A Second Opinion

Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the Emmy Awards. In my opinion, it also marked the show's creative death. This sentiment is not only backed up by critics nationwide, it's backed up by the show's viewers, too. The telecast garnered a mere 12.2 million viewers, eclipsing the 1990 broadcast as the smallest audience in the show's history.

Central to this year's primetime broadcast was the addition of an award for best reality show host. While the award could have been an important addition to the creative dynamic of the show and garnered recognition for its winner, the relevance of the award was shot to hell and back.

Oprah, despite her recent political controversies, was the perfect recipe from ABC to set the tone for the opening of its show - draw in viewers, add a dash of class. But then there was a dramatic change of pace: Each of the nominees for Best Reality Host - Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars), Heidi Klum (Project Runway), Howie Mendel (Deal or No Deal), Jeff Probst (Survivor), and Ryan Seacrest (American Idol) - would take part in co-hosting the evening. Apparently now, co-hosting means making light of how useless you are to society.

When the award was finally given away, it was handed out in an American Idol fashion, with presenter Jimmy Kimmel offering fake critiques of each host and a commercial break taken before it was given away. In this manner, the award lost all significance that it could have had and instead became a cheap attempt at being hip. It was one big gimmick.

A common rationale offered to the declining viewership is the selection of shows that were honored and that won. It was, afterall, AMC's low-rated Mad Men that swept the drama category. Several are asking why, in turn, are shows such as Lost, which have larger Nielson numbers, not being recognized instead? What these people are suggesting is that shows recieve recognition for their popularity, bringing up the question, "Should viewership or art be honored?"

It's not an easy question to answer. But if the Emmys move to keep what itegrity they have following Sunday's broadcast, they should choose art. It doesn't bring them ratings. But the awards are meant to honor the highest achievement in TV. The fact is that we have changed how we view TV. There are now hundreds of cable networks designed to target our specific interests. We also watch our favorite episodes streaming on the Internet the next day or we download them from iTunes. Ratings aren't what they once were, and they'll only continue to eclipse. So, they'll matter less. And, in the film world, the independent film is dying a slow death. Perhaps current cable parallels will, too.