The New York Post is reporting that many of the "live" performances on MTV's Video Music Awards — Kanye West's, the Foo Fighters', Fall Out Boy's — were actually taped days ahead of time. The cabler insists that this was only done for "creative reasons." Uh-huh. That's what I always told my mom when I lied, too.
Israeli newspapers are reporting that not only did Madonna ring in the Jewish new year with Israeli President Shimon Peres, she has decided she's an "ambassador for Judaism." This, despite the fact that, while she's totally into Kabbalah, she, um, isn't Jewish. Then again, she wasn't English when she decided to start talking like the Queen Mum, either.
Here we go again. O.J. Simpson says he didn't do it, but he's been arrested for stealing his own sports memorabilia at gunpoint from a Vegas hotel room. The former football player maintains that he was only retrieving his goods swiped from him, but a tape obtained by TMZ indicates otherwise. On it, O.J. basically goes all O.J. on the vendor he claims is a thief. "Whether or not the property belonged to Mr. Simpson or not is still in debate," a Sin City detective told the Associated Press Sunday. "Having said that, the manner in which this property was taken, we have a responsibility to look into that, irregardless of who the property belonged to." Simpson has been charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm. If convicted, he could get as many as 30 years in state prison on each robbery count alone. He's currently being held without bail and being subjected to countl...
Heroes as best drama series? Fuhgettaboutit said Emmy voters, who on Sunday bestowed HBO's defunct The Sopranos with the high honor. Speaking to the press, series creator David Chase said he still doesn't have an answer as to why the mob show resonated with viewers and critics alike. "I have to assume it's because people deeply identify with the characters," he said. While Chase calls the big win "really, really fantastic," the highlight of the night "was the huge standing ovation our cast got" after the Jersey Boys-led tribute. "It was really fitting."Did The Sopranos leave its mark on the medium? Chase begs to differ. "I don’t really believe it's influenced television that much. I don’t see it," he says. "People say it's a seminal show, it's this and it's that.... I don’t see it." Similarly, Fox didn't see the series' potential when it passed on the pilot many years ago. "In that pilot I wrote for Fox nobody got killed," Chase remembers. "Afterward, everybody said, ...
It kinda looked cool when first unveiled, but the "theater in the round" approach to this year's Emmy Awards telecast drew decidedly mixed reactions from those who partook in the festivities. "It was very disconcerting... the way they had the theater set up," James Spader (Boston Legal) said after grabbing gold for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. "So many people you wanted to be addressing were behind you. Literally all of my bosses were sitting behind me, and so were the other nominees."Conan O'Brien, after winning for writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program, countered that thought by saying, "It was neat to try it in the round, and [Ryan Seacrest] was right to not do [a previous host's] awards show." Seacrest, however, "is on TV way too much," O'Brien, the show's 2006 emcee, quipped. "It's not good for anyone."Related: Emmy Ratings... Out! Smallest Audience Since 1990
"Hopefully this will help us a little," Fey said, holding her Emmy and looking rather fabulous. And maybe it will make that red-headed-stepchild feeling go away. "Because we shoot in New York and we're not the highest-rated show, I feel a lot of the time we're not actually on TV," she laments. "[The Emmy win] legitimizes us a little bit. I myself am going to celebrate by overeating." As for Alec Baldwin coming up empty in the lead-actor race, Fey frowns, "I really thought he'd win." And for The Office's Steve Carell to not best Ricky Gervais either, she says, "was crazy, right?"
Finally, a good answer to the "Where will you keep your Emmy?" roundup question: "I had a giant Emmy shelf built years ago, capable of holding 500 Emmys," says Conan, fielding questions backstage with headwriter Mike Sweeney.When a reporter flubs his verb tense and asks for Conan's take on how Ryan Seacrest is doing (the telecast had ended), O'Brien quipped, "If he's still doing it in the parking lot, that’s very, very sad. I think he's lost his mind, he's on TV way too much. It's not good for anyone." But seriously, Conan gave some props to Seacrest and the "different" kudoscast, saying. "It was neat to try it in the round, and he was right to not do [a previous host's] awards show."Asked if he had heard about O.J. Simpson being arrested in Los Angeles earlier in the evening — a topic oft trotted out in the press room but to little effect — O'Brien said he heard the news from no less than Mary Hart. "But then I went to that guy from Extra to be sure. The one who sued...
