Ask Matt: Underwhelmed by The Emmys
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, but there’s always closed-captioning.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] and follow me on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush). Look for Ask Matt columns on many Tuesdays and some Fridays.
The Emmys Show Deserved Its Low Rating
Question: Is anyone surprised that the Emmys hit an all-time ratings low this year? Besides the fact that it aired on a Monday, the tone of the show was off from the start, with a dismal production number — did they know this wasn’t the Tonys?—and an announcer who couldn’t even pronounce Mariska Hargitay’s name accurately but had to share how hot she thought some of the presenters were? So childish. Rushing the winners off stage in favor of stupid comedy bits was so unappealing I stopped caring who even won. Thankfully, Sheryl Lee Ralph had her big moment early in the night. She was the best reason to watch! — Disgruntled Debbie in Chicago
Matt Roush: These are all fair points, although NBC has no choice but to air the ceremony on a weeknight because of its Sunday Night Football contract. However, I can’t explain why producers of these shows think we want to hear the announcer do anything more than get better-known talent on and off the stage, and Sam Jay was a constant irritant throughout. For me, the low point of the night came when The Dropout’s Amanda Seyfried spent most of her time panicking about how to be thankful for her win when the countdown clock kept flashing. Shameful. If there’s anything good to come out of this year’s Emmys show, it’s that the Sheryl Lee Ralph showstopper may bring an even bigger audience to Abbott Elementary when it returns next week. (Ahem, the true best comedy on TV, no disrespect intended to Ted Lasso and the others.)
Show Respect for the Departed
Question: How can we get back to the way In Memoriam segments used to be done at awards shows? Since it’s a memorial, I want to see the pictures of the people being honored. I don’t want a production number or to have the cameras pull back to show the audience or the singer/band/etc. — Karen
Matt Roush: Couldn’t agree more. I’m OK if they show the celebrity who is performing the song at the start and end of the montage, but anytime the camera cuts away from the names and faces of those who died in the last year, providing a wide shot that makes it harder to see who the honorees are, it’s a mistake. The moment should belong to them and to no one else. The Emmy show is hardly the only culprit here.
Are Broadcast Network Shows Doomed at the Emmys?
Comment: Reaction to Monday’s show: They’re never gonna give a best series Emmy to a broadcast network show again. — Marc
Matt Roush: I’m not sure I agree, though I was also disappointed, though not surprised, that Abbott Elementary couldn’t capitalize on its writing and performing wins with a best-series triumph. In the days of yore, when network shows ruled and they competed with each other and not to just get noticed in the shadow of premium cable and streaming giants, we used to lament that a first-year show rarely had a chance to upset veteran winners. Now it’s an uphill climb to get into the race at all. I still believe that Abbott will continue to get recognized with nominations and it could actually prevail in the years to come. But then, when you see how the Emmy voters failed even to recognize a breakthrough drama like This Is Us in its historic final season, it’s hard not to be pessimistic.
Will All Rise Rise Again?
Question: I want to ask about the show All Rise, starring Simone Missick as a Black judge. The original network (CBS) canceled it and OWN picked it up. But then it disappeared again. Did OWN cancel it also? Is there any chance that it will be back? – L Marlar
Matt Roush: Not to worry. OWN picked up the series for an initial 20-episode season, which has been split into two. The first 10 episodes aired from June through early August, and 10 more are expected to air sometime in the new year. Whether OWN will renew it beyond this season remains to be seen.
Spoiler Alert: Monarch’s Fallen Star
Question: Without revealing any spoilers, [SPOILER ALERT] does the fantastic Susan Sarandon appear in more episodes (likely flashbacks) this season on Fox’s new drama Monarch? I realize she won’t be a main character like during the pilot, but I hope we at least get glimpses of her here and there. She is by far the best actress on the show. The younger daughter is a wonderful singer. I’ll probably stick with this trashy show like I did with Queens last season. — Fred
Matt Roush: Monarch could stand to be trashier. Here I repeat, this discussion is a spoiler alert for those who’ve not yet sampled the first episode of Monarch. (Definition of spoiler: Discussing plot twists before they air. Fox has already aired this episode several times, so … not truly a spoiler.) I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that, despite the events of the first episode, you will still see Sarandon from time to time in upcoming episodes. You’ll also see Sarandon’s actual daughter, Eva Amurri, playing a younger version of Dottie Roman in flashbacks. I’ll be curious how viewers who might have expected Sarandon to be the actual star of the show will react to this turn of events.
And Finally …
Comment: I’m not real happy about Disney hijacking ABC through their ownership. They seem to be on a mission to move the more popular shows to their own streaming service, leaving the crappier fare for the people not willing to pay the price on top of their already excessive cable bill. I’m losing my rosy thoughts about that gang which peaked with the Mickey Mouse Club back in the middle ’50s. — The old-timer, Dick F, Plymouth, Michigan
Matt Roush: I can just hear the old chant now: “Who’s the leader of the club? M-O-N-E-Y” as the House that Mickey Built experiences a public relations crisis with the move of Dancing with the Stars next week to Disney+ exclusively. My mailbag continually spikes with outrage over this and the move earlier this week of NBC’s Days of Our Lives to streaming. I expect the trend won’t end here, but the cold hard fact is that the traditional network and cable economies are more challenged than ever by the digital streaming revolution, and it’s the consumers and viewers currently caught in the middle.
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter @TVGMMattRoush. (Please include a first name with your question.)
