I used to follow up every Oscar telecast by chiding the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences for their omissions in the annual “In Memoriam” segment, which were often egregious. (How do you snub the likes of Harry Morgan and Stella Stevens?) I never did the same with the Emmys because I never watch the Emmys, but it has occurred to me that increasingly that awards show is more indicative of the state of American culture than the Oscars. Movies are going the way of live theater (Gee, thanks Wuhan virus!), and given the incompetence and political arrogance of Hollywood, it’s not the tragedy I once would have thought it was.
I found a special treat in the comment by AM Golden about this weekend’s Emmy Awards broadcast, as I saw an Emmys version of my annual Oscar posts! Here’s that Comment of the Day on the post “Comment of the Day: Ethics Dunce And Unethical Quote of the Week: Emmy Winner Hannah Einbinder, Plus Another ‘Nah, There’s No Mainstream Media Bias’ Moment by the Times…”. I’ll have a few comments at the end…
***
Does anyone care about these awards anymore? Does anyone know any of the actors nominated?
As is my tradition, I skipped the ceremony and watched the In Memoriam this morning. I do this to grumpily catalog how many deaths were overlooked.
45 deaths were showcased during the 6 m 53 s segment (which technically ended at the 6 m 31 s mark when the Honored Position of Quincy Jones faded off the screen. The In Memoriam section began with Phylicia Rashad paying tribute to the late actor Malcolm Jamal Warner who played her son on The Cosby Show. The remaining 44 names and photos were serenaded by Vince Gill and Lainey Wilson in an overtly Christian song that may explain why there was virtually no audible applause or cheers from the audience, save for Ozzy Osbourne.
The scroll paused to focus on Gill and Wilson singing multiple times. It was the 2 m 21 s mark before the scroll began. It paused again from 2 m 53 s to 3 m 7 s, 4 m 0 s to 4 m 35 s and 5 m 44 s to 5 m 57 s. At least a full minute where the deceased were ignored.
Which might have been time to include:
Wayne Osmond – appeared in variety shows, including his siblings Donny and Marie.
Bob Uecker – from “Mr. Belvedere”
John Lawlor – from “The Facts of Life”
Clive Revill – character actor
Wings Hauser – character actor
Jay North – former child actor “Dennis the Menace”
Jean Marsh – actress and host
Phil Robertson – reality show star (don’t complain – they included TV Chef Anne Burrell)
Jonathan Joss – Native American actor and voice actor
Harris Yulin – character actor
Rick Hurst – from “The Dukes of Hazzard”
Hulk Hogan – TV Wrestler
Dave Ketchum – Agent 13 from “Get Smart!’
Earl Holliman – longtime actor – “Police Woman” and the first episode of “The Twilight Zone”!
Tony Todd – character actor
Jack Jones – singer (he sang the theme to “The Love Boat”!)
Nicholas Pryor – character actor
_______________
I’m back for a few notes.
Leaving out Phil Robertson, an outspoken and controversial conservative, feels suspicious to me. Omitting Jay North, a troubled child star who was nonetheless the lead actor in an iconic and popular sitcom (though not a very good one), seems cruel. I don’t understand the snub of Earl Holliman at all: “Police Woman” was a very popular series and he was its co-star; he also was far from a one-hit wonder, with roles in other series and many guest appearances on dramas, comedies, variety shows (Earl could sing) and game shows. And Jean Marsh! “Upstairs Downstairs” was PBS’s first widely popular series, and the obvious inspiration for “Downton Abbey.” Marsh was the shows break-out star.
I have to add that describing the brilliant Clive Revill as just a “character actor” gives me a pang. I’m guessing he was snsubbed because his TV work was subordinate to his real career as a Broadway and West End musical comedy star. Revill was Fagin in the original production of “Oliver!” and outstanding in the role. he also was a stellar Gilbert and Sullivan performer, playing all of the comic patter baritone roles—Ko-Ko, Sir Joseph, Major General Stanley and the rest—with elan.
Ethics Alarms 
And Revill was in an episode of “Columbo” and played Guy of Gisborne in an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”! (He was also the voice of the Emperor in the original edition of “The Empire Strikes Back”).
I think that a lot of these people were left off because their time had come and gone so the showrunners didn’t think audiences would remember them. Lousy reason but the Emmys and the Oscars trying to become relevant in order to appeal to modern audiences may be behind idiotic decisions like this. It’s obviously not the time constraints that are always blamed when people complain.
There’s no excuse for leaving off Holliman. And aren’t these people up in the air over cuts to PBS? Acknowledging Jean Marsh’s death could have given an opportunity to remind viewers of PBS programming successes. Jonathan Joss was hilarious on “Parks and Recreation” as the modern self-aware Ken Hotate who knew when to play the Native American card. I thought diversity was important!
And there were so many behind-the-scenes industry people this time. They can’t really defend including entertainment lawyers in the segment and leave out the singer of one of television’s most memorable theme songs.
And Jones was one of Ed Sullivan’s favorite guest singers, as well as a frequent guest on all the other variety shows of the Sixties and early Seventies. A dead genre now…
Leaving out Bob Uecker seems just a bit outside!
jvb
PWS
My favorite professor and very good friend was a student of actors and actresses. I think he fell in love with actresses as a young boy and even married one. Frederick R. Wagner. I think the book he wrote, which is out of print, is called “American Actors and Actresses.” Serious fans and followers of actors and actresses are a unique group. Kind of fascinating.
Me, I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to tell good acting from bad.
However, I will say, Meryl Streep has always driven me crazy. All she seems to be able to do is play Meryl Streep and turn everything she does into a Meryl Streep movie.
A propos of nothing, Robert Redford passed away.
jvb
Which has been pretty duly noted. They guys on Pardon the Interruption even did a short segment. Hard to believe a guy with those boyish looks ever turned almost ninety. I had forgotten he starred in “Downhill Racer,” which contains perhaps the greatest sports announcing line ever, read by Kurt Gowdy (who was really a groundbreaking announcer in that he did everything) playing himself: “Here we are in the kind of small European town for which Europe is famous.”
I’m a PTI guy, as well. It’s too bad Wilbon sees RAYcism behind every nook-n-cranny, am I right?
PWS
Could be worse, I suppose. I haven’t noticed it in him. I guess I give him slack because he’s apparently resident in The Valley of the Sun. Wilbon is certainly not a Jason Whitlock.
Curt’s best film performance was in the baseball sequence in “The Naked Gun.” My dad was friends with him. Apparently a genuinely nice guy.
From Wyoming, as I recall, and cut from different cloth.
“Three Days of the Condor” is probably my favorite Redford movie.
Just watched it again last night. Of course “The Natural” is my HOF Redford film, but “Butch Cassidy” is a close second. I thought Redford was a better director than he was an actor–narrow range, but excellent within that range.