Look at Sally Field giving the Emmys a little last-minute sizzle, delivering a message to war mothers like Brothers & Sisters' Nora that, at the very least because of the phrase "g-ddamned," made censors hit the bleep button. (Watch video here.) "That’s too bad," the Lead Actress in a Drama winner said afterward (and matter of factly) of the uproar. "I wanted to say something about the mothers who wait for their children to come home. I wanted to acknowlege them and what they do. I said at the end there is no question, that if mothers ruled the world there would be no war."Pressed to elaborate on Fox's bleeping, Field again shrugged, "Oh well. I’ve been there before. Good. I don’t care. I said what I wanted to say. I really think that if mothers ruled the world we wouldn’t be sending our children off to be slaughtered. That’s what Nora Walker is [about], she’s this mother and she sees life through that.""I probably should’nt have said the 'god'...
Look at little Sally Field giving the Emmys a little last-minute sizzle, delivering a message to war mothers that, because of the phrase "g--damned," made the censors slap the bleep button. "That’s too bad," Field said matter of factly of the uproar. "I wanted to say something about the mothers who wait for their children to come home. I wanted to acknowlege them and what they do. I said at the end there is no question that if mothers ruled the world, there would be no war."Pressed to elaborate on her bleeping, Field again shrugged, "Oh well! I’ve been there before. Good. I don’t care. I have no comment other than, 'Oh well.' I said what I wanted to say. I wanted to pay homage to the mothers of the world and let their work be seen and valued. I really think that if mothers ruled the world we wouldn’t be sending our children off to be slaughtered. That’s what [Brothers & Sisters'] Nora Walker is [about], she’s this mother and she sees life through th...
I pity the fool who wagered on a send-off Sopranos landslide in their office Emmy pool. Although the HBO hit walked away with best-drama, writing and directing statuettes, Boston Legal barrister James Spader beat James Gandolfini for best actor, while Brothers & Sisters mom Sally Field won best actress over Edie Falco.On the lighter side, 30 Rock took best comedy, Ugly Betty star America Ferrera won best actress, and Extras mastermind Ricky Gervais was awarded best actor. (OK, Steve Carell actually took that last one, because Gervais wasn't there to collect it himself.)For a complete list of winners, click here. And if you missed a minute of the ceremony, click here, because I didn't, and I'm gonna have the nightmares about Ryan Seacrest dressed up like Jonathan Rhys Meyers to prove it. — Reporting by Ben KatnerRelated: Emmy Ratings... Out! Smallest Audience Since 1990, Backstage with the Winners
Executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer offers no apologies for monopolizing the category since its inception — "We just want to keep winning!" — nor for boxing out American Idol in doing so. "They beat us in [the number of] viewers every week, so I don’t feel bad for them," he says. "They have the No. 1 television show, so god bless them."The secret to the Race's success, says exec producer Bert Van Munster, is that it's "very relatable." Van Munster also reveals that the production travels the next season's path "at least twice before we actually shoot the race."
Gotta give props to the first question. Positing the former vice president as someone who has weathered firestorms, the reporter asks what Britney Spears might learn from Gore. "I kinda figured the first question would be about Britney Spears," he played along, before eluding the topic like a seasoned politico. "My partner Joel Hyatt and I are just incredibly grateful to the Academy for this Emmy."If you thought Current.tv had swept the country like wildfire, you ain't seen nothing yet. "We have other things in the works," Gore teases. "On Oct. 15, we're launching Current.com. We use Current.tv to connect with thousands of content creators, and then we put it on real TV in 52 million homes. But Current.com is the next step in state of the art." My goosebumps have goosebumps!Call me woefully unhip for not recognizing her or her shtick, but some old lady "correspondent" from The Tonight Show crashes the room and asks Gore if her cookie-baking negatively impacts the environment. Gore, ...
