Morons of the Month - October 2019

Well, technically, this was September 2019.  But the stupidity has lingered like a bad cold.

It wasn't so long ago that I couldn't wait to watch the Emmy Awards.  I relished the whole evening.  I fantasized about going myself.  Maybe even being nominated.

That was then.  This is sadly now.  The Emmy Awards have become unwatchable.  It is truly ironic.   The TV show that is devoted to honoring the excellence in programming is usually the worst program of the year.   

But, then again, the Emmys have little to work with these days.

Part of the problem is the complete fragmentation of television entertainment in 2019.  Back when, there were three or four networks and you watched religiously maybe ten to twelve prime time shows.   With everybody but your grandmother now streaming content, it is impossible to watch everything.  There is something for everybody and generally nothing for everybody.  

As a result, I looked at this year's nomination and shook my head.  What is that?  Who is that person?  I never heard of this.  I never heard of that.

As a result, the Emmy producers cut away to people for reaction and I had zero clue who any of them were.   I was probably not alone.  I had no rooting interest in anything (save for Mrs. Maisel) and that totally diminishes the whole reason for watching the Emmys.  Something called "Fleabag" won Best Comedy.   I never heard of it.   This prompted me to watch an episode on Amazon.   It was dark and dreary and depressing.   This is a comedy??

Wait, there's more...

The other problem is that the TV Academy has become totally predictable.  You can guess who will win weeks before the ceremony.  Look at a category and find the Black nominee.  There's your winner.  Look at a category and find the openly gay nominee.  There's your winner.  Look at a category and find the nominee who is a transgender.  There's your winner.

It's Hollywood nonsense at its most nonsensical.  The industry is now all about inclusion....perhaps to the exclusion of lots of other worthy folks.  

This year, I taped the event and started watching one hour into the affair.   This enabled to cut through commercials, senseless babble, and the mystery of figuring who that last person was.  The show was hostless, so there was no need to fast forward through some politically laden monologue.  But there was also voice over from some knucklehead who tried to add funny factoids as winner came to the stage.

"This is her third Emmy nomination since she broke her toe doing Pilates."

You get the idea.

Of course, I did wait patiently for the always welcome "In Memoriam" segment.  That never fails to disappoint.

Wrong.

First off, there was a singer accompanying the slides of those recently dead Hollywood types.  She was dressed in what probably passes as a modest negligee at Victoria's Secret.  How inappropriate.

As the dearly departed flashed by, I noticed something else that horrified me.  When they showed the photo of Luke Perry, there was applause.  But Doris Day?  Silence.  Have the Academy members no concept of history???  Or does its memory bank begin with the premiere of "Beverly Hills 90210?"   

To make my matters work, they totally excludes my friend Kaye Ballard who was a major TV star in the 60s and 70s.  But they did take the time to show Gloria Vanderbilt, whose major TV accomplishment was pushing that dimwit Anderson Cooper down her birth canal.

I had enough.  Click.

But the good news was that, with all the fast forwarding, I was done watching the Emmy Awards in 32 minutes.

Even that was too long to devote to the ultra-moronic Television Academy.

Dinner last night:  Broccoli slaw salad.