Conversation12 Comments
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Stopped watching years ago when “ The Americans” Keri Russell was snubbed year after year while lesser performances were rewarded year after year. Let’s be honest: after season three of “The Handmaids Tale”, did Elizabeth Moss really deserve all those nominations for an essentially “ Johnny One Note” performance? Also, how is an actress like Caitriona Balfe egregiously overlooked while doing some of the best work on television! She and Sam Heughan ,on “Outlander”, have been keeping Starz afloat for years … a thankless task, I reckon The Emmy show is an antediluvian relic in an age of multi- platform venues that are available to audiences now. No one cares one wit what the Emmy nominating committee thinks is worthy. Folks decide for themselves. The show, itself, is still wedded to the Bob Hope model: stale jokes, execrable hosts and endless inanity. The cratering ratings reflect just what a cheesy spectacle the show has become.
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Every year, I have to ask “are these real shows?” In a 3-network world, it’s not like I watched every show, but I’d at least have HEARD of them.
If NBC can’t air the show on Sunday, they shouldn’t be the network airing the show.
Not only did Sam Jay (the Karine Jean-Pierre of announcers) mispronounce Mariska Hargitay, she blew the Mel Brooks joke. “Tragedy is if I cut my finger; comedy is if YOU fall in an open manhole and die.” She read it without any inflection, but the joke relies on stressing “I” and “you.” (Ironic that in a culture obsessed with pronouns, she missed that the pronouns are the key to the joke.)
These shows need some consistency about speech length. Michael Keaton was allowed to speak forever, while Jennifer Coolidge was played off rather quickly.
Karen is correct about In Memoriam. Award shows have been doing the “show the live audience WATCHING the names instead of the NAMES.” It’s disrespectful to the people they are trying to honor. (I think the Grammys still get it right, because they'll show some people's performances during the roll.)
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I look forward to the day when the broadcast networks refuse to carry the Emmys. Why should they carry a show that only promotes streaming shows? If you're almost never going to nominate broadcast shows, let Amazon stream it.
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Despite the vast amount of money spent on them & all the industry buzz, the bottom line, I believe remains the same about all of the streaming services & their shows-they simply don't have the same attraction that the network shows did. And this year's Emmy's, w/a very few exceptions, showcased only those streaming shows. If none of the shows a viewer cares about is nominated, why spend the time watching the Emmys?
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I am glad I've never cared about these award shows. If I like a show I watch. If I don't like a show I don't watch. Hearing about a shows win has never made me start watching a show. I understand it maybe matters to the actors on the show but I don't know the actors and it doesn't change my life if they win an award.
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I agree with Disgruntled Debbie.......the only Pros I saw were the martins (Steve and Short) and Gomez- rest of the show very amateurish.
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Emmys-bashing (like Oscars-bashing) is a great American past time. The day after the telecast ppl generally have some not nice things to say. How can we not? There’s a plethora of things to critique and opine on 🙂 Deserving nominees who didn’t win, the host, musical and comedy numbers etc.
This year, along with many it seems, I’m in the camp who thought the emcee was irritating. I seriously almost turned the show off because of her. Between ‘the too much personality’ emcee and the DJ playing Uptown Funk it felt like being at a (bad) wedding reception. Sam Jay writes for SNL so guess that’s how she got the gig.
Kenan is a journeyman entertainer and did a journeyman job. Adequate, sometimes good and next year no one will remember who hosted this year (quick!- who hosted last year?…just looked it up: Cedric the entertainer). I’ve noticed in recent Emmy telecasts that the host seems to do some heavy lifting to get the show rolling, then disappears for long stretches. When Pete Davidson gave some shoutouts to Kenan near the end it reminded me we hadn’t seen Kenan in quite a while. Miss the days of great hosts who truly ‘host’ being fed real time one liners by backstage comedy writers.
I had no big issues with the comedy interludes (other than the emcee) and production numbers, save one: In Memoriam. As addressed in Ask Matt- it’s not about the musical guest singing what’s supposed to be background music. It’s about the ppl being honored.
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I watched the show but it was recorded so I could fast forward in the spots I didn't care about. That actually happened a lot. First of all, I do not subscribe to anything other than cable. So any of the pay per view shows I didn't care about and I didn't even watch. As far as Abbot Elementary, I have watched this show but I just can stomach the character that wone best supporting actress. That show is sort of like The Office. I can watch maybe 1 or 2 episodes then I just cant handle tall of the stuff going on in the show. I can admire the actress for her acting but not for the show.
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When they finally nominate Outlander and it's outstanding cast, I will watch the Emmys again. Have not even seen 90 of the shows nominated. Who the heck are the nominating committee??
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I know that everyone is entitled to an opinion. And here is mine.
I watched the entire first season of Abbott Elementary. In fact, I gave up on it after three or four episodes but was convinced by friends to give it a second chance. I did this years ago with The Office as well and watched that full first season.
Well, just like the extremely overrated The Office, I will not be watching Season Two of Abbott Elementary. The show -- very simply -- is not funny. I just don't see how it can get all the praise that it receives. Mind-boggling is the best way to describe my reaction to all the good reviews that AE gets.
Oh well, like I said, everyone is entitled to an opinion.
Looking forward to the season premieres of Young Sheldon and Ghosts, the two best sitcoms on network TV with YS much higher up on the list that Ghosts.
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Dancing with the Stars is supposed to be a good show that they put on Disney + ? Sounds like they're putting the trashy shows on D+. What's next? All the Housewives junk?
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I’ll miss not having Dancing With The Stars on ABC .
Loved watching it live.
ABC still has some terrific programs. This season I plan on watching these ABC shows:
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
Celebrity Jeopardy
The Chase
The Rookie
Rookie FEDS (sample)
Good Doctor
A Million Little Things
Big Sky
Station 19
Grey’s Anatomy
Alaska Daily (sample)
Avalon (sample)
The Company You Keep (sample)
Will Trent (sample)
The Conners
Abbot Elementary
and occasionally
The Goldbergs
Home Economics
Will sample Not Dead Yet,
and last but not least
American Idol!!
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