Speaking to her embarrassment of riches — from the Oscars to the Emmys — Mirren notes, "I [also] have had a few losses, so I am very familiar with that feeling as well. It's always down to the writing, and, of course, the direction. The writing is where the role springs from and I was lucky to have some beautifully written roles."Updating us on the matter of ever meeting up with the queen, whom she portrayed to Academy Award-winning perfection, Mirren says, "The queen and I haven’t hooked up yet. She very graciously invited me to dinner, but [I wasn't able to go]. I felt mortified, but there was nothing I could do." A royal rain check, perhaps? "I don’t know, only time will tell! I certainly hope so."
On Ryan Seacrest saying he was not one of the top choices to host the show: "We never really asked anybody else formally. He was in the top three. So far he's doing great. He has a lot of energy and he doesn’t put himself in a situation he's not comfortable with."On the possible writers' strike: "Everybody's hoping there won't be a strike. At the end of the day a strike is bad for the industry, it's bad for the writers, it's bad for the audience.... There are several steps… before we actually go to strike. Some of the issues are on the table, but there hasn’t been any cogent discussion yet. I hope there will be."On the perhaps too harsh, TV-skewering Family Guy opening: "The Emmys are designed to be entertaining. It's in the tradition of the Emmys to have some fun with television. We're not curing cancer here. I thought it was done very well."On the problem with rotating networks for the telecast: "[If] you do a great job [and get ratings], the beneficiary is somebody...
Asked why the Western continues to resonate in the assorted entertainment media, Church says, "It's uniquely American. The English have Shakespeare, the Japanese have the great Samurai melodramatic romances. It's actually a very narrow sliver of American history that has been deservedly canonized. It's a unique period like no other."The "guiding light" lady asks, "Where do you get your inner strength?" Church goes, "Uh… fiber?" Room fills with laughter. Get what you ask for. Reflecting on his career beginnings, Church says, "The very first thing I did that had any significance was a guest appearance on Cheers. David Angel happened to be on the set and thought I might be right for the character of Lowell on Wings. He gave me some sound advice early on — don’t quit the show."
Leslie Uggams is working on a Lena Horne project that's en route to Broadway.Louis Gossett Jr. is heading back to Broadway with a remake of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, also starring Phylicia Rashad and directed by Debbie Allen.John Amos, of course, is currently on Men in Trees: "Maybe next year the entire cast of that show will be here."Ben Vereen just finished an episode of Grey's Anatomy and wants to go back to Broadway with a gospel-themed project.LeVar Burton is on Day 10 of the shoot for Tempting Hyenas, a feature he's directing. The cast includes himself, Alfre Woodard, Lacey Chabert and Adrienne Barbeau.Cicely Tyson jokes, "I'm looking for a job," saying she may have to pull a Bette Davis and put an ad in the newspapers. "But I, for most of my career, have been unemployed," she says, before noting, "I actually have a number of things in the works."There's awkwardness as Cicely and LeVar get into some sort of debate about the state of today's long-form television and Roots' legacy.
Piven starts off by talking about the fine line between playing tough and playing an a--hole. "If you play monster without making him human, I don't think it's interesting," he says. "We all have our demons, we all have our shadow.... I don't think it's me winning this, it's this character, this aggressive type-A wrecking ball." If Ari were to win an Emmy, Piven says, "He'd make a bad joke, like I did."Not that anyone, anyone who reads Page Six questions it, Piven, in recalling how many times he has brought his mom as a "date" to an awards show, insists, "I'm straight."I ask Piven if it's strange at all to win for material that aired not this past season, but over a year ago. "I would [accept an award] for something I did in junior high school," he laughs, "and quite honestly I would do a victory lap and hold a press conference." Asked about this year's eco-friendly "green" theme, Piven says, "I don’t want to get political now because I've had a drink.... It'd get ugly and they...
