The 2010 Emmys deliver, thanks to Jimmy Fallon and company

I love Emmy night. Most people I come into contact with on a regular basis don't understand the fierce passion I have when it comes to Emmy nominations, wins and the broadcast itself. After last year's show was fairly terrible, I was concerned about whether I'd be impressed again, and I certainly was (yes, NBC did something right).

This year's epic opener kind of proves why I love the Emmys so.



Jon Hamm and Betty White shimmying. Perfect song choice. Joel McHale being Joel McHale (side note: I loved that the Emmys used Joel liberally throughout the show, yet never nominated Community for anything). Jimmy and Tina Fey bringing back their adorable chemistry from their Weekend Update days (but, Tina, don't try to sing, please). Lea Michele not making me gag. If that alone doesn't make the Emmys worth watching, I don't understand how you can call yourself a television fan. For God's sake, they made you laugh at Kate Gosselin without hating her. That's quite the feat.

This year really provided a lot of fantastic moments. My second favorite?



Jimmy's dead-on impression of Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day, during his tribute to LOST. While I love TV, I'm also a very devoted Green Day fan, so I nearly fell out of my chair in a combination of laughter and giddiness. Just ask anyone at the BG News, who put up with my reactions to the awards all evening long.

I know a lot of people hate Jimmy, but I think he delivered tonight. He played to his strengths but he didn't dominate the show.

Now, to the actual winners.

I was impressed with the comedy wins. I love 30 Rock, but I can handle them losing, especially to a show like Modern Family. I've expressed my feelings about Glee here before, and I just think that they won the awards they deserved, mainly Jane Lynch. I expected vote-splitting for the three Modern Family nominees in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category, but I'm happy Eric Stonestreet took it (actually, I would have been happy with anyone but Jon Cryer). I strongly believe that in terms of consistency, cast excellence and comedic value, Modern Family is a far superior show to Glee. I have no complaints about it winning, even if it isn't 30 Rock. It's time for some new blood. As for one Modern Family complaint? I wasn't wowed by the pilot episode, which earned Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan an Emmy tonight. 30 Rock's Anna Howard Shaw day, written by Matt Hubbard, was a better episode.

Edie Falco won for her wonderful performance on Nurse Jackie, making her the first woman to win for both comedy and drama acting categories. I would have liked to have seen Amy Poehler (who looked amazing so soon after having her baby) win, so it would help the woefully under-viewed Parks and Recreation, but there's no denying that Edie is great. Due to my inherent bias against CBS comedies, I haven't seen the Big Bang Theory, so I don't know about how deserving Jim Parsons win was. Like with the suppporting actor category, I was just happy it wasn't Larry David, Tony Shalhoub or Matthew Morrison.

As for guest actors, I was impressed. As much as I love and adore Will Arnett, Neil Patrick Harris was great on Glee, and Betty White's win for SNL was also well-deserved. John Lithgow for Dexter was a no-brainer, too.

Now, for drama. Mad Men won once again, over Dexter's amazing season four. As I've said before, Mad Men may be a show that's well executed, but it would have been nice to see Dexter rewarded for its stellar season. Likewise, I'm frustrated Michael C. Hall lost for Outstanding Actor. Yet, since he lost to Bryan Cranston, who put forth a great body of work this year on Breaking Bad (even if the season was a little inconsistent), who has deserved his three consecutive awards.

The award that brought me the most joy, though, was seeing Aaron Paul win for Outstanding Supporting Actor for Breaking Bad. He was just astounding to watch this season. I loved hearing the insane amount of applause for him and his speech was so heartfelt. I'd say it's a three-way tie between him, Edie Falco and Eric Stonestreet for favorite speeches tonight.

(I'm ashamed to say that I'm very unfamiliar with the nominees for the dramatic actresses. However, just because I do root for the underdogs, it would have been nice to see Connie Britton take home the award. I have seen a scant few Friday Night Lights episodes, and her work impressed me.)

Lord knows I love the Daily Show and Jon Stewart, but I wish Conan O'Brien or Stephen Colbert and their respective shows could have won instead, if only so we could have actually received an acceptance speech for them. Conan's nomination intro was pretty humorous too, and it was wonderful seeing him in the audience, strike/unemployment beard still in tact.

Another highlight? Ricky Gervais, as always. It was silly for NBC to book him to host this year's Golden Globes, a show where the host does little work. This isn't meant as a dig at Jimmy, because I think he did great, but the Emmys are what Ricky is made to host. A low light, however, was seeing Jason Sudeikis bring January Jones as his date. I don't care too much about celebrities' private lives, but I just find January to be boring and basic (put on display during her awful SNL episode), especially compared to his ex-wife, the hilarious and gorgeous Kay Cannon (who was nominated tonight for 30 Rock). It's just one of those couples that baffles me.

