Not sure why poorly rated award shows try to be something they are not. The Tony's are not the Oscars no matter how many movie stars they shove on stage. The Daytime Emmys last night were part Tony's, part Grammy's and part infomercial. What they were not was a night celebrating daytime television.
Lets start with Regis Philbin. I like him in the mornings from time to time but really he was quite bad as a host. His act was quite Vegas, but the Vegas of a few decades ago. He seemed to even embarrass Susan Lucci which I am guessing is not that difficult of a task. Add to that writers who wrote such stunning intros as 'Here is A presenter who really cooks' Rachael Ray. Really, someone paid them for that...
The first 20 minutes of the show was basically a tribute to Dick Clark. I know Clark is known mostly for his work on Daytime, this really belonged on the Prime Time Emmys. Firstly it may have attracted more high profile talent. (Although Chubby can still do the twist). Secondly the acts for the most part were so old the whole tribute reminded me more of a commercial for a Time Life CD pack. Felt as long as one too.
Add to that performances by The Lion King and Blue Man Group (really???),the show, seemed thrown together with the someone giving the direction to play down everything remotely connected to soap operas. With the recent cancellation of yet another soap (As The World Turns) soaps are on the endangered species list for sure. Although I don't currently watch any myself, I think maybe what the show needed to do was actually highlight and promote the best of Daytime. When the show that honors a medium treats it with so little respect it is no wonder so does everybody else.
Above: Congrats to Billy Miller!