Pressly is anxiously awaiting the backstage arrival of her representation, whom she has been with since Day 1. "It wasn’t just me who was loyal.... They never took no for an answer and did everything they could to get me in the door. I can't wait to see them right now. We're like family."8:47 pm: A reporter starts a question saying, "You told me this before and I want you to tell me again...," then asks about Joy being pregnant just as Jaime has dropped her real-life baby weight. "You came to the gym with me, it's not an easy workout," Pressly says to the reporter, as the rest of us feel so outside of the Cool Kids Club.Where will Jaime put her first Emmy? "I didn’t plan to win it, so I have no idea!"8:48 pm: Wardrobe question No. 2 for Pressly. Then: "What do you feel is your guiding light?" As my thoughts turn to the CBS soap opera, the actress answers, "My son."Pressly says she got emotional because, "As tough as I am and as rough around the edges as I might be, I'm a ...
Terry gets off to a fun start, holding his Emmy and saying, "Did you see how many of these are back there? It's going to be a long night."8:38 pm/ET: It's starting. Terry is asked to check the designer tag on his necktie.Terry's thinking as the category was announced? "I thought, 'As soon as this award is done, I get to go to the bathroom.'" As for winning, "It's a little frosting on being nominated. Beyond that I don’t have expectations." 8:39: On the monitor, did Katherine Heigl just visibly say, "S--t!" upon winning?A speculation-based Lost question: Is Locke Jacob? "I have no idea," Terry says, dismissing such rumors as having "no basis in fact."
As those who read last year's backstage blog may recall, every year there are one (or two) "troublemakers," those reporters who hog precious time and, quite frankly, affront many a serious thesp with the same ol' roundup question along the lines of "Who are you wearing?" Looking around the press room now, I can't nail down exactly who that pesky one will be, though I have a suspect or two. It will become painfully clear, though, once that first bedazzled actress enters the room to talk about the milestone in her acting career, only to have to lower the level of discourse to D&G vs. Lhuillier, platinum vs. Swarovski etc.The food options are... interesting. Each "dinner box" is deemed organic, and last I checked it was down to braised short ribs or veggie lasagna. I spent almost disturbing quality time at the brunch buffet this morn, so I may be good to go, save for the annual press-room cookie. Oh, and the nonstop Red Bull.Breaking universe-exclusive* scoop: The first Emmy to be ...
Getting a bit more crowded here in the press area. The initial group is misleading, as a lot of the empty chairs belong to people (e.g., TV Guide's Ali Gazan) who are working the red carpet, then retreat here later (hopefully minus b.o.). Poor Ali — she broke her foot a few weeks ago, and has to clomp around the glam red carpet in one of those boot thingies. She thought about toughing it out and going without the boot, but ultimately decided against putting all her weight on one foot for seven hours straight.The photo you see here is of two of the "cigar girls" circulating in the press room. In addition to handing out radios that we use to hear the TV feed — can't have the plasma speakers on when so-and-so from obscure-but-earnest TV-movie is here reflecting on his/her win — this year they are also offering free candy! Red Bull and candy. Sigh.Hey, I see Grey's Anatomy's Private Practice's Kate Walsh on the Fox feed. She looks swell, very modest dress. Speaking of whi...
No, not quite?Yeah, same deal as every year. The press check-in for the Emmys is 1 pm/PT, many hours before the telecast begins. So here am I, laptop all set up, Red Bull No. 1 half empty, and... and I wait.While Nina and Ben will be blogging live about the preshow and the Emmycast, respectively, I will be here sharing the reactions and choice sound bites of the winners as they come backstage, gold in hand.I must say, it's rather pretty in the "tent" this year. (See photo.) Purple "crystal" chandeliers! A cool backdrop on the winners' stage. And did I mention the unlimited Red Bull? I drink Red Bull one night a year, and this is it.But perhaps the bestest part of this year's Emmys, no matter who wins? Free Primetime Emmys baseball caps! And in a gym-friendly black.With so much time to kill, I may venture back to the red carpet, but honestly it is deathly hot out there, and it takes a good 30 minutes back in the press room to cool/"dry" off. While I swear by my Gillette deo, it must ...