The Emmys were just about cancelled last night.
TV’s biggest awards went off as planned – but the winners were mostly actors from shows that aren’t on the air anymore.
The first award of the night – Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy – went to Megan Mullaly for the defunct “Will & Grace.”
That set the tone of the night.
In quick succession, Alan Alda – who playing the failed Republican presidential candidate on “The West Wing” – won for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama and Blythe Danner, who played the eccentric mother on the cable show “Huff,” won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
Both shows ended their runs last spring.
“I suppose I have to thank Showtime . . . even though they cancelled us,” Danner said in her acceptance speech.
Only Jeremy Piven – the smarmy agent from the HBO series “Entourage,” and the popular choice for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy – represented a show that is still in production.
A surprising moment cane when “American Idol” star Simon Cowell came out – to introduce a salute to Dick Clark – and was greeted with scattered boos. It was a show of disapproval from the Hollywood audience not for Cowell but for the wave of reality TV shows that are flooding primetime – and pushing out traditional, scripted shows and the actors who make them.
This year again, past winners seemed to have the edge over the new faces.
Tony Shaloub, the fussy detective from the cable show “Monk,” won as Best Comedy Actor for the third time – beating the near-unanimous pre-awards choice, Steve Carell of “The Office.”
Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” – the nightly fake news show – won Best Talk Show for the third year in row.
Most experts had thought that the “Daily Show” spin-off “The Colbert Report” might win, even Stewart.
“I think, this year, you actually made a terrible mistake,” he told the audience.
The audience for TV’s big night has been going down steadily over the years – to an average of 17 million viewers, way below the Oscar’s 35-40 million viewers.
Part of the problem with the show, experts believe, is that it has rewarded the same shows year after year – perennials like “The West Wing” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” – long after the bloom was gone for most viewers.
Some critics of the Emmys are pushing for an up-and-out rule – like the Oscars, once a show wins the award, it should no longer be eligible.