By Sarah Jost
The 2011 Emmy Awards got off to a bad start. Poor Jane Lynch’s opening musical number and monologue were neither fun nor funny. An odd smattering of television actors were introduced as the ‘Emmytones,’ an a capella group that would introduce the genres. It did not bode well for the rest of the evening. I feared the worst.
But try as they might to ruin the evening, the Emmys’ producers couldn’t stop the stars from shining. Despite a very low production quality and a mediocre performance from Lynch, the actors were for the most part sincere, candid, and often hilarious. Several taped sketches saved the day, as did some fun live bits among the actors.
One skit had characters from other series in The Office‘s confessional discussing what they hated most about their jobs.
When the best actress nominees were announced, each leapt from their chair and bounded onto the stage for one of the most fun and feel-good moments of the night.
Lonely Island did a medley of their greatest hits from Saturday Night Live, including cameos from Ed Helms as Justin Timerblake and John Stamos as Andy Sandburg.
Kate Winslet officially conquered the world by winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for Mildred Pierce. Despite being one of the world’s best and most lauded actresses, she was ecstatic with her win and ran from aisle to aisle hugging every member of her cast before finally making her way on stage to deliver a charming and poised acceptance speech like only the Brits can.
Even though John Stewart’s The Daily Show deservedly won for Outstanding Writing for Variety, Music, or Comedy Series, The Colbert Report definitely had the better writing staff introduction video.
Will Arnett and Zooey Deschanel deserve a special shout out as the night’s best presenters, along with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, also known as ‘two grown men who still go by Jimmy.’
Unfortunately the Emmy voters didn’t do anywhere near as good of a job as the performers. In a crime against humanity, Steve Carrell ended his career on The Office without ever receiving Emmy recognition for his nuanced, hilarious, and brilliant turn as Michael Scott. The Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series instead went to last year’s winner, Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory. It added insult to injury that Carrell didn’t even lose to also-snubbed worthy opponent Alec Baldwin.
The disappointments continued all night, with 30 Rock‘s Tina Fey losing to Mike & Molly‘s Melissa McCarthy; Jane Lynch, Betty White, Jane Krakowski, Sofia Vergara, and Kristen Wiig all losing to the least-worthy Julie Bowen of Modern Family; and Modern Family‘s Ty Burrell beating out his far superior co-stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet.
Amidst all the snubs, awkward moments, and playfully improvised banter, there was one consistently fun distraction: the dresses. Here is my best dressed list:
Mildred Pierce's Kate Winslet
Modern Family's Sofia Vergara
Game of Thrones's Lena Headey
Lastly, my own personal Best Couple in Television award easily goes to:
Will Arnett and Amy Poehler
