• Five-time Oscar nominee Marc Shaiman is returning to the Oscarcast as musical director six years after conducting the orchestra for Billy Crystal's swan song as host. Shaiman earned three of his four Emmy nods for his work on the Oscars, sharing in the 1992 writing win for penning Crystal's opening medley to the 64th edition of the kudos. Shaiman has lost Oscar bids for both scores --  "The American President" (1995); "The First Wives Club" (1996) and "Patch Adams" (1998) -- and songs --  "A Wink and a Smile" from "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and "Blame Canada" from "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" (1999). For that last losing nod, Shaiman played escort to co-writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone dressed a la Jennifer Lopez and Gywneth Paltrow. The talented musical maestro will be reuniting with Oscarcast producer Adam Shankman who helmed the 2007 film version of Shaiman's Tony-winning 2003 musical "Hairspray." AMPAS

• Todd Martens judged the AMA performances and gave his top marks of A- to Rihanna -- "Ne-Yo told us that the R' in her 'Rated R' stands for either 'remarkable' or 'really, really sexy.' Not quite sure if it completely hit both of those notes, but it was definitely over too soon" -- and Whitney Houston -- "If her instrument isn't what it once was, it can still silence a room. Compared to Blige a few songs ago, Houston was perhaps a bit over the top, but she belted until she was nearly out of breath. It was a powerful moment." POP & HISS

• Rick Porter reports that Sunday night's AMA Awards got the biggest audience for the Alphabet net's annual musicfest in seven years. However, even this was not enough to beat the Peacock's NFL game: "NBC averaged 12.94 million viewers and an 8.0 rating/13 share in households on Sunday, edging CBS (12.69 million, 7.8/12) and ABC (12.14 million, 7.3/12) for the lead." ZAP2IT

• Pete Hammond continues to tout the Oscar potential of Sandra Bullock, star of "The Blind Side." Admits Pete, "I remain the only one of the 20 pundits predicting that Sandra Bullock will be one of the five Best Actress Oscar nominees. I stand by this more than ever now that the movie has opened with an over-performing $34.6 million (Bullock's best ever) and a very rare A + Cinemascore rating." Pete thinks, "It's a big star turn in the kind of real-life role that gets Oscars attention a la Julia Roberts in 'Erin Brockovich.'" However, as he notes, "Universal conducted a large-scale campaign for 'Brockovich' and also landed it a Best Picture nomination, something 'Blind Side' won't likely be able to do. There's also the fact that Bullock has always been a popular star actress as opposed to the kind of critical darling that usually wins the bigger film awards. This, however, is arguably the best performance of her career." NOTES ON A SEASON

• Ryan Adams was wowed by Sunday's "60 Minutes" segment  on Oscar-winning helmer James Cameron ("Titanic") and his upcoming "Avatar." Said Ryan, "there’s an entirely different segment of the Academy elders who recognize the respect and prestige a '60 Minutes' profile can bestow. Having Morley Safer, the veteran CBS Yoda of culture and sophisticated taste give a movie his stamp of enthusiastic anticipation is a showcase more esteemed than money can buy. After some recent worries that 'Avatar' marketing was skewing for maximum youth appeal, many of us have been needing to see it validated as sincere grown-up sci-fi, hoping for a re-certification of maturity. Tonight on '60 Minutes' I think we got it."  AWARDS DAILY

• Following in the footsteps of James Cameron as this year's recipient of the Vanguard award from the Producers Guild of America is Joss Whedon. The award salutes achievements in new media and technology and the roster of previous recipients also includes George Lucas and John Lasseter. Whedon -- equally successful as a TV producer ("Buffy the Vamprie Slayer") and webcast wiz ("Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog") -- was cited by kudos co-chairs David Friendly and Laurence Mark for having, "mastered the art of melding the newest technology with inspired storytelling, truly exemplifying the spirit of the Vanguard Award." PGA

• The Santa Barbara filmfest also has a Vanguard award and this year is spreading the wealth around naming a quartet of talent -- Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Stanley Tucci and Christoph Waltz -- as winners. The kudo "was created in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. In previous years, this award was first bestowed on Ryan Gosling and last year to Kristin Scott Thomas." For fest director Roger Durling, “This group of supporting actors encompasses the best of the best; their roles have made us love them as well as hate them, sometimes all at the same time. I am so pleased to have all of them together, in one place to celebrate them and thank them for the cinematic treasures they have created." SBIFF

