By Jamie Kiliany
A charming beginning, the show opened with host Neil Patrick Harris at Emmy Headquarters binge-watching an entire season of television all at the same time. It quickly becomes too much, and the characters from all different shows on multiple screens appear as though they are interacting with one another and with Harris.
Transitioning to the opening monologue, Harris was bombarded by hosts of Emmy’s past including Jimmy Kimmel, Jane Lynch, a tap-dancing Jimmy Fallon, and Conan O’Brien—who were apparently all put together to sabotage Harris by a maniacal and resentful Kevin Spacey. However, the highlight of the monologue was Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sitting in the front row in 3D glasses asking Harris to “twerk.” When he said that would be degrading, Poehler said they would be “de-grateful.” With writing like that, it’s no surprise that Tina Fey and writing partner Tracey Wigfield took home the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for “30 Rock.”
In the next few categories, the Emmys make it apparent that we should all be watching “Veep” because cast-members Tony Hale and Julia Louis-Dreyfus both snatched up awards for their roles on the show. Louis-Dreyfus’s wins best acceptance speech, as she forced Hale to join her on stage and prompt her to thank her family and say she loves them—characteristic of their dynamic on “Veep.”
Peppered throughout the night were obituaries of prominent people in the industry, including James Gandolfini and Cory Monteith, presented by their respective cast-mates—Edie Falco and Jane Lynch. All were very touching and poignant.
Following Elton John’s tribute to Liberace, “American Horror Story: Asylum” fans would be disappointed by Jessica Lange’s loss to Laura Linney from “The Big C: Hereafter,” but were hopefully cheered up by the next bit starring the cast of “How I Met Your Mother.” The group parodied PSA’s with EHD, Excessive Hosting Disorder, with which Harris has been diagnosed. The group hosts an intervention, and encourages him to go to the “Ryan Seacrest Center for Excessive Hosting.”
Neil Patrick Harris gave us all we ever wanted from a host—and more—with “The Number in the Middle of the Show,” a splashy song and dance that was, as Harris said, “arbitrary, but entertaining.” At one point, Nathan Fillion (“Castle”) and Sarah Silverman entered to sing and dance alongside Harris.
Soon after, Jim Parsons and Bob Newhart introduced Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series. To recognize all of the writers each show presented a creative clip—the writers of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” were introduced as puppets, Oprah pushed around the writers of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the writers of “Real Time with Bill Maher” were shown as different girls on “Toddlers and Tiaras,” which was pure genius. “The Colbert Report” emerged victorious, and—miraculously, after an eleven year winning streak for “The Daily Show”—took the gold for Outstanding Variety Series as well.
Viewers were blessed once more with glorious musical eye and ear candy before the presentation of Outstanding Comedy with the performance of “Luck be a Lady” fading into Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” The nominated choreographers created a spectacular representation of the season’s most popular shows through dance, and at the end, Derek Hough was presented the award for his work on “Dancing with the Stars.”
And to top it all off, Will Ferrell brought his kids onstage while sporting Chacos and cargo shorts and presented Outstanding Comedy Series to “Modern Family,” and Outstanding Drama Series to “Breaking Bad.”
Overall, this awards show was more than bearable, it was highly entertaining with some laugh out loud moments, and made complete with Neil Patrick Harris’s perfection. You could say I was “de-grateful” for the high entertainment value.
Jamie Kiliany is a contributing writer. Email her at entertainment@nyunews.com.
