Some of the best moments from past Emmy Award shows.
Some of the best moments from past Emmy Award shows.
When it comes to award ceremonies, the Emmys are usually the straight-laced sister of the good-time girl that is the booze-laden Golden Globes.
Year after year, the telecast is criticised for being over-long and underwhelming - but every now and then a little bit of magic happens. So, with theEmmy Awards screening yet again on Monday (NZT), let's take a look back at five of the ceremony's finer moments.
The best pageant ever?
When Rob Lowe and Sofia Vergara walked on stage to present the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy at the 2011 Emmys, the watching public prepared for yet another list of nominees. But little did they know, Amy Poehler had cooked up a bit of a surprise.
When her name was read out as the first nominee, the pint-sized actress jumped out of her seat and went up on stage to await the announcement of the winner. Her fellow nominees, Melissa McCarthy, Martha Plimpton, Edie Falco, Tina Fey and Laura Linney, each followed suit, until they were all lined up on stage, holding hands hopefully and excitedly in true beauty pageant style.
Yes, they might be actors, but McCarthy's surprise as she was named the winner, and her fellow nominees' excitement as she received her tiara and flowers (and Emmy) seemed genuine.
"It's my first and best pageant ever!" McCarthy went on to proclaim.
"Give me my Emmy"
Every award show needs Ricky Gervais.
With so many Hollywood stars afraid to put a foot wrong on stage, Gervais always manages to stir things up in his own unique way, as was the case when he presented at the 2008 Emmy Awards.
Gervais had won an Emmy for The Office a year earlier, but hadn't been at the ceremony to accept it. Steve Carell, his counterpart in the US version of the hit show, accepted it in his place - and kept it (for this gag's purpose, anyway).
Gervais used his time on stage to badger Carell, sitting stony-faced in the audience, about it.
"I made you what you are and I get nothing back," Gervais told him.
A couple of minutes later, the Emmy in question was eventually handed over, much to Gervais' - and the audience's - delight.
Not bitter at all
Back when Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart were still the kings of fake news, the two TV hosts provided one of the highlights of the 2007 Emmy Awards.
On stage to present the award for Best Reality/Competition Show, it became clear Colbert was still sore about losing out to Barry Manilow (yes, really) at the previous year's Emmys.
Staying in character throughout the presentation, Colbert began by greeting the audience with a polite "Good evening, God-less sodomites," before stating reality TV "warps the minds of our children and weakens the resolve of our allies".
When Stewart asked if the bitter remarks had anything to do with "the Barry Manilow thing", Colbert went into full rant mode - and it was a thing of beauty.
Wanna be in our glee club?
The opening sketch for the 2010 Emmy Awards was one for the ages (although it doesn't have much competition).
Host Jimmy Fallon called on his old Saturday Night Live pal, Tina Fey, to help create a memorable performance of Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, featuring the cast of Glee (a show that was in its heyday at the time) and Jon Hamm in a role far removed from Mad Men's Don Draper. They even managed to rope in Betty White to add a bit of sass.
As Conan O'Brien pointed out during his hosting gig at the 2006 awards, the Emmys are always scheduled for three hours and hardly ever come in on time.
"Why? There's been no real consequences for running over. Until now," O'Brien said, as TV icon Bob Newhart was wheeled on stage inside a clear container.
The assembled actors, writers and producers were told to keep their speeches short, as there was exactly three hours' worth of air in Newhart's container. If the show went one second over, "Bob Newhart dies".
Newhart played along with the gag like the pro that he is. And not only did the Emmys finish on time that year, they even had a few minutes to spare. Unheard of! And unlikely to be repeated any time soon.
• We'll have all the action from the Emmy red carpet and beyond on nzherald.co.nz tomorrow from 10am.
