EMMYS ’07 | Postmortem notes

Here are a few of my notes about Sunday’s Emmycast, despite its being the second-lowest-rated ever.

• It was the funniest, most entertaining Emmys I can remember, in spite of host Ryan Seacrest, who was pretty bland overall.
• Katherine Heigl had fun correcting the announcer on the pronunciation of her name; Heigl has gotten her share of the spotlight after her surprise win for outstanding supporting actress on Grey’s Anatomy.
• Kanye West and Rainn Wilson’s rap-off went better than I ever believed it could, right down to Kanye’s “I never win” observation.
• The in-the-round setup was a bold idea that didn’t quite seem to take root; however, I appreciated the Academy’s notion to seat cast members of the same show together. Please continue this practice in the future!
• There were some major surprises, Heigl among them. The other one I never saw coming was James Spader’s Boston Legal win for outstanding lead actor in a drama.
• If the show was too long, gimmicks like Jimmy Smits and Kate Walsh promoting/not promoting their new fall shows were partly to blame.
• I liked the way the show flowed from one segment to the next. It felt organic and smooth. (Examples: after Queen Latifah introduced a clip package honoring the cast of Roots on the miniseries’ 30th anniversary, cast members took to the stage and accepted an ovation…before presenting the next award.)
• Also, I picked five out of ten Emmy categories correct, a feat of which I am just a little proud.