• For Sasha Stone, "There is more white noise than ever before the start of the actual season, but worse, there seems to be a gaping hole where movies should be." Says Sasha, "'Up in the Air' is the juggernaut everyone should fear. I suspect that it will have one or two challengers but for now, it seems to have a clear shot to victory. They aren’t upsetting the apple cart with too much buzz, noise or ads and they still have the film’s release to look forward to. We can only hope that these films, these Oscar movies, can somehow cross over into the public consciousness. Can Oscar and the public reach synergy? If anyone can do it, George Clooney and Jason Reitman can. Maybe Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman can. Maybe Rob Marshall can. Maybe Jim Cameron can. Maybe Nancy Myers, Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin can." Wonders Sasha, "Are there any surprises left to be played out?" AWARDS DAILY

• Lane Brown sees the Oscar hopes of "Nine" as on the rise: "For a movie this well pedigreed not to get a nomination, something would have to have gone terribly wrong. A big response at a SAG screening seemingly indicates that that hasn't happened." And among actors, Lane says, "Just three weeks after entering the race, "Crazy Heart" star Jeff Bridges is already the prohibitive favorite. And a great-looking new trailer subtly reminds us that the four-time Academy Award nominee has never won." NEW YORK

• Jeff Wells remains down on the best picture prospects of "Up." Says Jeff, "I sure didn't see 'Up' as a metaphor for anything in my life, I can tell you. It's just a high-strung animated story with a lot of gee-gosh stuff going on and some recognizable heart-and-spirit issues propelling the two main characters." HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE

• And Anne Thompson was less than impressed with the American remake of "Brothers." As Anne writes, "David Benioff is a gifted writer ('The 25th Hour'). Jim Sheridan is a gifted director ('In America'). Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman are gifted actors. So what went wrong on the road to Relativity and Lionsgate’s American adaptation of Danish writer-director Susanne Bier’s extraordinary 2004 movie 'Brothers'?" THOMPSON ON HOLLYWOOD

Photos from top: Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Marc Shaiman at the 1999 Academy Awards ceremony (Los Angeles Times); "The Blind Side" poster (Warner Bros.); "Up in the Air" poster (Paramount)

Matt LeBlanc has been little seen since his ill-conceived "Friends" spinoff "Joey" crashed and burned three years ago. While that show sputtered out after two seasons on NBC, it's failure should not take away from the enormous success LeBlanc enjoyed with "Friends." And no doubt he hopes to recapture some of that magic with his newly announced series "Episodes,"  a co-production between Showtime and the BBC set to air next year.

This showcase for LeBlanc is being shepherded by two sitcom veterans -- "Friends" co-creator David Crane and "Mad About You" producer Jeffrey Klarik. The single-camera comedy will follow the misadventures of an English couple whose urbane Britcom is dumbed down for American audiences with the casting of LeBlanc, who will play an exaggerated version of himself. As he said in today's news release: "I am so glad I got the part, seeing someone else play Matt LeBlanc would have been devastating." 

Playing the dimwitted but kindhearted Joey Tribiani on "Friends" for 10 years served LeBlanc well. He contended for lead actor in a comedy series at the Emmy Awards in each of the last three years of "Friends." He faced strong competition, losing first in 2002 to Ray Romano (his only win for "Everybody Loves Raymond") then to Tony Shalhoub (the first of three wins to date for "Monk") and finally to Kelsey Grammer (the last of his four wins for "Frasier").

First Kate Gosselin dumped husband Jon in real life. Now she is doing the same in reel life as their hit TLC show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" is revamped to "Kate Plus 8" starting Nov. 2. In a statement, TLC President Eileen O'Neill explained, "Given the recent changes in the family dynamics, it only makes sense for us to refresh and recalibrate the program to keep pace with the family. The family has evolved and we are attempting to evolve with it; we feel that Kate's journey really resonates with our viewers."

Whether this revised version of reality resonates with Emmy voters is another matter. Last summer, "Jon & Kate Plus 8" failed to make the final cut for best reality program at the Emmy Awards. On the surface that snub seemed a surprise as it was the top-rated show in the category, drawing more than 10 million viewers to the fifth-season premiere in May. However, popular-ballot voters opted for "Antiques Roadshow," "Dirty Jobs," "Dog Whisperer," "Intervention," "Mythbusters" and two-time past champ "My Life on the D-List" in that race. The gritty "Intervention" ended up winning the Emmy Award.

The Emmy fate of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" underscored something we already knew about Emmy voters — they're snobs. Consider this: "Frasier" -- the TV series that's won the most Emmys ever with 37 --  is about two snooty brothers, Frasier and Niles Crane, obsessed with wine, women and song. Sure, voters love series about dysfunctional families such as the Cranes, but "Jon & Kate Plus 8" crossed the line, offending academy members exactly at the wrong time.

Poor Johnny Carson. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, he used to get furious with Emmy chiefs when "The Tonight Show" kept losing best variety series. Or worse: it wouldn't even get nominated. It reaped bids in 1964, 1966 and 1967, but got skunked in 1965, 1968, 1969 and 1970. After a while, it didn't look like "Tonight" could ever win, probably because Carson's intentionally silly chat show competed against slick, scripted variety programs like "The Carol Burnett Show," which usually trounced.

