After watching the U.S. Open final, I had to rush over to a party on Sunset Blvd. honoring this year's Emmy-nominated producers. Gabbed with all kinds of folks and will post my conversations with T.R. Knight, Judith Light and Rex Lee, among others, tomorrow. For now, I'm playing catch up with some of the winners from last night's Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Shine Auditorium. Among the winners were Kathy Griffin (above) whose "My Life on the D-List" show won Outstanding Reality Program. How cool is that? I think this means Kathy might actually have moved up to the C-List.

The lovely Judith Light. She was nominated for outstanding guest actress in a comedy for "Ugly Betty." Next year, she will be ineligible in the category because she has been made a series regular! Judith, who has a role in the film "Ira & Abby" out on Friday, lost out to Elaine Stritch (below) but was serene as could be when I saw her on Sunday. She does have two Emmy Awards for "One Life To Live." You know those 55 (or whatever!) Emmy nominations Susan Lucci received? Light won two of those.

If Light had to lose, at least it was to a real showbiz legend. Elaine Stritch, whose "Here's to the Ladies Who Lunch" from "Company" should be heard by everyone at least once in their life, won an Emmy for her guest role on "30 Rock." She won an Emmy a few years ago for her ome-woman show as well as a Tony. She may be in her 80s, but the kid's still got it!

Jean Smart (left) was nominated for "24" while Dixie Carter was up for her delicious stint on "Desperate Housewives." Neither won (Smart has two Emmys already) but both of these former "Designing Women" dazzled in red. I have to say, I think it was criminal that Dixie was never even nominated for her role as Julia Sugarbaker on "Women." It's one of the great roles on one of the greatest shows in TV history.

...and finally, the dashing Neil Patrick Harris, up for best supporting actor at next Sunday's regular Emmys, was at the Creative Arts show as a presenter...

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was a pretty sweet episode of "Big Brother *" tonight. It started out in nauseating fashion with the father-daughter duo of Dick and Daniele jumping around and giggling like they had won the entire game already because they had made the final four. They shut Zach out so they could whisper and giggle about him in the next room.
Well, payback's a bitch.
Zach goes on to win the HOH compeition and suddenly, Daniele and Dick are vulnerable. Zach nominates daddy and daughter. They are indignant that he would dare to do this and vow revenge. Whatever does happen, it was awfully s-weet to see them squirm. Daniele made a strategic error when in stating her case pre-nominations, she told Zach that he would lose against her dad in the final two because Dick played the game best.
But the jury votes on the winner and there are likely plenty of former houseguests who probably think his bullying tactics were out-of-line rather than brilliant. What the little blonde waitress should have said was: "Zach, everyone loves Jameka. She does not have an enemy in the house. She will win if you are in the final two with her. She's gotta go."
Oh well.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I should have known better. I felt that Roger Federer was ripe for a loss today in the finals of the U.S. Open with Novak Djosovic primed for a major breakthrough. But Federer fought off tons of set points in the first and second sets to prevail 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. He has now won four consecutive U.S. Opens to go along with the five consecutive Wimbledons. It just doesn't get any better. Still, Novak established himself as a legitimate challenger to the throne and a popular player with the fans who gave him a bigger ovation that they gave Federer during the awards ceremony. My friend, Henry, is very happy right now and never lost faith in his Roger...

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't think there's such a thing as an average night out with my friend Trevor Daley.
On Friday, he invited me to opening night of the musical "Avenue Q" at the Ahmanson Theatre and despite my getting stuck in traffic, I managed to get there about 10 minutes before curtain time. We had terrific seats for what is a sensational, must-see show with that wonderful opening night buzz all around.
[The photo above was taken on Friday, hours before the cast took the stage...]
I've never seen anything like "Avenue Q" with real-life actors and puppets interacting like they are in some kind of naughty episode of "The Muppets." Such great songs, terrific writing, wonderful performances by an immensely talented cast and best of all, just one laugh after another. The Tony Award-winning show is about trying to make it in NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account.
There are good times with Princeton, Rod, Kate Monster, Lucy the Slut, Brian, Trekkie Monster and all the rest. The character that just killed me the most was Gary Coleman, played by Carla Renata. She sounds JUST LIKE the "Different Strokes" star who is manager of the apartment building. It's a brilliant parody. At the end, the character laments: "Everyone's dreams are coming true...but WHAT ABOUT GARY COLEMAN?"
It's a riot.
Then there is the hilarious Angela Al who nails her role as Christmas Eve and the multi-talented Robert McClure who was superb in duel roles, including one as a closeted gay man (or puppet) in deep denial. (No, the character is not based on Larry Craig!)
But the night wasn't just about seeing the show. Trevor knows EVERYONE so I got to meet Martin Massman, board president of the Center Theatre Group (Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre), Artistic Director Michael Ritchie and the show's writer Robert Lopez. Then, we got to go backstage to meet the cast! There was champagne flowing and a real electricity in the air.
The cast had every reason to feel ecstatic. We got some photos taken with some them with the puppets etc. [I should have those e-mailed to me this week sometime]. Chatted with "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry briefly and at length with LA newscaster Kent Schockneck who is much taller than I thought, very nice to talk to, and someone I have watched for years.
We were all over the moon about the show, I am just nuts about it. And I'm so glad to have a friend like Trevor. Not just because he takes me to cool events every now and then, but because when we are there, we always have so much fun working the room and meeting the people involved.
This is a night I'll never forget...

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)