2011 Emmy Award Wrap Up

The Emmys are wrapped, dear readers. And just like that, another award season is under way. In a few months, Oscar buzz will kick into high gear, but before we look ahead, let’s look back at the festivities making up the 63rd Emmy Awards.

As always, we begin with fashion. There was nothing too notable, on either end of the spectrum. (Even my worst dressed picks weren’t Bjork-wearing-a-swan bad!) So let’s start with some trends and who wore it better match ups.

Ladies in Red

Kate Winslet and Lea Michele showed up wearing stunning red gowns, as did several other women on the carpet. Winslet wore Elie Saab while Michele (who was super glamorous last year in Oscar de la Renta) chose Marchesa. Both looked great in perfectly fitted red power dresses, though I give a slight edge to the smoky-looking Winslet for glamming it up with a sparkly Cartier bracelet.

The Family that Dresses Together…

Modern Family stars Sofia Vergara and Sarah Hyland both wore coral-reddish, one-shoulder numbers. Hyland, in a custom Christian Siriano gown, looked fun and fresh, wonderfully age appropriate. Vergara scored in Vera Wang. The dress was a little trendier than we usually see from Wang, but it hugged Vergara in all the right places and she looked strikingly statuesque in the structured gown.

Little Black Dress

Check out Christine Baranski and Evan Rachel Wood (in Elie Saab) looking like they were poured into their sexy black dresses. Interestingly, in what I noticed as another trend, Baranski and other more mature women were showing off more skin than Wood and her contemporaries. Hooray to women over 18 showing some skin and looking drop dead gorgeous.

Lacing Up the Red Carpet

Contrary to what I just said, here’s an instance in which the older woman should have covered up. Take a look at Minka Kelly in Dior and Gwyenth Paltrow in Pucci. Minka, the young starlet, looks classy and sophisticated. Paltrow, the older of the two, bares her midriff and I wish she’d cover it up. She looks like she’s trying (too hard) to be young, hip and edgy. Advantage Minka.

Does Size Matter?

The men were mostly fine, with some standouts listed below. But let’s consider this showdown: Joel McHale vs. Peter Dinklage. McHale, in Michael Bastian, looked like a server in the Catskills. The color of his jacket aside, it seemed to be ill fitting, looking like the tall and lanky funny man had outgrown the tux. On the other hand, Dinklage looked great in a perfectly tailored tuxedo. And, as someone who happens to fancy messy tresses and facial hair, I think the entire look worked for the Emmy winner.

Other Hits
Julie Bowen (right) looked like a sexy, slinky snake in her Oscar de la Renta gown. Cobie Smulders was a breath of fresh air in a refreshingly aqua gown (that is, before she changed into her Emmytone costume). Rob Lowe, Will Arnett and Seth Meyers looked just right in Tom Ford, Calvin Klein and Prada, respectively. Edie Falco took subtle glamour to a whole new level in a nude Randi Rahm dress. And Jon Hamm (in Tom Ford) and Jennifer Westfeld (in a vintage canary yellow goddess dress) were the best dressed couple.

Misses

Melissa McCarthy may have been a winner once the awards were handed out, but her dress didn’t make the cut. Partially because it looked like it had been cut up, and then stitched back together. I don’t mind a pattern or some interesting detail to a dress, but the patchwork style of the dress just didn’t look luxe. Rather, it looked more like I could buy this off the rack. And I do not understand the shoulder pads. However, I loved the deep purple color; and the tastefully plunging neckline made McCarthy look taller and slimmer.

Also a winner on stage but not on the red carpet: Julianna Margulies. I usually like the way she looks, but not this time. The shapeless bodice of her Armani Prive gown looked like a lampshade that had been decorated with a bedazzler. It hid all the beauty and curves of Margulies’s body, which, if you’ve seen some of the promos for The Good Wife, you know looks good. A disappointing look from a talented lady.

Did Zooey Deschannel put on that Monique Lhullier dress as a joke? She looked very un-pretty in this pink, frothy, juvenile prom gown, with an Elvira beehive to boot. I don’t know if this is supposed to be cool, but I’m over Deschannel’s “I’m so cute and quirky” act. She is definitely my choice for worst dressed.

And now the award show. I thought Jane Lynch was a fine host. She didn’t have a lot of screen time, which was fine – there were a lot of awards to hand out. (And, mercifully, they did it all in the allotted three-hour time frame.) I liked The Lonely Island’s performance – it brought a little bit of youthful energy to an otherwise kind of stuffy affair. I also liked the commentary as each winner approached the stage. It was snarky and much more spirited than usual. I did not like the In Memoriam segment. Call me crazy, but an In Memoriam segment is not supposed to be a showcase of living people’s talent. Skip the live performances and just show the tribute shots.

Finally, dear readers, a (incomplete) list of winners, with commentary. (Visit emmys.com for a full list of winners.)

Modern Family Goes for the Gold

• Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Ty Burrell
  As a Modern Family fan, this was a tricky category as four of the six nominees were Modern men. Burrell is fun and loveable as the goofy but well meaning dad, Phil Dunphy, and he’s an Aaron Sorkin alumnus, so I’m glad to see him take home Emmy gold.
• Best Actress in a Comedy Series – Julie Bowen
• Best Directing for a Comedy Series – Michael Alan Spiller, Modern Family, “Halloween” (Modern Family had three nominations in this category)
• Best Writing for a Comedy Series – Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman, Modern Family, “Caught in the Act”
• Best Comedy Series – Modern Family

More Winners

• Best Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series –The Daily Show
• Best Variety, Music or Comedy Series – The Daily Show (this is the 9th year in a row that The Daily Show has won this award)
• Best Directing for a Drama Series – Martin Scorsese, Boardwalk Empire, “Pilot”
• Best Actress in a Drama Series – Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie – Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
• Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie – Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
  Okay, dear readers, now Ms. Winslet is ¾ of the way to an EGOT: She won this Emmy; she won a Grammy for a spoken word album in 2000 and in 2009 she won an Oscar for The Reader. Let’s get her to come to Broadway so she can win a Tony! (I know this kind of star f**king is unusual for me, but I like Winslet, she has done theatre before and you know she’d do a great job and not just phone it in.)