But then, suddenly, Emmy hopes brightened when the TV academy separated talk shows into a separate category. Alas, "Tonight" lost to "The David Frost Show" in 1971, then to "The Dick Cavett Show" in 1972. In 1973, "Tonight" got snubbed completely. In 1974, talk shows were again bunched with variety series. "Tonight" nabbed a nom, but lost to "The Carol Burnett Show."

Enough! Carson finally got fed up and furious. When "Tonight" nabbed a bid again in 1975, he decided to slap the TV academy right back and issued a damning public declaration refusing the nomination.

The academy felt the sting. Carson was beloved in Hollywood and across America, so Emmy chiefs conspired to cook up some way, any way, to get "The Tonight Show" an Emmy. In 1977-78, they created a new category for program achievement/special class, nominated "Tonight" and it finally prevailed. Then, in 1978-79, "Tonight" did so again.

There's a cruel double standard applied to the repeat Emmy victories by "The Amazing Race" and "The Daily Show" — both of which have swept their categories (best reality program, best variety series, respectively) seven times in a row.

When "Race" prevailed, amazingly again (it's never lost this category in the seven years of its existence), there was grumbling back in the press room. No one suggested it didn't deserve to win. The harrumphing was all about, "Oh, it won again? Isn't enough enough?"

"Survivor" host Jeff Probst even had the lousy manners to say, "Maybe 'Amazing Race' should do what Oprah did and pull itself out of competition." Moments later "Amazing" producer Bert Van Munster was asked by reporters if he'd do just that. He replied, "I'm going to discuss it with my committee here, but it's unlikely."

However, when "The Daily Show" won again, none of the journalists seemed to mind, and nobody mentioned the Oprah option. Why?

The answer's obvious. Journalists think Jon Stewart is cool, so no one has the guts to suggest — out loud — that he should bow out. Daring to utter such a thing would risk instant ambush, flogging and crucifixion by peers. But if the basis for complaining about repeat victories is monotonous repetition, then both shows should be held to the same standard, shouldn't they?

If you wish to argue that "The Daily Show" deserves to win and "Amazing Race" doesn't (and no one I know has made that argument publicly), then consider this: A good case can be made that "The Daily Show" didn't deserve to win this year. It beat a nominee that was universally acclaimed to be one of the most relevant, important and brilliant programs of the past TV year: "Saturday Night Live" not only had a superb season, creatively speaking, but its riffs on U.S. presidential politics starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the water-cooler talk of the nation. Did "The Daily Show" really deserve to beat that? Of course not. So how did it happen?

There are quirks of human nature that can be routinely observed as factors behind who wins Emmys. Let's start with Stewart's category: best variety series. Programs with multiple hosts seldom win Emmys. We see that all the time at the Daytime Emmys, where just a few weeks ago, for the first time in this TV award's history, a show with multiple hosts ("The View") finally won best talk show. That same voting bias hurts "Saturday Night Live." The show hasn't won this category since 1993 and that may be one of the reasons. Showbiz awards are all about hugs. When voters look over a ballot, they're more inclined to want to wrap their arms around one person than lots of people.

But there are four solo people emceeing the other four nominees in this category. One of them is just too mean. Even as much as he's liked and admired, no one, let's be honest, wants to hug Bill Maher. In fact, he's Emmy's biggest loser, with 22 defeats, no wins. David Letterman has always been a bit mean, but he's warmed up through the years. He used to win here frequently, but he's been pushed aside ever since Stewart emerged as the new Letterman, the new cool dude with snarky 'tude sitting behind a desk on TV.

There were lots of loud gasps of shock among Emmy watchers when the Oscars' opening tune beat Justin Timberlake's and Andy Samberg's "Mother Lover" from "Saturday Night Live" for best song. But why should anyone be surprised? Watch it again below.

This Emmy victory, by the way, was a great vindication for Oscars host Hugh Jackman, who couldn't receive his own, separate Emmy nomination like many past Oscar emcees back in the days when there used to exist a category for best individual performance in a variety show. Unfortunately, the TV academy zapped that race this year and bunched the hosts with producers of variety specials. If the special wins, they all share in the victory, but I think that's a lousy idea. Maybe Emmy voters thought so too by rewarding his song (if not Jackman personally) here.

As my Envelope colleague Pete Hammond points out, the Oscars suffered some tough Emmy slights this year. This victory is vindication for the whole Oscarcast team, which did a terrific job. Such a snub isn't typical, however. Among all programs, the biggest winner of all Prime-time Emmy Awards is that TV special airing the Academy Awards.

