5 Reasons Why The Emmys Will Be Legendary

While life may be like a box of chocolates, the Emmys Awards, unfortunately, are not.  Too often we know exactly what we’re going to get with the TV awards show.  The same shows and actors are nominated, the same shows and actors are snubbed, and the same few take home the prizes. The problem is not only the predictability of the awards but also the nominated shows. The Emmys are now dominated by Cable shows viewed by a minority of the general public, such as Mad Men and Breaking Bad, while science-fiction or supernaturally themed shows have often been excluded from the ceremony, regardless of critical reception and popular demand.  The result has been a ratings slide, with last year’s broadcast of the Awards being named the “Least-watched Emmy telecast ever”, garnering only 12.2 million viewers.

Any TV enthusiast who watched last year’s Emmy telecast knows that things couldn’t possibly get any worse.  The show was hosted by the five nominees in a new category, Best Reality/Reality Competition Host, and by the end of the evening all five had proved themselves undeserving of any such award. This year they hope to change all that with a popular and proven host, the elimination of some smaller categories from the broadcast, and some popular first-time nominees.  Here’s 5 reasons why this year’s Emmy Awards just might be legendary:

Neil Patrick Harris

He’s the Host with the Most, an affable comedian who has already hosted numerous awards shows including the TV Land Awards and The Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards.  Harris is multi-talented, able to sing and dance as well as act, and he comes complete with a fan-base from his roles in the popular CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the Internet sensation Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Additionally, he’s not just the host, but also the co-producer of the show!

He told Popwatch, “I feel like it’s my job to honor the show, so I don’t feel like it’s a big showcase for me. In fact, I feel like if I showcase myself too much, it’s a detriment to me. Because it’s the Emmys that you’re watching. You’re not watching Neil Patrick Harris at the Emmys.”  It’s a nice sentiment but I disagree.  This TV enthusiast, at least, will be watching Neil Patrick Harris at the Emmys and enjoying every moment of it.

Tabitha and Napoleon

Fans of So You Think You Can Dance are familiar with lyrical hip hop choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo, affectionately known as ‘Nappytabs’. The duo, nominated for an Outstanding Choreography Emmy this year for their memorable piece “Bleeding Love”, lost to joint winners Rob Ashford and fellow Dance choreographer Tyce Diorio at the Creative Arts Emmys. However, Nappytabs have choreographed a segment honouring dance in reality television for tonight’s show.  Who will be dancing in this segment?  Well one of my favourite Dance competitors Mark Kanemura for one, as well as fellow Dance contestants Joshua Allen and Katee Shean.  They will be joined by Dancing With The Stars‘ Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chermkovskiy.

PC Announces

You’d have to have been living under a rock not to have seen the popular “I’m a Mac and I’m a PC” commercials.  “Mac” is played by actor Justin Long  (“I’m Just Not That Into You”), while “PC” is John Hodgman, who has a recurring role on The Daily Show as the “Resident Expert”.  Well Hodgman is taking on the role of announcer at tonight’s awards and in EW columnist Ausiello’s words he’ll be, “The guy that says, ‘This is Tony Shalhoub’s 74th nomination and 64th win.’” The plan is “to to have him not be entirely credible facts-wise — a la Hodgman’s Daily Show ‘expert.'”

Doctor Horrible at the Emmys

After Joss Whedon’s Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was nominated for an Emmy award in a new category, each fan hoped that with star Neil Patrick Harris hosting there would be a performance or reference of some kind. Yesterday Ausiello broke the news that Harris would headline a “Dr. Horrible-themed production number about midway through Sunday’s ceremony.”  Writer Zack Whedon posted the following on Whedonesque:

I’m not saying I know anything about this or was a part of writing it or that my name is Zack Whedon or anything but if I had to guess I’d say it was NOT going to be a production number but rather that The Bad Doctor was going to intercept the CBS feed to speak his mind. Just a guess though.

And @drhorrible recent tweets have talked about taking down the corporate propaganda machine, culminating in this tweet yesterday: “I’ve got it! I’ll use my interceptorizor to highjack the Emmy broadcast! Now if only I can find out when it is… February, right?”

I don’t need a Ph.D in Horribleness to say that this is great news!

Jeremy Piven isn’t Nominated

I haven’t actually watched Entourage, but even fans of the show have said that it has declined in quality over the past few seasons and Piven’s win for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy at last year’s awards was declared “Most Undeserved Emmy Awarded in 2008” by TWoP readers in this year’s Tubeys.  When Neil Patrick Harris won the A-List Actor Award at Bravo’s A-List Awards he even thanked Jeremy Piven for not being nominated! With Piven absent from the nominations at this year’s Emmys, this TV enthusiast hopes that the door is open for Harris to win his first Emmy for playing Barney Stinson.

The 61st Annual Emmy Awards air tonight at 8:00 PM EST on CBS.