OK, the Emmys are probably never gonna be as gay at the Tonys where all kinds of gay men and women have been known to thank their spouses on stage and have often given them a nice kiss on the lips. But last night's Emmy Awards had more gay to them than usual starting with the presence of out Emmy nominees T.R. Knight (seen here helping hunky co-star Eric Dane with his tie) and Neil Patrick Harris who walked the red carpet with his cute boyfriend, actor David Burtka.

What a difference a year makes for these two. Each lost in the supporting actor category (Knight for drama, Harris for comedy) but both are winners to me! They have shown that not only can out gay men convincingly play straight characters on television, they can get nominated for an Emmy for it!
And then there was the front-row presence of nominee and presenter Ellen DeGeneres who cuddled with her beautiful girlfriend Portia de Rossi for all the world to see. They got a lot of camera time on the FOX telecast despite Ellen's loss in the variety performance category to Tony Bennett.

God bless Tina Fey. In her very funny acceptance speech for outstanding comedy winner "30 Rock," she thanked the families of people who work on the show by expressing gratitude to the "parents, children, spouses and gay partners" of all of them.
This came after a clip of the show included this line from the "SNL" alum: "...just because I think that gay guys should be allowed to adopt kids ... doesn't mean I don't love America".

Other gay moments: Oscar-nominated "Chicago" director Rob Marshall (pictured, right) won another Emmy, this time for directing the NBC special "Tony Bennett: American Legend."

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The Office's "Gay Witch Hunt" episode won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Writer Greg Daniels won the trophy and gave a nursery-rhyme-like speech: "I'm not the little red hen that baked the bread by themselves. I asked, 'Who will wrtie this script with me?' And the duck, the pig and the cat - that would be Mike Schur, Jen Celotta and Paul Lieberstein, all said, "We will."

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Ryan Seacrest. So many. I guess the most prominent one would have been when the comedically-challenged Emmy host walked out during the middle of the show wearing a costume from "The Tudors" and said: "You know, this looked a lot less gay on the rack."
Then he says he wants to keep it.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Got into my very first post-Emmy Governor's Ball tonight. It was easy to get to: you just walk down the hall from the press tent and into the ball. But I had to go back to the parking structure at USC first to drop off my laptop so I wouldn't look like a nerd blogger at this fancy party.
So, got there and ordered a diet coke then began to circle the room, looking for stars like Lucy Ricardo in an episode of "I Love Lucy." I quickly realize that there are many more non-stars here than stars. So this is gonna take some work. It's not easy to circle the room when teams of food servers keep marching out of the kitchen with scarily focused precision. In other words, get in their path at your own peril.

OK! My first sightings. Sitting at a table in the middle of the room are Marcia Cross and her hubby and across from them are Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer. Alright, I'm cookin now. There goes Conchata Ferrell, making her way to the ladies room. I sure wish she had won for "Two and a Half Men." I was rooting for her.
Meanwhile, Brad Garrett is sitting with a table of folks I don't recognize and is eating his dinner. I don't know what they served since I was just a mingler, not an official guest. I know it was meat (filet mignon?) and a potato and it all looked really fancy - Food Network fancy.

OK, jackpot. This is the "Ugly Betty" table, or tables, and I see Eric Mabius kissing someone's Emmy. America Ferrera is nowhere to be seen so I assume Mabius is smooching the Emmy won by Richard Shepard for directing the "Betty" pilot. Also spot Michael Urie and the kid who plays Justin whose real name escapes me at this late hour. And Ana Ortiz is there too, looking lovely.

Tony Bennett has just been introduced and he's gonna sing! i make my way to the center of the room. This, I gotta see...and hear. He does three numbers including "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and is in incredible form. Is he 81 now? Amazing."
Back to star sightings: I see Thomas Haden Church arrive, Emmy in hand and he is standing with the gang from "Broken Trail" including fellow winner Robert Duvall. Then this was cool: I'm plotting my next move when I tiurn around and essentially am face-to-face with Al Gore, the former vice president of the U.S. and an Emmy winner tonight. I say, "Congratulations Mr. Gore." He smiles, says "Thank you" and we shake hands. I'm kinda giddy for a few seconds then spot LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who is just being surrounded by all these people - mostly women. He seemed to be trying to make his way out of the room was constantly being stopped, asked to pose for pictures etc.

