts category, though.

"Creative Arts" isn't a category... it's basically a euphemism for "The other stuff that gets awards that isn't as flashy and sexy for viewers as the other categories." basically best lighting, best set design... the same crummy untelevised ceremony they dumped the Outstanding Achievement in the field of Children's programming awards on this year, and the cheesy little ceremony that Carol got his Lifetime Achievement Award years ago, because it wasn't as cool as makeup commercial web cams about what's behind the scenes.

And more and more keeps getting squashed into the "Creative Arts Emmys" because they need more and more pathetic gimmicks to get people to watch these stupid awards. I'm surprised they even have time to award SHOWS anymore. Can't wait next year when EVERYTHING is awarded in the "Creative Arts" ceremony and it's just a 2 hour commercial for make up and weight loss pills hosted by Judge Judy.

 

[MelissaY1]

"Creative Arts" isn't a category... it's basically a euphemism for "The other stuff that gets awards that isn't as flashy and sexy for viewers as the other categories." basically best lighting, best set design... the same crummy untelevised ceremony they dumped the Outstanding Achievement in the field of Children's programming awards on this year, and the cheesy little ceremony that Carol got his Lifetime Achievement Award years ago, because it wasn't as cool as makeup commercial web cams about what's behind the scenes.

And more and more keeps getting squashed into the "Creative Arts Emmys" because they need more and more pathetic gimmicks to get people to watch these stupid awards. I'm surprised they even have time to award SHOWS anymore. Can't wait next year when EVERYTHING is awarded in the "Creative Arts" ceremony and it's just a 2 hour commercial for make up and weight loss pills hosted by Judge Judy.

You're very upset about this, aren't you, Dr. Tooth? lol I definitely understand where you're coming from though.

 

[Drtooth]

It's such an annoyance and frustration, especially as a Sesame Street fan that Children's programming is only important when it's used as a tool for selling some idiotic agenda be it a well meaning but unfocused and "doing it wrong" health initiative ("We need to get cartoon characters off junk food because fat people make me sad") or some hate based organization spreading backwards thinking disguised as "family values" ("Every cartoon character ever is making you're kid GAY! Stop letting them think for themselves!").

But when it comes to achievement, the backs because... well, I just get the general consensus that kid's are idiots and don't matter and need to be rushed into adulthood. Not to mention the hundreds of cheaply made commercial kid's educational shows that only exist to sell merchandising. Sometimes I figure, if it wasn't for Elmo (and what celebrity sings a forced parody of their number one jam), people would forget Sesame Street even exists. The fact this takes a backseat to promos for Las Vegas because they've noticed a dip in tourism (sign of the times, people are actually trying to NOT go bankrupt), and endless swooning and makeup commercials is despicable.

Add to the fact they don't even care about Daytime's staples (soaps) because they cost money to produce, this is why the awards should end. We're talking about networks owned by people who care more about keeping money than ratings. The old adage is "You need to spend money to make money" now the adage is "You can only make money by having money and not investing it." And as we all know "investment" has turned into code for "sure fire way to lose Mumsy and Daddy's money." So we have to have cheap to make game shows and non-union reality shows polluting the air.

And there is NO call for Maury Povich to make a living off of "Who Mah Baby Daddy" this far into the game. It's not 1990 anymore...every right thinking talk show host abandoned that crap by now.