Alright, I've rambled on long enough about the Emmys, but I just love them so. What did everyone else think were highlights and low points? Any red carpet mishaps I missed? Seriously, if there were any awful/hilarious/amazing red carpet moments, please let me know. I had to work, so I was only able to watch the show on a stream online, and it was hard enough to pay attention to them, I didn't have time to watch red carpet shows, either.

For a list of winners, click here.

Brian Williams returns to the Daily Show

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to update in a while. School and the BG News are dominating my life right now. I don't have as much time as I'd like to update in depth as I'd like. And, the saddest part? I will have to miss the Emmys this Sunday. It's pathetic, really, how depressed I am about this!

In the meantime, I would like to highlight Brian Williams' appearance on the Daily Show Tuesday night. Even when talking about morose topics such as the death of Brian's father and Hurricane Katrina, BriWi-Jonny Stew moments are some of my favorite parts of television today.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Brian Williams
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Weeds: It's all been done

Season six of Showtime's hit show Weeds premiered last night, and while it wasn't a poor episode, I couldn't help but feel like the writers just played a game of "search and replace" with the scripts of past seasons.

For those who have yet to catch up with season five, here's a bit of a recap: Nancy is pregnant with Esteban's child. A woman from Esteban's past, Pilar, comes into his life and attempts to run his political campaign as a Mexican governor. Seeing Nancy, Silas and Shane as toxic assets to Esteban's career, she attempts to have Nancy killed. Esteban attempts to have Nancy quietly deliver the baby at home (so that Nancy can be killed with no record of the birth), but Nancy and Andy go to Dr. Audra Kitson (Alanis Morissette) and deliver the baby with Andy's name on the birth certificate. Andy and Audra begin dating, and he proposes to her. However, he bails on Audra when her stalker breaks into her home and kidnaps her.

Esteban and Nancy make up and marry, but Pilar is still out for blood. At a campaign party for Esteban, she tells Nancy that Silas and Shane are unnecessary and detrimental towards Esteban's political career, and threatens to have them killed. Shortly after, Shane attacks Pilar with a croquet mallet and she falls into the nearby pool and bleeds to death.

And that's not even describing the plots of the secondary characters such as Doug and Celia (although, with Elizabeth Perkins gone, who knows if that will happen). So, there's a lot going on when "Thwack" opens.

The problem I had with the episode is that I felt as though I saw everything before. Back at the end of season two, Celia attempted to have Silas arrested for dealing pot. While there wasn't a threat on Silas' life in that case, it was the first thing that popped in my mind when Pilar threatened them. Nancy's lifestyle, both her family dynamic and business model, were being threatened. The same thing happened again; the boys were used as collateral in Nancy's life.

After Pilar is murdered, Nancy rushes home and packs up the bare essentials and abandons the house, much like the season three finale, where Nancy burns the Agrestic house down. Shane tells Silas about how he killed Pilar, and says he feels no differently about himself. She realizes she needs Andy's van to flee, and heads to his home, where Audra is tied up by her pro-life, evangelical, crossbow-yielding stalker. Gee, Andy's girlfriend is in harm's way thanks to a violent man chasing after her ... this sounds an awful lot like Zooey Deschanel's Kat being chased by Abumchuck the bounty hunter in season two/three. I just wish the plot line with Audra was as funny as Kat and Abumchuck's was.

Eventually, thanks to Nancy, the stalker is subdued, and Audra is furious with Andy. She breaks up with him and tells him that he should just leave with Nancy, which he does somewhat begrudgingly. Andy finds out about Shane, and doesn't express much shock. The episode ends with the gang leaving town, and a cliched "serial killer rear view mirror" moment with Nancy seeing Shane in the mirror.

Weeds has been one of those where it seems as though nothing and everything happen all at once, and this episode was a perfect example. It seemed slow (maybe due to the deja vu), yet it's obviously acting as the catalyst for everything that's going to happen this season. However, instead of fleeing to Mexico like in the lackluster season four, it seems as though the Botwins will not stay in more than one place for long. Hopefully that will help the show stay fresh. I just hope we still hear from everyone holding down the fort at home, too. It's a shame that Elizabeth Perkins left the show, because I will miss Celia. However, I hope the show finds a way to keep her family in the show. Because as Nancy continues to put herself and her family in danger, I'm finding it more difficult to sympathize with her.

Yet, I'm fascinated by Shane. Considering all of the things that have gone wrong in his life, I'm surprised he isn't more violent or troubled. Plus, one could argue that his killing of Pilar was in self-defense. Then again, maybe said cliche rear view image is a sign of things to come. All of this traveling could allow him to further act out, and that could be both fascinating and horrifying to see.