I decide to make one last circle around the party before heading out. i spot Glenn Close standing at a table talking to people, including Edward Asner. At another table, I see Ben Vereen talking to his "Roots" co-star Leslie Uggams.
I didn't see Sally Field at the ball but on my way in, I did see her walking out of a press tent with her son and before I knew it, I said to her: "Great speech!" She paused for a moment, looked over her shoulder and said: "Thank you!" Then she walked into the night...

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sheesh. I thought Susan Sarandon's chilly attitude toward Elisabeth Hasselbeck on "The View" last week was newsworthy but this sure trumps that: TMZ.com is reporting that Barry Manilow's scxheduled appearance on the show was cancelled by producers because the singer demanded that Hasselbeck not be present.
Said Manilow in a statement to TMZ: "I strongly disagree with her views. I think she's dangerous and offensive. I will not be on the same stage as her."

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Any gay kid who grew up in the 70s knows of the witty and gravely-voice Brett Somers, who sat next to Charles Nelson Reilly for many years on "Match Game" in the 70s and early 80s. She had one of the best laughs ever and cracked herself up a lot with her answers on a show that often seemed like a big party.
Miss Somers died on Saturday. She was 83-years-old and had stomach and colon cancer.
Later in her career, Somers appeared in her own cabaret show, "An Evening with Brett Somers." The actress has a recurring role as Jack Klugman's ex-wife, Blanche, on "The Odd Couple." It's a role that was natural since she and Klugman had been married since 1953. The separated in 1974 but were still legally married to the day she died.
Maybe she and Charles Nelson Reilly are up there with [host] Gene Reyburn playing "Match Game" in TV heaven.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm, the two actors who have joined of "Desperate Housewives" as gay couple Bob and Lee, were seen at an industry event on Saturday night. They are awfully cute together, don't you think?
We haven't heard much from them yet but thanks to "Access Hollywood," we do know that they will be attending a Halloween costume party on Wisteria Lane in these outfits. Kevin has just gotta lose that mustache. Tuc, well, he looks completely hot - as usual.
“I don’t know why it took so long to bring a gay couple onto this street,” Watkins said. “It seems natural for this couple or a couple like us to have been here.”
So what brought them to the Wisteria Lane?
Explains Tuc: “[My character wants] some peace and quiet. I drag him with me and we try to adorn our house in the way that we think is beautiful. Someone doesn’t like it, they start poking at us and we let them know that we are aware of some improprieties they may have done in the past.”
Apparently they will have some kind of a run-in with a new character played by Dana Delaney:
In fact, the new Wisteria Lane couple erect a fountain, Rahm noted, one which causes trouble. “Dana Delaney chooses the wrong two gay guys to make trouble with,” Watkins says.

Click HERE to see the "Access Hollywood" interview with the actors...

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Part of Sally Field's Emmy acceptance speech was completely cut from the telecast by FOX. The line the network felt people just should not hear was this: "If mothers ruled the world, there would be no God-damned wars in the first place."

FOX was not content to simply bleep "God-damned" which apparently is acceptable according to FCC rules, but by taking out the entire anti-war line, they censored the actress. I think they are bringing far more attention to what Field said by pulling this stunt.
I wonder if they would have bleeped if Sally had said: "I'm very supportive of this goddamed war!"
Doubt it.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Emmy nominee Neil Patrick Harris and boyfriend, actor David Burtka (above) and the golden girls Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi (below)...

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I live-blogged last night from backstage at the Emmys...the winners were coming backstage to be interviewed and I also had a headset on so I could watch the show and comment on whatever was most interesting at that moment.
Here is just a sample of some of my observations...

Am I watching "American Idol" right now?
Nope, it's the Emmys and Ryan Seacrest is up there naming all the past hosts like Carson, Conan, Ellen etc. "Sure, they were hilarious, if that's what you're into. But would any of them shown up four hours early to host the Emmy pre-show."
Now he's mingling with the crowd, and says to Teri Hatcher, who he allegedly dated for about five minutes: "Hello Teri..." She looks mortified. I would too if I had dated Ryan Seacrest!
(Ouch! Was that my out loud voice?)

Christina is the anti-Britney in duet with Tony Bennett...
There have been all kinds of rumors for days that Britney Spears was going to appear on the Emmy telecast to apologize for her horrendous performance at the VMAs a week ago. I doubt it will happen because, well, it's a stupid idea!
Meanwhile, we see the way things could have gone for Spears in the performance tonight of her former "Mickey Mouse Club" cast member Christina Aguilera who was lovely and in wonderful voice in a duet of "Steppin' Out (With My Baby)" with the amazing Tony Bennett.
It's called being a professional.

