The Emmys this year were replete with political innuendo and outright blatant commentary. I surely helped that two nomination-heavy films were John Adams, about our second president, and Recount, HBO’s tale of the Bush-Gore 2000 election debacle in Florida.
Right from the first moments, the comments were flying. Left without an opening monologue, vamping with his fellow reality host nominees, Howie Mandel said:
We are, like, on Sarah Palin’s bridge to nowhere — that’s where we are right now.
When Tommy Smothers of the famously political Smothers Brothers show was finally honored with an Emmy he had taken his name off of years ago so that his writing team could win without his political stigma in the mix, spoke with intense passion:
“Freedom of expression and freedom of speech aren’t really important unless they’re heard. … It’s hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing that peace is only attainable through war. … [T]here’s nothing more scary than watching ignorance in action.
He offered up his award to the “people who feel compelled to speak out, and are not afraid to speak to power, and won’t shut up and refuse to be silenced.” I’ve had a lifetime crush on Tommy Smothers. I’m glad it was so warranted.
Laura Linney, whom I’ve always thought was one of the smartest actresses in Hollywood, proved one of the slyest when accepting her award for her role in John Adams, saying the win:
“will give me a great reason to stop and pause and be so grateful and thankful for the community organizers that helped form our country.”
Zzzing!
The writer of John Adams, Kirk Ellis, said while accepting his award how he was grateful to have had a chance to work on a film in a period when:
“articulate men articulated complex thoughts in complete sentences.”
At this point, the Emmy producers must have been getting nervous, as his comments were cut off for a commercial. Backstage, Ellis had more to say:
“I love freedom of expression in this country,” he said sarcastically, adding that he was told to wrap it up “as soon as I got up and opened my mouth.”
Other comments and bits during the night:
Tom Hanks, tres sarcastically:
The election between Jefferson and Adams was filled with innuendo; lies; a bitter, partisan press, and disinformation. How great we’ve come so far since then.
And from Jay Roach, the director of “Recount”:
It’s going to get close again this election. … Keep your local officials honest and please, vote, vote, vote, vote.
The most overt bit was between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert:
Stephen Colbert, eating from a bag of dried plums, told co-presenter Jon Stewart, “right now, America needs a prune. It may not be a young, sexy plum. Granted, it is shriveled and at times hard to swallow. But this dried-up old fruit has the experience we need.”
Replied Stewart, “You know after eight years of prunes, you would think …”
“Never enough,” Colbert responded. “What could possibly go wrong?”
There were others, and more comments made offstage to make clear the people’s intentions.
With Hollywood so united on this front, I wonder if their comments swayed any viewers? Check the polls in a couple of days….
