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P R O F I L E P O R T F O L I O |
Family Values, TV-Style The annual Emmy Awards broadcast marks an opportunity to see polite, well-behaved TV stars, dressed in their best, giving teary thanks to friends, co-workers and family--just like Mom would have wanted. And Mom, along with the rest of the TV family, was a definite presence at the 48th awards telecast on Friday night. From the E! Channel's pre-show special, hosted by Joan Rivers and daughter Missy (who kept chirping, "Back to you, Mom!"; to Florence Henderson and daughter Barbara Chase, who co-hosted the Emmy cybercast; to the well-scrubbed kids who dotted the on-camera audience, the Emmys were much more Brady Bunch than Baywatch. "Family Entertainment is back!" proclaimed Robert Halmi, Sr., producer of NBC's TV movie "Gulliver's Travels," winner in the Outstanding Miniseries category, holding his Emmy high. It's a good thing Mom was there to keep her eye on things. Or maybe we should say Big Brother. After all, Congress is threatening the TV industry with regulation if it doesn't come up with its own ratings system by next year, and TV manufacturers have been told to include V-chips (which block out offensive material) in new sets. Both Bill Clinton and Bob Dole have called on television writers and producers to come up with more family-oriented planning. The squeaky-clean Sunday-night broadcast, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was a far cry from 1993's show when Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, fulfilling the dreams of short, bald guys everywhere, buried his head in co-host Cybill Shepherd's ample bosom. By contrast, the closest this year's Emmys got to off-color was a single Dick Morris reference by Garry Shandling. But fear not--just because the Emmys were a family affair doesn't mean that all of TV is destined for a G rating. The awards program featured a collection of "conceptual" (note: pun alert!) clips, which covered the facts of life as explained on TV. Included was a clip from Friends, depicting Monica and Rachel in the communal bathroom, agreeing to "shoot" for the lone remaining condom (you know, "scissors, paper, rock." And you can tell it's a sitcom because two women are sharing a teeny box of condoms). Rachel wins. "OK, go have sex," says Monica enviously. Uh, maybe Emmys executive producer Dick Clark should have run that one by Mom first. --Joanna Wissinger [see more fun from swoon.com] |
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