Cherry Jones Front-Runner for 2012 Presidential Election: Emmys 2009

I’d folded this into the Andre-Braugher-Is-Fabulous-And-Will-Be-On-House post, but the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. I think I’ve figured out my problem with the Emmys–it’s that they have neither rhyme nor reason. (Perhaps that is why they used John Hodgman as an announcer, which was genius.) If we could always say, “Well, the Academy skews old, so of course they’ll take the wonderful Little Dorrit over the equally wonderful but very different Generation Kill,” we could make sense of their world. Or if it were, “Well, they’ll always take a star in another medium over someone who mostly does TV, hence Glenn Close, Toni Collette, and Cherry Jones,” we could impose some order. But when you see Kristin Chenoweth honored–HOORAY–90 seconds before Jon Cryer is also victorious–er, what?–it’s dizzying.

Much, much, much worse, however, were the omissions from the In Memorium segment. I’m sure I’m overlooking important people, too, but I can’t help but be a little miffed that they couldn’t be bothered to include Andy Hallett and Kim Manners. Particulary given that Manners was an Emmy nominee. Four different times.

Equally classy was the use of Bear McCreary’s astounding Battlestar Galactica score over the clip package on how wonderful television dramas were this year. Very few people love the BSG score more than I do, but it stings more than a little bit that this music was good enough for their broadcast but not good enough to win an Emmy. Or, you know, be nominated. I mean, it’s not like the score was written by manatees or anything, so I guess I can see why it wouldn’t be good enough to be considered for an award. 

And yet…Chenoweth. Michael Emerson was a deserving winner. Bryan Cranston’s delight will never get old (although I’m starting to feel uncomfortable for Hugh Laurie). Perhaps the most fun all night (with the exception of Hodgman) was the original song winners noting dryly that the producers probably expected a little more Justin Timberlake for their money, which makes me want them to win every year. Why can’t the Emmys make any sense?

RIP Kim Manners

Mulder and Scully clutching hands after being unearthed from the tendrils of a giant killer fungus. Mulder finding new ways to stumble around his soaked apartment as he loops through a terrible version of Groundhog Day. Giant hearts made of ice falling from the sky. Michael McKean and David Duchovny playing each other (and dancing!). Mulder hallucinating that his parents handed his sister over. A wedding ring that looks like a castle and an erased letter. The revelation that Scully has cancer (and oh, that one hurts today). Mulder trapped under chicken wire, the Black Oil dripping onto his face. The origins of the Lone Gunmen. Inbred brothers dragging their armless, legless mother out from under a bed. Roaches, roaches, roaches. Corpses encased in clay. Lucy Householder drowning in the back of a police car to save a kidnapped girl (Jewel Staite!). Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black watching car wrecks. A Satanic substitute teacher making a small town eat itself alive. And a circus community at the mercy of the Fiji Mermaid.

If you’re an X-Files fan, some of your favorite moments were directed by Kim Manners, who also directed episodes of Supernatural, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr, 21 Jump Street, and Simon and Simon, among others (you can see him directing Gillian Anderson in eating a cricket above). Manners, who died in Los Angeles Sunday of lung cancer, blew open the X-Files world with “Humbug”, expanded the visual look of the show, and guided the actors to some of the best performances of the series. Pull out your favorite X-Files (or Supernatural, or Sledge Hammer!, or even Baywatch) episode, which Manners may well have directed, in tribute, and when you’re done with that one, watch “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’” and enjoy the character named in his honor, the hard-swearing Detective Manners. Just as Jose Chung says about Detective Manners, film crews up and down the West Coast were familiar with Director Manners’ colorful vernacular, too, and they loved him for it. He will be missed.