This may be a movie awards site, but it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge that the Emmy awards take place tonight. I find it difficult to get invested in the Emmys when they so brazenly ignore landmark television on a yearly basis — this is the group that waited until “The Sopranos”‘ fifth season to give it the gold, and never even got around to rewarding such shows as “Six Feet Under” or “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
Suffice to say that if they snub “Mad Men” tonight — as I suspect they will — I’ll care about the Emmys even less than I already do. Still, my fingers are crossed for Matthew Weiner’s magnificent series, not because it needs any kind of validation, but because anything that might raise its viewing figures is to be welcomed.
As a tribute to the show, here is a fascinating scene from the first season’s finale that neatly summates the show’s numerous virtues: the rigorous intelligence and economy of the writing (there is so much going on subtextually in these three minutes), the refreshingly languid pacing, the impeccable production values and the galvanizing star presence of Jon Hamm. (Could he be the next George Clooney?) Watch and savour:
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13 responses to ““To a place where we know we are loved””
You do realize that Mad Men is above and beyond the favorite to win here, right? It would be a shocking upset if it lost. Having said that, the show has an awfully slow pace and may put off some viewers leading to its downfall. Jon Hamm probably won’t win and would be an upset if he did because his episode submission sucks, it is really unfortunate that actors can only submit one episode. I expect James Spader to ride away again with the victory with Bryan Cranston the likely spoiler.
I know it’s the favourite. So was The Sopranos in its first season, when it went on to lose to — gah — The Practice. I just have a feeling they’ll find a way to screw it over.
I don’t really follow the whole episode submission business, but I read on Tom O’Neil’s site that Hamm submitted the episode with this scene in it. If that “sucks,” then I clearly need to revise my standards.
Best show on television.
“Mad Men” could lose to “Lost,” which had a truly great season, and I’d be okay with that. Anything else is heresy.
Jon Hamm losing to Spader would be a sin. Jon Hamm is easily one of the best actors working, film or TV. Don Draper is one of the great characters.
I’ve seen large chunks of “Mad Men,” and I’ve loved them. Didn’t watch the Emmys though. Forgot they were on. :P
Jon Hamm is spectacular. Let’s see him when an Oscar.
i was very happy with the emmys, thought mad men should’ve won best actor for drama, but 30 rock winning a bunch works for me.
Maybe you need the context but that clip doesn’t make me want to watch the show.
Whoa, the Emmys did the right thing. For once. Maybe next year they can actually reward Hamm too — and nominate January Jones.
Brian: I don’t really get “Lost,” personally. I can see the thought and craft that goes into it, but it never truly engaged me — and I find the leads so vacant. Maybe I need to give it another try someday. (Who am I kidding — I’ll never have the time!)
Yes, the emmys did do the right thing and award Bryan Cranston over Jon Hamm.
Unless, you watched all the shows that were nominated against “The Sopranos” every year, it was nominated, you can’t say it should have won more emmys. The Emmys is one of the few awards where the voters have to watch all the nominations – that certainly doesn’t happen with the Oscars! This is the reason why there so many people that go emmyless year after year and why some people win it year after year – they don’t give out this award because of buzz or because they really like the person. The Judges who watch the tapes, award the emmy to the people who really deserve it.
thk GOD Mad Men won
however the biggest FARCE in emmy history that the BEST show on TV…The Wire…only won 1 writing award in its 5 year history.
If you dont believe me take a look at the Wireès metacritic rating
“The Judges who watch the tapes, award the emmy to the people who really deserve it.”
I’d like to believe that, Lance — but watching all the nominees doesn’t help when the voters’ taste is often questionable. Everything is debatable, but you can’t convince me that a show like “Everybody Loves Raymond” (and yes, I have seen it) represented the very best of its field.
Goodbar: I can appreciate how superbly crafted “The Wire” is in every department, though I’ve never personally warmed to it. Metacritic ratings aren’t incontrovertible proof of anything — this is art we’re talking about, not maths.
Each to their own.
Hey Guy! I agree that the voters tastes can be questionable, but I think, overall, they have an effective system. Yes, it seems odd that “Sopranos” didn’t win more and that’s probably because they don’t have a large enough voting group for the overall categories. The system works best in the acting categories – I taped the submitted episodes for actress in a drama and comedy and watched them all back to back. The actresses that I would have voted for, prior to watching the submitted episodes, were not the same as when I was done watching them. The other great thing about the emmys is that they constantly try to improve their voting process – like now they have judges watch the top ten vote getters before they round it down to five nominees. I prefer this system to people winning based upon campaigns, buzz or because they’ve been nominated a lot and never won. So, just because the emmys have made a few bad calls in the past, please don’t dismiss the ENTIRE award – at least they are trying to do their best.