Did anyone else watch "Thwack?" What are your thoughts? Do you have any hopes for this season?

Jane Lynch to host Oct. 9 SNL, but who will host the season premiere?

I was excited to learn yesterday that Glee star Jane Lynch will host the Oct. 9 episode of Saturday Night Live. It's always a treat when SNL gets hosts who are competent in the world of physical comedy, and I have a feeling that the seemingly fearless Jane will fit in quite well. She's more than proven her worth with films such as the 40 Year-Old-Virgin and Role Models, and so it'll be great to see her be someone other than Sue Sylvester for the evening.

However, even with this announcement, it still leaves the spot open for who will host the season 36 premiere episode. It's rarely the highest-rated episode of SNL, but it's still a pretty big deal, since the season premiere can often set the pace for the tone of the rest of the season. It's quite the honor to host any time, but on such a noteworthy time as the season premiere, that's something.

Unfortunately, lately, SNL has gone for a host of this episode for their notoriety rather than comedic ability. Steve Carell hosted the season 31 premiere in 2005, and he was a perfect fit. Not only was he a high-profile star at the time (the 40-Year-Old Virgin was released a month prior), but he was actually funny on the show. After that, things went downhill.

In 2006, Dane Cook hosted the season 32 premiere. I personally cannot stand Dane, but I think even fans would be hard pressed to disagree that his stand up storytelling just did not translate well onto the SNL stage. It was an awful fit, and his extreme smugness was too much to bear. I am a huge fan of the musical guest that evening, the Killers, so sitting through that show to watch them? It was painful.

Seasons 33 and 34, SNL made the same mistake of tapping sports superstars to host, with Cleveland's Public Enemy #1 in 2007, and Michael Phelps in 2008. LeBron James wasn't too terrible (the image of him from the Solid Gold sketch still makes me laugh), but he wasn't great, either. As for Michael? He was far too awkward and worthless. These episodes proved that you can't just assume people who are charismatic in one field would do well at Studio 8H.

In 2009, Transformers star Megan Fox hosted. I will give her the benefit of the doubt because the writing for the episode was lackluster. However, she did not bring anything to the table, which, as a host like Jon Hamm proves, is very possible.

SNL ends up leaving a negative impression in peoples' minds right from the season's start, and it doesn't have to be that way.

Can I put in a couple of suggestions to Lorne Michaels? Will Arnett, the husband of one of SNL's finest, Amy Poehler, will begin a new show on Fox, Running Wilde, this fall. It's a rival network, sure, but I think he could deliver. (Side note, congratulations to Will and Amy on the birth of their second child, Abel James!) I'd recommend his co-star on the show, Keri Russell, but I don't know how strong she'd be on a format like SNL (we don't want a repeat of the January Jones fiasco). Joel McHale is a network in-house talent as well, and a hosting gig would be great publicity for the ratings-challenged Community. It's always baffled me that Stephen Colbert and John Krasinski haven't hosted, so I would love if Lorne considered them.

One suggestion I find amusing is the one on Facebook, which is to have Conan O'Brien host. This will NEVER happen, but wow, it would be fantastic if it did. To be honest, it would be genius. The ad revenue for that show would be through the roof, so NBC could still profit off of him even after all of the drama. Per his contract with NBC, he could legally host a show as of Sept. 1, and SNL does not premiere until Sept. 25, so it's possible, but not probable. He was funny when he hosted in 2001, and I'm sure the writing staff would work extra hard to make his show great.

Who are some other potential knockout hosts for SNL? Looking to defend any recent hosts? Leave a comment!

TV Tropes: taking time-wasting to a whole new level

Since I love making people waste time with TV or on the Internet, I feel as though I have to share this.

My own Internet kryptonite, ONTD, was named on Urlesque's list of the most addictive websites ever. It was on that list I found out about a pop culture junkie's paradise, TV Tropes.

It's a fantastic database listing all of media's cliches and common plot elements, and it's yet another one of the Internet's black holes. I'm currently writing this entry at 6:00 a.m., hours after I had originally planned to do so. Why? TV Tropes.

The site explains such phenomena as "The Danza," where characters are named after the actors (I say this is often due to actor stupidity or subtle reflections of real life, like Tracy Jordan/Morgan on 30 Rock, regardless of reports otherwise), like (Hold Me Closer) Tony Danza. I also enjoy the "Cluster F Bomb" page, which I don't think I need to explain. But I could go on and on.

Just take a gander at the site, and I will accept rage-filled comments for making you waste more time on the Internet. You're welcome.