September 23, 2013

"The Academy was simply asking for trouble by giving extra attention to [Cory] Monteith and not Larry Hagman and Jack Klugman."

"Yes, you could argue that it’s not clear where you draw the line. Do you stop after Klugman while eschewing names like Charles Durning, Annette Funicello or Bonnie Franklin? Maybe, maybe not."
What is clear is where you don’t draw the line. You don’t draw it where it leaves out two actors who were major TV stars across the decades. Frankly, though Monteith became a target, I’m not sure you include [Jonathan] Winters in a special Emmy memory before Hagman and Klugman, and I say that as a big fan of Winters and someone who didn’t watch “Dallas.”...

In particular, based on how important Hagman was to CBS, thanks to “Dallas,” his exclusion really is inexplicable. More than one person has wondered whether Winters’ link to Robin Williams, whose new CBS series debuts this week, was the reason that Winters got the nod.

Man, this is just an ugly conversation.
Death and commerce... is it really that ugly?

7 comments:

Almost Ali said...

Klugman belonged behind a second-rate deli counter. In Philadelphia. Peddling fatty brisket.

CWJ said...

This is all very "inside baseball." I have long since realised that the only ones left doing the decision making on things like this are children who have virtually no understanding of that which they are tasked to commemorate.

It only makes a difference if you care about the Emmys, the Emmys show itself, and educating the ignorant with the death of those who actually were significant.

Don't get me wrong. I'd like the likes of Larry Hagman and Jack Klugman et al to be properly commemorated, but expecting this generation to get close to getting it right is a fool's errand.

I don't need the Emmys to validate my memories much less my opinion.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In the age of the selfie, everybody is a goddamn program director.

madAsHell said...

Klugman and Hagman are no longer a concern for the emmy award demographic.

David said...

He writes:

The 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is noteworthy — an occasion that is sure to be revisited over and over again between now and Nov. 22. You can understand the Academy’s desire to put its own stamp on that milestone . . .

Oh, I certainly can.

The best approach would have been to engage Jonathan Winters to tributes for numerous stars. Then play four or five randomly each year. Don't check to see if the stars have actually died. And no advance screening of Winters' work. We all see it for the first time at once.

Now that would be entertainment.

Anonymous said...

Who the heck was Monteith?

John Stodder said...

Worlds colliding. Early in the prior decade, there were two blogs on which I commented on an almost daily basis: DodgerThoughts by Jon Weisman, the author of the linked Variety article, and Althouse.

You two are pioneers of high-quality blogs, and using those blogs to create online communities. I am still in touch with lots of folks I met on Jon's blog, and to a lesser degree with Althouse commenters of that time.

I scarcely comment on either blog anymore, for a bunch of reasons. But I have warm memories of my many hours joshing and arguing on the comment threads of both.