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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Co-hosts Tom Bergeron (left) and William Shatner and Heidi Klum clown around at the start of the 60th Emmy Awards on Sunday.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Promises, promises, promises 9/23/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 Emmy show takes no awards By Jake Coyle Associated Press NEW YORK -- In reality television's first bid to attain awards show respectability, it looks like it failed. Sunday night's Emmys were a blunt dose of, well, reality for the brand of programming that often dominates its fictional, scripted brethren in the ratings. Its practitioners complain about a lack of respect from Hollywood's creative community, but did little when they had the chance to earn more. For its 60th show, the Emmys introduced a new category of best reality show host. The five nominees -- Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Ryan Seacrest and the eventual winner, Jeff Probst -- also hosted the awards. By unanimous decision, they bombed. Alluding to the unscripted nature of their shows, the five hosts opened the broadcast with a kind of nonmonologue and instead bantered as if having to kill time. "We are like on Sarah Palin's bridge to nowhere, that's where we are right now," Mandel said. "The government can't even bail us out of this. We have nothing." The reality hosts were at least self-deprecating, but the schtick -- or lack thereof -- received an icy reaction from the quiet crowd. Later, while accepting his award for best supporting actor in a comedy, Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") said, "What if I just kept talking for 12 minutes? What would happen? Oh wait, that was the opener." Critics have similarly pilloried the hosts. The Los Angeles Times called the opening "unforgivably bad" and said, "If we come away with nothing else from this year's Emmys, let us all agree that having a host with some experience actually entertaining people is not a luxury, it's a necessity." Reality television, of course, has long been regarded as a scourge to quality programming. But Seacrest's show, "American Idol," averages nearly 30 million viewers. Bergeron's "Dancing with the Stars" pulls in more than 20 million. Emmy voters, however, went in the opposite direction. "30 Rock" cleaned up with best comedy, best actress in a comedy (Tina Fey) and best supporting actor in a comedy (Alec Baldwin) despite the relatively low rating of 6.4 million viewers. AMC's "Mad Men," which won best drama, doesn't even draw 1 million. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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