Emmy Awesomeness: 'Mad Men,' 'Modern Family' and Fallon

"I love TV. I love watching TV. . . Let's have some fun tonight." -- Jimmy Fallon, Emmy host

I really enjoyed the Emmy show last night, mostly because of Jimmy Fallon. Starting with the fantastic "Born to Run" dance number -- Betty White! Jorge Garcia! Tina Fey! Jon Hamm! Even Wacky Kate Gosselin! Glee people! -- it felt fun and light.



Of course there was also that Modern Family/George Clooney skit. Loved it.



And Fallon's tribute to the shows which ended -- 24, Law & Order and Lost -- . . . classic. ("The island it was mythical, and in the end they died. I didn't understand it but I tried.")



As for the winners, well, before the awards show I'd written four words in my notebook: Modern Family, Mad Men. And they won best comedy and best drama. As it should be. As it was meant to be. (I was also supremely pleased that the season three finale of Mad Men got a writing award for "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." No offense, but I really didn't want the Lost series finale to win any writing awards. Yes, I'm still that bitter.)

I was surprised that the spectacular Bryan Cranston won another Emmy for Breaking Bad -- though he's amazing -- because he was up against some extremely stiff competition in Jon Hamm, Hugh Laurie, Matthew Fox (I don't blame him for the finale), Michael C. Hall and Kyle Chandler. And he was so very gracious in his victory. It was nice to see Cranston's co-star, Aaron Paul, also win, as he looked clearly stunned upon having beaten Terry "Smoke Monster" O'Quinn, Michael "Ben Linus" Emerson, John "Roger Sterling" Slattery and Andre Braugher.

The biggest mistake of the night came in the best supporting actress in a drama category. Don't get me wrong. I like Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife. She's intriguing. But there's no way her first season as Kalinda was superior to Elisabeth Moss' Peggy Olson on Mad Men.

What were your favorite/least favorite Emmy moments/awards?

Notes on Pop Culture: More Betty White Adoration, Carell & Rudd Mock Lebron, Bristol & Levi Again?

Another Reason to Love Betty White
Add to the many reasons why Ms White is deserving of affection include the answers to this Vanity Fair questionnaire:

Vanity Fair: What is the quality you most like in a man?

Betty White: Sense of romance.

VF: What is the quality you most like in a woman?

White: Sense of humor.

VF: What is your most treasured possession?

White: My golden retriever.

VF: What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

White: Big parties.

Carell & Rudd Mock Lebron's 'Decision'

I didn’t watch the ESPN Awards (even though I am a fan of Seth Meyers, who hosted the show) but I got a kick out of watching the video of Steve Carell and Paul Rudd lampooning Lebron James’ big “The Decision” ridiculousness.



Bristol and Levi: Tying the Knot?

“I’m here now and I’m gonna make it right,” Levi Johnston, who last year lampooned the Palin family, said of being with his ex-girlfriend and their son.

After last year’s tabloidesque insanity involving the Palin family and self-made rogue Levi Johnston – including Johnston posing with a photo cut-out/mask of Sarah Palin and dishing on all things intimate about his kid’s grandmother in Vanity Fair -- Levi “Playgirl” Johnston is now going to marry Bristol Palin?

Apparently so. And, to make this story even more unbelievable, the two lovebirds told Us Weekly before telling Sarah Palin.

In a statement, Bristol’s parents, Sarah and Todd Palin said: “"We obviously want what is best for our children, but Bristol is ultimately in charge of determining what is best for her and her beautiful son. Bristol believes in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice."

The elegantly snarky New York Times columnist Gail Collins said this news brings together all types of people to rally ‘round Sarah Palin:

“Johnston has proven to be the only person in the world who can make me feel sympathy for Sarah Palin. He told Us Weekly that he broached the subject of marrying Bristol at the same family meeting where he apologized to Sarah for telling the national news media that she was money-hungry, insensitive, a bad housekeeper, an indifferent mother and a bad shot.”

Image credits: Vanity Fair and Us Weekly.

Betty White Continues Her Campaign to Take Over TV, One Show at a Time

* Cross-posted on the Picket Fence Post *

When The Middle concluded its charming freshman season this week, it did so with a guest star turn by Betty White, shortly after she showed the other hosts of Saturday Night Live how it’s really done (and got blockbuster ratings to boot). Have I said that I want to be Betty White when I grow up?

Anyway, Betty played a strict elementary school librarian who was ticked that Brick hadn’t yet returned dozens of books to the school library and complained that when he did return them, they were covered with syrup and other sticky substances. (Full disclosure: My family has a checkered past when it comes to returning library books in a timely fashion. Needless to say, we do our part to support the town library with our fines. Right now, we have a DVD that’s waaaayyy overdue at the library, so much so that I’ve told my oldest boy that the late fee’s coming out of his college fund.)

On The Middle, Betty White’s librarian was so irritated with Brick that she threatened to prevent him from progressing to third grade, where he’d be taught how to write in cursive, if he didn’t bring back the 31 books he had checked out long ago. “You think you can make it out in the real world without cursive?” she asked him. “You can’t!”

'Lost' Showrunners List Top 10 'Spoilers' for Series Finale on Letterman

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman last night (looking a tad awkward) and read a Top Ten list of Lost “spoilers” for Sunday night’s big series finale.

The best entry was number five, read by a gloriously sinister-sounding Ben Linus (played by the wonderful Michael Emerson), saying, “I have to go to Target to get socks.” Seriously, you've gotta see it.

Second best “spoiler” was number seven: “Due to pressure from the internet, we’ve been forced to include Betty White.”

I say Betty White hooks up with the Smoke Monster in the final scene. Whaddya think?