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: Depressing 'FNL,' Meanest Anti-'Lost' Finale Tweets, 'Eat Pray Love' & 'The Philadelphia Story'

*Warning, spoilers ahead from the recent episode of Friday Night Lights.*

FNL’s Depressing Episode

Fifteen-year-old Becky Sproles’ abortion on Friday Night Lights’ – a choice fully supported and, in fact, insisted upon by her mother Cheryl – continues to haunt Tami Taylor, even though Tami neither advised Becky to terminate her pregnancy nor did she advocate that Becky do anything other than talk with her mother.

Somehow, the baby daddy’s mother, Margaret Cafferty, got it into her head that the abortion was all Tami’s idea and that since Margaret didn’t get to speak with Becky while Becky was still pregnant, Tami is the one who has to pay. In the latest episode, “Laboring,” Margaret had taken the false story to the newspaper, resulting in Tami getting attacked in an article with her photo next to it, accusing her of pushing Becky into having an abortion. After the article's publication, Tami received phone calls at home calling her a “baby killer” and telling her she’s going to rot in hell (even though she pointedly told Becky, who’d asked Tami if she’d go to hell for having an abortion, that she didn’t think Becky would burn in hell). Tami got picketed at school with signs, while the school board pressured her to publicly apologize of her “inappropriate behavior,” even though she didn’t do anything inappropriate.

Sure, there's a big football game coming up between the two rival Dillon teams and Eric is all worked up about it – fielding his own hate-filled, taunting phone calls, hearing the mean-spirited trash talk and seeing his car covered with graffiti -- but between Tami’s situation and poor Vince’s, where he bravely stood up to a gang member who wanted him to help him kill a rival who gunned down one of their friends . . . never mind that Billy Riggins became a daddy at roughly the same time he and his younger brother Tim were hauled to jail for running a chop shop, and the East versus West game seemed like a minor concern by comparison, except for that heartbreaking scene where the spoiled heathens from West Dillon ransacked the East Dillon field, knowing full well that East Dillon doesn’t have the money to repair it. That was truly sad, particularly because it seems like the odious brats will get away with it.



Meanest Anti-Lost Finale Tweets Sent to Lindelof

During a the TV Critics Association Awards over the weekend, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof accepted an award for best drama series by sharing a handful of the nastier tweets he received after the show’s controversial finale (I still cannot discuss the finale rationally), New York Magazine reported. Among them:

“Hey, douche! Instead of backpacking in Europe or whatever the f_*& you’re doing, how about you give me six years of my life back?”

AND

“Has anyone accused you of being an emotional terrorist yet? And research these words: closure and actual explanations.”

Eat Pray Love: The Eating Portion

Having just dispensed with The Help last week (I couldn’t stop thinking about Betty Draper’s housekeeper/nanny Carla, who we saw for the first time last night), I’m now onto Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I completed the Italy section over the weekend and, I must say, I developed an immense desire to consume copious amounts of fresh, authentic Italian fare and wash it down with a fabulous glass of red wine while reading it.

And while I dabble in yoga – try to take classes intermittently – I can’t envision that reading about the India portion of Gilbert’s trip is going to compel me to pull out my yoga mat and meditate every morning. (It’d be kind of impossible, the notion of meditating, what with the three kids who live here in the house, including the one who likes to wake up at the crack of dawn and follow people around.)

The Philadelphia Story

My 9-year-old son had a friend sleep over our house the other night and for entertainment, the two of them chose to watch the Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin for the umpteenth time because they so adore watching Martin mispronounce “hamburger” while affecting a French accent.

Since I didn’t think I could sit through it again (actually, I think I’ve only watched portions of it), I, opted to retreat to my room to watch The Philadelphia Story for the umpteenth time without having to listen anyone whine, “Mooom, this is so borrrr-ing!).” Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, they never get old. Plus having Stewart portray a not-well-paid writer, well, that hits a note with me.

Two TV-Centric Posts: 'Rescue Me' and Me as an All-Powerful Emmy Goddess

I’ve got two new posts up on CliqueClack TV today, the first is a review of last night’s episode of Rescue Me where Tommy Gavin publicly proclaimed that he was giving up drinking – AGAIN – and was going to be a better man, a better husband and a better dad. And everyone laughed in his face, not buying it, while his wife Janet told him that he'd transformed her into a cynical, negative person. Then by the end -- and this is hardly a spoiler if you've actually watched Tommy over the years -- he raised a hefty glass of whiskey and declared that the world was "not cooperating" with attempts to stay sober.

Now his eldest daughter Colleen is apparently following in his boozy footsteps and he’s helplessly inept when it comes to giving her guidance.

The second blog post is my wish list of TV shows and actors/actress who I think should get Emmy nominations when they’re announced tomorrow morning. I can summarize my go-with-the-heart picks with four words: Mad, Men, Modern and Family.

And no, Lost is not on the list for best drama because I’m still holding a grudge over that series finale debacle thing which still has me feeling as though watching the final season was a complete waste of time. (As more time passes, I find myself getting angrier about the whole mess.)

Image credit: FX via New York Magazine.

For Still-Disgruntled ‘Lost’ Fans: An Alternate Ending

Entertainment Weekly today posted a video created by the folks who run the “How It Should Have Ended” web site who've come up with an “alternative” ending for the Lost series.


The video – which is only currently available on the Entertainment Weekly’s site -- possesses just the right amount of snark and sarcasm which is still lurking in the hearts of die-hard fans who were deeply disappointed by the grotesque lack of closure in the series finale.

Image credit: Howitshouldhaveended.com via Entertainment Weekly.

Did Lindelof Tweet a Response to 'Lost' Finale Criticism?

One of the many folks I follow on Twitter is Damon Lindelof, one of the two creators/showrunners/master gurus behind Lost.

As many of you know, the series finale which aired last month was controversial. There were those fans who adored its heavenly conclusion, while others (including yours truly) observed that while it may have been emotionally satisifying, intellectually, it felt like a cop-out because it failed to address some of the series' major questions.

In the weeks leading up to the finale, Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said they'd go "radio silent" after the finale was aired.

Then I saw this Tweet today from Lindelof, ostensibly referencing the longest ever Wimbledon match (11+ hours) between Nicolas Manhut and John Isner which finally ended today with Isner prevailing:

"I found the ending of Isner/Mahut satisfying, but wish they had answered more questions."

A response to the criticism of the Lost finale? Hmm, sounds like it to me.

Lindelof's irony aside, I thought his Tweet about the tennis match was almost as good as Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers who Tweeted, "Mahut just didn't want it enough."