How Gay Is My Emmy?

Over the weekend, I was swinging between a rattled repugnance while watching coverage of the Glenn Beck & Tea Baggers Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, & a state of sublime sentimentality & sanguine satisfaction while viewing the most gay-friendly Emmy Awards in history. I think the Emmys are now as gay as the Tony Awards. This country moves a little forward & a big step backwards on the issues surrounding acceptance of gay people & their civil rights. What better way to have a positive presence than in the world of TV, watched by nearly every household in the USA & seen by much of the rest of the world, thanks to the internet. I can’t help but reflect on how much has changed for those of us that chose to open that closet door.




A huge favorite at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, no matter the project, out actor- Jane Lynch won for best supporting actress in a comedy for her role as coach Sue Sylvester on Glee. She kissed her wife upon hearing her name & thanked her & her "lord and creator," openly gay series creator producer Ryan Murphy. Cutie Murphy won for directing Glee, while Paris Barclay ( who’s brother Neil was one of my best friends in college), who is also out, was nominated in the same category. Murphy thanked "my great partner, Dick Miller", & stated: "Glee is about the importance of arts education, so I would like to dedicate this to all of my teachers, who taught me to sing & finger-paint." He also thanked Tom Ford for the tux. I would liked to have been a fly on the wall for that fitting.

Ryan Murphy in a Tom Ford Tux with Leah Michele... now that is gay!

Eric Stonestreet won for best supporting actor in a comedy for portraying half of a gay couple on my favorite new show- Modern Family; openly gay actors Jesse Tyler Ferguson ( the other half of the couple ) & Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother ) were also nominated. (Harris, who was also a presenter, did win an Emmy for his guest-starring role on Glee.) Modern Family went on to win Best Comedy Series for its 1st year run. Mad Men, which to me is the very definition of why TV is better than Film for artful, thoughtful entertainment, deservedly won for Best Drama. Now, if Mad Men could find a place for more storyline about closeted advertising Art Director- Sal, the greatest show on TV could be made even a bit greater.

Glee’s Lynch & Chris Colfer, who is openly gay, were part of the opening sequence featuring funny & cute host Jimmy Fallon & other TV regulars singing & dancing to Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. Also, during his tribute to the series that had ended- 24, Law & Order & Lost, Fallon dressed as Sir Elton John & sang his own take of Candle in the Wind for 24.


Sexy Alexander Skarsgard, bisexual-Anna Paquin & Stephen Moyer, the stars of the pansexual True Blood presented an award (Paquin recently married Moyer.)  What a very hot 3some that would be!


This season on TV continues to feature gay story lines, out gay actors, straight actors playing gay, gay actors playing straight, a weekly show packed full of musical numbers, & a weekly dose of Jon Hamm. Progress. Baby Steps. Quality & comedy can help make this a better gay world.


Take a look at my friend- Bob’s fashion wrap up of last night’s awards. He always has an interesting take on all sorts of issues.

I think that Sofía Vergara is the most beautiful woman on TV, & she is wicked funny... a winning combo. After Modern Family won for Best Comedy Series there was one question on everyone's mind: When is Sofia Vergara going to run naked down Sunset Boulevard if her show won, as she promised on the red carpet before the show?

Emmy Awards Wrap Up

I don't actually care who won, because all I care about is Neil Patrick Harris. I am so in love with NPH. After seeing how he brilliantly handled the Tony Awards, I see no reason why he should not be handed the hosting of the Oscars. Cute, sexy, super talented- his opening musical number was amazing, including a long patter song list of the networks that I can't imagine anyone else being able to deliver. My favorite lyric: "Joan (Christina Hendricks) of "Mad Men" could "turn a gay man straight; oh, wait, there's Jon Hamm". I think NPH can do more for gay rights than any speech or any march on Washington DC. Who could resist this man?

I wanted the host to win for Best Supporting Actor, but Jon Cryer's acceptance speech was just what award shows need, less lists of "thank you"s & more "funny", as he jokes that he used to think shiny awards were a shallow measure of popularity, "but now I realize, they are the only true measure of a person's real worth as a human being."

I love Mad Men & 30 Rock, so I was happy with their unsurprising wins. It was weird to have the talented Toni Collette win over the always winning Tina Fey. I loved that tiny Kristin Chenoweth (a fave of the Husband & me) won for Pushing Daises, (which had been canceled). Chenoweth, fighting back tears, announced that she was unemployed "& I would like to be on Mad Men. I also like The Office and 24."
Adorable. But again, I am in love with Neil Patrick Harris. Have his people call my people, please.

More On The Emmy Noms

I feel that Mad Men (season 3 starts on August 16th) is the best show on television & possibly my favorite show ever (sorry, Six Feet Under). I was happy to see this landmark AMC show be honored with 16 nominations including an especially well deserved one for Elizabeth Moss as Peggy Olson- the most complex character on TV, & for yummy Jon Hamm for his enigmatic character Don Drapper & for taking his shirt off on the series. Mad Men received 4 of the 5 nominations for writing.

30 Rock is my favorite current comedy series & the show received 22 Emmy nominations, the most ever for a comedy series. I feel that producer, writer & star- Tina Fey is a comic genius & the Husband & I LOVE this show. Also nominated are Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski , Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the page, & I am so happy: Elaine Stritch, Alan Alada, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin & amazing- Jon Hamm again! Also good news: noms for Kathy Griffin, Neil Patrick Harris as host & nominee, & for Farrah with the nomination for the documentry about her battle with cancer.

Q.- What goes really well with Hamm?
A.- A big side of Stephen.

Emmy Noms

I would never have thought to watch The Big Bang Theory (although I heart Johnny Galecki) & I missed the first season. Earlier this summer, the Husband said to me- "you should take a look at this show...it is rather good, but this one actor is TOO funny). When I settled in to watch an episode I was nicely surprised that this rather formula sitcom (canned laughter, 3 cameras etc.) was actually held together with the glue of exceptional acting & very funny writing. Now I am catching up with the summer re-runs. Jim Parsons is the breakout star & his deadpan creation of control freak Sheldon Cooper is very original & extremely funny. The Emmy Nominating Committee think so too because Mr. Parsons has a nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy. I can't imagine that I won't be rooting for my fave- Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), but this guy has really caught my attention. He was one of the announcers of the nominations yesterday & he seemed genuinely totally surprised to have his name announced: "No! This is some sort of trick fest…I feel a little dreamlike right now.”