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

It was a lot of fun when Tina Fey ("30 Rock") went all nuclear on The Envelope during her Golden Globes acceptance speech this year. But she's still hurling rocks. Sunday night, backstage at the Emmys, moments after "30 Rock" won best comedy series, a journalist asked if her victory was really a "nail-biter," as she said during the acceptance speech.

"Yeah," she said, "The Internet is always wrong. So when I heard we were the favorite on the Internet, I thought, 'Oh, no! We're dead!' "

Since this is the only website that pools Emmy predictions and we're a site Tina knows well (she said at the Globes that we're one of the few sites she likes to hang out at — see the video here — while snooping in our message boards, which she blasted in her acceptance speech), it's probably safe to say that she was largely referring to The Envelope again at yet another awards show. So here is our reply to Tina.

We're "always wrong," Tina? In 2007 and 2008, we correctly predicted "30 Rock" would win best comedy series, and last year we foresaw your victory as best actress and Alec Baldwin's as best actor. This year we correctly forecast repeat victories by "30 Rock" and Baldwin, but, yes, we did get one major prediction wrong in the laugh lineup. We believed you'd repeat at best lead actress. However, we warned loud and clear that Toni Collette ("United States of Tara") was poised as a spoiler because Hollywood voters are such suckers for multiple-personality roles.

Get Gold Derby on Twitter. Join the Gold Derby Group at Facebook. Become friends with Tom O'Neil on Facebook. Get Gold Derby RSS feed via Facebook. RSS Feedburner. RSS Atom.

The Emmy Awards telecast on CBS scored an 8% hike in viewership (13.3 million) over last year, reaping an 8.7 rating/14 share. Here's how those numbers compare to previous years, according to TVByTheNumbers.com:

9/21/08 - ABC - 8.2 rating/13 share (12.3 million viewers)
9/16/07 - FOX - 8.4 /14 (12.9 million)
8/27/06 - NBC - 10.6/17 (16.1 million)
9/18/05 - CBS - 12.5/20 (13.7 million)
9/19/04 - ABC - 9.4/15 (13.7 million)
9/21/03 - FOX - 11.8/19 (17.9 million)
9/22/02 - NBC - 13.5/21 (19.9 million)
11/4/01 - CBS - 11.4/16 (17.1 million)
9/10/00 - ABC - 14.2/23 (21.7 million)
9/12/99 - FOX - 11.7/19 (17.4 million)

Neil Patrick Harris may have lost his supporting actor race for "How I Met Your Mother," but he sure was a winner as host of last night's Emmy Awards. Following last year's fiasco with the five reality show host nominees as emcees of the Emmys, Harris was hailed by the TV critics as a welcome change.

And the awardscast itself came in for praise as well. Veteran producer Don Mischer delivered on his commitment to bring coherence to the Emmys by grouping the awards by genre. After nixing his plan to "time shift" some of the presentations of Emmy Awards, Mischer and company came up with a show that sailed along for three hours and three minutes. 

Writing for Reuters, Frank Scheck said, "Neil Patrick Harris did a standout job, starting with the hilarious opening number, during which he showed his musical talent, and continuing with his mock outrage over losing to Jon Cryer. Harris was affable, charming and simultaneously self-deprecating and comically self-aggrandizing."

For Frazier Moore of the AP, "the Emmycast with Harris in charge not only was remarkably stylish, fun and brisk but could even make viewers forget last year's disastrous format with five hosts, none of whom could rise to the occasion."

Luchina Fisher of ABC thought, "Harris, who was producing as well as hosting the show, kept it moving along. But it's not clear whether he'll be able to boost ratings, which have been sagging over the years for all the awards show. One thing is for sure, though, his fellow performers agreed that he was a hit." 

"The Amazing Race" has had one amazing Emmy run. The CBS travel competition continues its lock on the reality competition series Emmy with this seventh consecutive win – it has yet to lose since this category was introduced in 2003.

And Jeff Probst repeated as reality show host for his work on "Survivor." He won the inaugural award in this category last year, though, as he acknowledged tonight, he was also a loser then as one of the quintet of reality nominees who doubled as Emmycast hosts.

By the way, that Emmycast opening number, "Put Down the Remote," was penned for this year's host, Neil Patrick Harris, by Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman ("Hairspray"). Shaiman also wrote the special material sung by his good pal Bette Midler as Johnny Carson's last guest on "The Tonight Show" in 1992 – she won the now-defunct individual variety performance Emmy for her efforts.

And speaking of variety, there was not much of it in that genre this year. "The Daily Show" also made it seven in a row as top variety music or comedy series and reclaimed its hold on the VCM writing award after a two-year break. It first won that race in 2001 and then from 2003 to 2006. However, it was bested by the scripters from "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in 2007 and then "The Colbert Report" last year.