SUNDAY The 55th Annual Primetime...

SUNDAY

The 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
More often than not, award show humor is pretty lame and cringe-inducing. But the 11 comedians who hosted this year's Emmys each had some solid, smart moments. Wanda Sykes certainly didn't sugarcoat her comments. The keeper was her complimenting Bill Cosby on the old Cosby Show's scripts, but then adding, "Although, with Cosby Mysteries, that did seem like y'all made that up as you went along." You take all that, mix it up with some sincerely touching moments, including Tony Shalhoub's speech and the tribute to John Ritter, and except for the mini-series/TV-movie categories which made me zone out and start flipping, it was a fast-paced, surprisingly entertaining show. But, West Wing? Really?

For lots more Emmy coverage click here.

As usual, the other networks graciously aired a lot of nothing to keep the spotlight on television's biggest night. Then again, if you dig Lethal Weapon or repeats of Law & Order: SVU, Without a Trace and American Dreams, you were in luck, too.

E's! Live From The Red Carpet: Primetime Emmy Awards
Good ol' Joan Rivers didn't bother with any pesky segues, usually shoehorning a quick "How's your private life?" at the end of any awkward interview. But, unlike her mother, Melissa Rivers actually had a honest exchange with a passing-by celeb. She and Conan O'Brien somehow got to talking about her jewelry when he interrupted and said, "When you say [those jewelry designer] names, they mean nothing to me." Thank you, Conan. Thank you.

Carnivale It was a little bit cliched, but I felt chills when Samson (Michael J. Anderson) told Ben (Nick Stahl) that the carnival didn't have a baggage trailer even though he had just snagged that mysterious photo from one of its apparently nonexistent trunks. But can Ben cheer up a little bit? I mean, I know it's the Depression and his mother just died and he's stuck with all these freaks and he's cursed with this weird power and — oh, actually, never mind.

K Street
Actress Mary McCormack as Maggie summed up this semi-improvised series for me when she leaned over to Francisco (Roger G. Smith) and said, "I can't hear you. You're talking too quietly." Exactly. Speak up! The muffled, overlapping dialogue is driving me nuts. Anyway, this episode's so-called storyline (something about helping the RIAA's image as they deal with the evil downloaders) was slightly more interesting than last week's series premiere which bored me to tears. Oh, before I forget — am I the only one wondering why these real life politicians have all this free time to shoot these guest appearances?

SATURDAY

Miss America
Clay Aiken performed in a confining-looking suit, but, believe it or not, about half-way through the song he actually moved to the beat for about three seconds. The best — and unintentionally oddest — 30-second intro came from Miss Arkansas, Whitney Kirk: "I'm a college graduate, CEO of my own business and every Christmas my family plays 'hot potato' with a ball of fire." (Huh?) I would guess the fire department usually stops by later for coffee and dessert.

When Miss Florida, Ericka Dunlap, won, it bothered me to think that in the quiz section of the competition she thought Lyndon Johnson was president during the Bay of Pigs incident. Yup, there she is...!

FRIDAY

Like Family
Diane Farr, who was brilliant in the sadly cancelled ABC series The Job, is the only reason I tuned into this WB sitcom about a single mom and her teenage son who move in with her best friend (Holly Robinson Peete) and family. What's weird is that Farr is 34 years old and playing the mother of an actor who's actually 20. (Wait, why did that Growing Up, Brady book by Barry Williams just pop into my head?)

2003 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards
A comparatively low-rent affair which featured mostly technical categories you couldn't care less about. The ceremony ran long when it was taped on Sept. 13, so it had to be edited way down to fit into a tight two-hour block. That meant just about everyone's acceptance speeches were sloppily chopped up. What a mess. However, there was one kinda funny line that wasn't cut. As Brad Garrett was presenting an award, he spotted the unbelievably hot star of Alias in the front row and said, "Jennifer Garner, my, I would leave the wife and kids on Christmas morning, I gotta tell ya..."