SubscribeConan's 'Late Night' may become Emmy's biggest loser this year
Ooops! I may not have been counting Emmy nominations carefully enough! Looking through the award database at IMDB.com, I tallied 20 past defeats for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," which would mean it's 5 losses shy of tying the record held by "Newhart" as Emmy's biggest loser. It's only got 4 bids this year. Assuming it loses all of them, that means "Late Night" would have to wait till next year to achieve that infamous distinction.
But maybe not. Last night I poked through the awards database at the website of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and noticed an additional old loss suffered by "Late Night." It was in a crafts category back in 2004 — for technical direction of camerawork or video — for its 10th anniversary special. Hmmmmm. Does that count?
This is where things get tricky among award experts who fuss ridiculously over nuance and petty distinctions. The gist: the anniversary special didn't air in "Late Night's" regular timeslot. It was a primetime special, so really it's a different show. But then, of course, it's not. Personally, I think we should count this additional loss since the special was comprised mostly of greatest hits clips from the series.
If we count that loss, then that changes everything this year. "Late Night" may tie "Newhart" as the biggest Emmy loser ever on Sept. 16. Theoretically, "American Idol" can surpass both shows and squash all of this quibbling. "Idol" has 22 losses so far and 7 new noms. If it's shut out again, the new record will be 29 and "Late Night," left behind at 24 or 25, will have to catch up later. Meantime, Bob Newhart himself will be having a pina colada someplace while writing thank-you notes to Conan O'Brien and Ryan Seacrest.
I have a hunch "Idol" will finally halt its losing streak, though. ATAS permitted producers to submit the high-minded charity special "Idol Gives Back" to judges deciding many categories. That includes the race for best reality competition program, even though "Gives Back" includes no elements of competition — just lots of contestants, superstars and even dead stars (Elvis) serenading TV viewers to send in money for charities.
So suddenly this biz about "Late Night" is really important, understand? Tell us what YOU think about all of this. Click the "Comments" link below and pipe in.
By the way, all of this is soooo unfair to poor Conan O'Brien, personally speaking. He himself is actually an Emmy winner, but he nabbed the trophy back in 1989 as a writer for "Saturday Night Live." It's his own show that's been shunned so cruelly by TV's Golden Girl.
(Photo: NBC)
Look! They won! The streak is broken!
Posted by: Revrant | September 17, 2007 at 07:20 PM
I wouldn't count the loss for the "Conan 10th Anniversary Special" as a loss since it was exactly that, a special as opposed to a regularly schedule program. It would be like counting the two "Raymond" specials (one for the first six years and one prior to the finale) in that show's nomination tally. Both specials were nominated in seperate categories since they were not part of an episode's storyline.
I consider "Idol Gives Back" to be a special. If the Academy gave the program a Governor's Award, they should not have allowed the show to submit that for consideration in its category. If "Idol" wins, that is an unfair advantage for the show which has already been honored for this particular segment.
Posted by: Terrence | September 04, 2007 at 10:53 AM