Primetimely

Now that I’ve finally watched the last hour of the 61st Annual Emmy Awards, I can confidently say that this year’s broadcast was one of the best in recent history. And here are my favorite aspects of the big show:

• Neil Patrick Harris. Coming off of last year’s terrible hosting job by otherwise talented reality-TV hosts, Neil Patrick Harris did a hell of a job as emcee. I haven’t seen much of his work, but I enjoyed his jokes, his reverence for television, and especially…
• The opening number, in which he poked fun at the industry and at viewers, hit on both Christina Hendricks and Jon Hamm, and blazed through a long list of television networks in record time (begging for “Oxygen” by the end!). Props to Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for writing the number.

• The set. Not only was the band onstage, but the control room was, too. Fitting—and cool. Plus, the moving screens provided a departure from the standard Jumbotron, crowning the stage with an an ever-changing prism of video.
• The announcer, (“PC Guy”) John Hodgman, whose blend of factual and fictitious factoids about each winner gave a fun twist to an otherwise mundane aspect of the show.
• The genre-based order, and each genre’s montage: The new-found organization was a welcome change. And the montages before each segment were fair representations, I thought. The comedy montage reminded me why I watch some shows and not others. The reality montage emphasized the difference between genuine and trashy reality shows. The minseries/TV movies montage made me wish I’d seen more any of those performances. The variety montage played up the spectacle and “wow” moments of those shows. And the drama montage gave me more respect for shows I’ve dismissed (like CSI and Law & Order) while honoring shows that the Academy snubbed (like Battlestar Galactica).
• Amy Poehler’s contribution. She gave each of the nominees for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series funny glasses to wear. EW.com hated that Vanessa Williams refused to participate, but I found that priceless, and I think it was all part of the bit.  (Update: I was right, according to costar Michael Urie’s tweet!)

• Kristin Chenoweth’s win in that category, which I thought was the biggest surprise of the night. I was rooting for her, of course, but I didn’t think she’d win. Her acceptance speech was squeaky, endearing, and droll. “I’m unemployed now, so I’d like to be on Mad Men,” she said. “I also like The Office and 24.”
• Cat Deeley, who, despite being snubbed in the reality host category, was still in attendance to announce the “Breakthrough Moment” award.
• The dance number. Again, EW.com hated it, saying it had no place at the Emmys. But given the number of dancing shows on television, I say it does. And it was neat to see the ballroom stylings of Dancing with the Stars‘s Maksim and Karina remixed with the hip-hop/breaking moves of dancers like So You Think You Can Dance contestants Hok and Joshua. (And Katee, too?)
• Surprise wins. It was nice to see a win for Shohreh Aghdashloo, whom I’ve respected ever since her roles in House of Sand and Fog and 24, as well as Emmys for 24‘s Cherry Jones and Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston (who proclaimed that he felt like “Cinderfella”).
• The Bob Newhart/Tina Fey smooch, inspired by the one shared between “Hailey” Berry and Adrien Brody. It’s just too bad the cameras cut away too soon. Coulda been a scorcher. (Probably not, though!)
• The interruption by Dr. Horrible, in which he provided damning examples of the drawbacks of watching shows online. This is just further proof that I really need to watch Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. But hey, Whedonites, I’m watching Firefly and Dollhouse, so put down those pitchforks.

• Jimmy Fallon. My mom told me to be on the lookout for his bit, and it truly was a highlight. How can you not laugh at a (prat)fallen man when his pleas for help are being Auto-Tuned. (Also, I’ve never seen Steve Carell laugh so hard.)
• Ricky Gervais, proving once again that he needs his own hosting gig, had the audience in stitches when he said that TV people make him feel “above-average” in appearance.
• The In Memoriam segment, just because Sarah McLachlan is too talented in the weepy-music department.
• Matthew Weiner, who was nominated four different times in the dramatic-writing category! The Mad Men creator also gave a nice ego-boost to aspiring television writers, telling us all to “hang in there.” I had to hunt down his co-winner, Kater Gordon, on IMDb because she seemed to be not much older than myself. And sure enough: she went from writing assistant to Emmy-winning writer in a year’s time. Talk about an inspirational success story!
• Giving all the writing/directing nominees time to speak, regardless of whether or not they won. Even if the questions they had to answer were a touch vapid, it was nice that each nominee had a moment in the limelight.
• Repeat winners. 30 Rock and Mad Men took home top honors for the second year running, as did actors Bryan Cranston, Glenn Close, and Alec Baldwin. What a testament to their skill and staying-power.
• Sarah Silverman’s moustache. ‘Nuff said.