TVSquad

Actually you know I have to disagree. I can see the problem from an audience member's point of view, but for a television viewer I thought the theatre in round worked. It was imtimate, it was different and one of the few award shows in recent years that I have had no trouble sitting right through. The VMAs by contrast were a disaster, with people in suites all over the Palms and only a handful of awards given out one has to wonder what the audience in the main hall were doing most of the time. Watching the Emmys I felt like I was watching an award show, watching the VMAs I felt like I had gatecrashed a celebrity party.

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The theater in the round style was awful. It made the viewer at home feel uncomfortable. At first it seemed like they were going to rotate the stage. I got that impression when Jeremy Piven went on that it changed, but I guess that was just a different camera angle. Stick to what works, one normal stage that exists in normal theaters and an audience that faces it.

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I'll give the producers credit for trying something different. It did seem like the show had more of an arena feel that the staid old stage at the front of the theater that's been the standard for hundreds of years. I'm sure the half of the audience who got to stare at the presenters' and winners' asses were not thrilled with their locaitons, with the possible exception of when Katherine Heigl accepted her award.

But a more entertaining host might have done something to work with the fact that they were in the round, something like exhaulting the audience to start the wave or divide the sidesof the auditorium into teams and have them taunt each other like crowds at football games.

My biggest suggestion for the producers is to get a panel of regular TV viewers together to review all of the ideas you have for the show and open the floor to criticism. (I get the idea that the producers of the show are treated the same way that his advisors handle the president: Never tell him anything he doesn't want to hear.) Someone needs the balls to tell the producers the ideas like having Masi Oka introduce the founder of YouTube via a webcam hookup so he could then in turn introduce Al Gore do not add to the show at all. This would be a GOOD use of a focus group.

And as much as the evening is supposed to be a celebration of television, is it a coincidence that some of the biggest laughs came from Lewis Black and Brian and Stewie Griffin's musical bit, both of which were criticising television? I was hoping someone would get to stand on the stage and talk about all the great shows and actors who are constantly ignored by the academy. For all of the talk about the academy trying to open the field to new nominations instead of the same-old same-old each year, they're not exactly helping themselves by giving another Emmy to James Spader.

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James Spader had the best line of the night, when he commented that he'd been to "thousands of concerts" and that these were "the WORST seats I've ever had". It was funny because it wasn't some celebrity complaining he was too far back, it was a direct statement on how awful the round idea was.
It might have worked, if they'd just had a mike & camera setup at least in the opposite direction. Then the east/west sides would at least see profiles, and no one would be facing the backs of the performers.
On TV it came across fine for the viewers (we always saw the fronts), but it's really a miserable thing to do to the people attending the show.

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I disagree with you.

The round stage looked incredible. It's great to change it up every now and then. Now a day’s, award shows are synonymous with being boring and not surprising what-so-ever. The MTV VMAs were just a train wreck and that producer should be tortured for such a horrible, unorganized piece of un-entertaining crap.

At least this year with the Emmy’s, we saw them moving forward acknowledging the ever growing interest and demand of online media and entertainment. I’m surprised that it took this long to attempt new tricks and change up the rules on such an “important” award shows.

I enjoyed them this year. :-)

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I gotta say, I liked the stage. Who cares what the audience was seeing?! I was more interested in what I was seeing at home. And to me it looked good. I enjoyed watching the reaction of the audience in the background to what was happening on stage.

I was surprised that so many supposedly television savvy people were making fun of the stage. Hey folks! The stage was meant to appeal to the TV viewer. Not you!

Scott
blog plug: http://www.sacksofwetcement.com

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I absolutely agree that they could've set up more mike stands at different places of the stage and focus all around the theather, but I loved the round stage. It looked gorgeous, plus I had a better view of the ceremony than a bunch of the stars there, so I'm not complaining.

James Spader complained somewhere that his bosses had to stare at his back during his acceptance speech. Yeah, that's really awful, considering they could properly see him accepting the award only fifty billion other times.

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I found it funny that many of the ABC stars, cast from Boston Legal and Ugly Betty among others, had to watch people's behind for the entire night....even during those unnecessary performances. I'm sure there's not gonna be any round stages in the future.

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I didn't watch, and only watched the Family Guy clip, and the round thing drove me crazy.

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It looked better than most of the sets used for award shows, and they did do some of the show facing back, or at an off-angle. I think they just had to keep most of it aimed forward, since they didn't want these award-winning actors to have to try to think on their feet and find the prompter.

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I don't know why you think the stage was that bad.

The people in the back should have seen more ass in there lifetime than I ever will so THEY should be used to it.

:-)

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Round stages are fine for musical events-not for award ceremonies. I must admit though, I did love it when Helen Mirren, presenting the award for best drama series, opened the envelope, held it up, and turned around in a circle so everyone could see that "THE SOPRANOS" was the winner.

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I thought the same thing while watching the show. The winners kept looking over their shoulders to talk to audience. They never looked towards the camera.

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I thought that it was fun for a change, although it would have been more useful it there had been a host (Ellen comes to mind) more capable of 'working the audience'. The in-the-round staging gave me flashbacks to The Flip Wilson Show. Good times!

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Many of these glamorous stars are so appealing when acting, but when it's time to accept their awards, they show their butts!! They should try to ACT like educated women, instead of the ditzy movie stars that they really are!!!

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