Al Gore wins an Emmy!
He couldn't win the presidency (at least the electoral votes) but Al Gore is on a winning streak this year. The documentary he starred in, "an Inconvenient Truth," won the Oscar this year and now his TV venture, Current: An Interaction Television Network, just won an Emmy!
"We're trying to open up the television medium," Gore said.
As he left the stage, he shouted: "More to come! Current.com next month!"
The man has learned how to get his message across...

Al Gore is backstage while Sally Field wins onstage...
BREAKING NEWS: Al Gore just told us that he isn't running for president and congratulated the Academy for going green this year.
OK, back to the show: Sally Field has just won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series for "Brothers & Sisters." She plays Nora Walker on the ABC show, the mother of five adult children, including a son sent to serve in Iraq. Field was giving a terrific speech about motherswhen that damned orchestra ruined her flow. But she collected herself to finish strong: "Let's face it, if mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any goddamed wars in the first place!"
This is Field's third Emmy. Backstage, the actress is told by a reporter that her anti-war comment at the end of her acceptance speech would get a lot of attention.
"Oh well," was her reply. "I've been there before....I don't care."
Then a reporter wanted to know what she thought of FOX bleeping out the "goddamed wars" part of her remarks. [on the West Coast, the completely cut away from Field, even the video. It was so chicken - total censorship]
Field: "Oh well. If they bleep it, I'll say it somewhere else."
The actress added: "I said what I wanted to say. I wanted to pay homage to the mothers of the world and let their work be seen and valued. i seriously think if mothers ruled the world, we wouldnt be sending out children off to be slaughtered."
Of being on "Brothers & Sisters" as Nora Walker, she said: "I'm very fortunate and grateful to have Nora Walker in my life, all the Walkers. I wanted to say something about the mothers who wait for the military children to come home. That's the heart iof Nora Walker's character this year. I don't see this kind of character examined: what is it like to be a woman in her 60s? It certainly is a blessing and a great opptortunity for me to explore myself as an actor at his time in my life."

Memorable lines from Elaine Stritch and Brad Garrett...
I love Elaine Stritch, showbiz legend. She won the Emmy last weekend for her guest role on "30 Rock" and presented with Stanley Tucci. But as she struggled with the teleprompter she confessed: "I'm not faking this. I really don't know what the hell I'm doing!"
Brought the house down.
As for Brad Garrett, his humor was more controversial.
He complimented co-presenter and "Til Death" co-star Joley Fisher on her revealing dress then said, as he towered over his much-shorter partner: "You should see it from up here! Note to self: 'Buy milk.' I think you just made Charlie Sheen's 'to do' list."
The camera panned to Sheen. He was not laughing.

Backstage with the cast of "Roots"
They came back here and I had to know, what did they think of this year's crop of nominees in the miniseries category?
Ben Vereen turned the question around and said to me: "What do YOU think?"
I didn't say. Thankfully, they had taken the mic away from me by then.
They paid tribute to Alex Haley who wrote "Roots" based on his own family history.
This is what I found sad: while Mischa Barton works in film after film, the great Cicely Tyson told us: "I'm looking for a job! I feel like Bette Davis who put an ad in the newspaper...do you remember that? I'm presently unemployed - for most of my career I've been unemployed."
She laughed when she said that. But this great actress, an Emmy winner and former Oscar nominee, still looks great and has that incredible voice.
Somebody hire this woman!

Helen Mirren has just left the press room with her second Emmy in two years - this time for "Prime Suspect." She also won the Oscar this year and she'll take it all: "Other years, I've sat out there and not won so I'm very familiar with that feeling as well." Miiren was asked if she has m et Queen Elizabeth yet, who she played in "The Queen" and won the Oscar for. the answer is no. The Queen had invited Mirren to the White House State Dinner this year but the actress was busy filming the sequel to "National Treasure." "It's embarrassing. I felt mortified and very, very bad about it but there was nothing I could do."

Meanwhile, Robert Duvall is sitting about five feet from me right now - waiting to face the press - and has placed his two Emmys on the ground. I feel like crawling over there, picking one up and sprinting to the men's room and making a pretend speech. C'mon, you know you all have wanted to do that.

Posted by Greg Hernandez at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)