Monday, June 17, 2013

OPINION: Thoughts On The 2013 Daytime Emmy Awards


The 2011 Daytime Emmy Awards in Las Vegas will likely forever hold the record as the worse of all time, but this year's ceremony on HLN was bad in its own right.

Let's start with the positives.

Doug Davidson was finally recognized after 35 years on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. His speech was wonderful as well.

Heather Tom won again this year and it was especially sweet that she thanked her son, Zane. She was pregnant with him when she won last year.

Jess Walton and Corbin Bernsen
DAYS OF OUR LIVES star Chandler Massey deservedly won for a second year in the Younger Actor category and also gave a very heartfelt speech.

Kristen Alderson won for her work on GENERAL HOSPITAL and was incredibly enthusiastic and happy (a nice change of pace for the ceremony) even though she seemed to have the farthest distance to walk/run before getting to the stage.

Corbin Bernsen and Jess Walton presented the "In Memoriam" segment with Bernsen dropping "F" and "S" bombs and calling out the on-stage interviews that were happening (more on that below). Jeanne Cooper was remembered not only here but throughout the evening.

Alex Trebek and Melody Thomas Scott
There were a few clips celebrating 40 years of the Daytime Emmys where we got to see some (very brief) actual clips of the actor's work.

The Smithsonian presentation was informative and we got a chance to see Melody Thomas Scott on stage.

Betty White presenting one of the Lifetime Achievement Awards (to Bob Stewart) was money in the bank. At age 91, Betty is always flawless.

Carrie Fisher can be a trainwreck but she's always entertaining.

All the Father's Day shoutouts were nice, especially Chandler Massey's with a cut to his dad in the audience.

And now the bad. Where do we start?

Robin Meade, Sam Champion &A.J. Hammer hosted the ceremony on HLN
Overall the show just felt kind of cheap and tacky, versus glamorous and classy.

The technical crew did not have a good night. Among other things, there were ongoing microphone problems and sound issues.

Those on-stage interviews mentioned above were incredibly awkward and unnecessary. Talk about a bad idea. Other than THE TALK hosts Sheryl Underwood and Julie Chen, the interviewers seemed to have no idea who the winners were. Giada De Laurentiis, who interviewed the Supporting Actor and Actress winners, was the worst. She was so shocked to learn Billy Miller had won an Emmy before, she dropped her own "F" bomb. Just horrible and surely a concept we will never see again.

Nancy Lee Grahn's "on the street" comedy bits were hit and miss. Compared to some of the other problems, they weren't that bad. The segments might have been great commercials for the Emmy telecast or as web additions. But in the context of what is supposed to be a classy awards show and taking time away from possible clips or acceptance speeches, they were not needed.

Speaking of clips, how can we not see anyone's work in an awards show that was only happening to honor the best of Daytime last year? I personally edited 16 montages for this year's Indie Soap Awards, we played them all, and the show still finished on time. The producers of the Daytime Emmys need to remember what they are honoring, and if they truly love Daytime TV, have faith in the audience to appreciate the clips of their favorite shows more than comedy routines, fake weather maps or "witty" banter.

Wayne "I didn't write this crap" Brady managed to insult an honoree again this year. A new Daytime Emmy tradition? For some reason, he just skipped the second half of his Lifetime Achievement Award intro for Monty Hall, carelessly omitting  the set-up for a touching montage narrated by Hall's daughter, Joanna Gleason. The winner actually asked him what happened to his daughter's clip, and (at least) Brady confessed that he had messed up. Though he can be entertaining, Brady has a way of falling flat during the Daytime Emmys.

IL Volo performed during the "In Memoriam" segment
Many of the personalities were demonstrably frustrated on stage, and whether justified or not, it was always uncomfortable to watch. Giada De Laurentiis yelled at the audience to listen to Julie Marie Berman's on-couch interview, with as much success as you would expect. And, in an unusual twist, instead of being told by the teleprompter to "Please wrap up," Bethenny Frankel turned the tables, yelling at the scroll to move things along.

It is nice to have the "In Memoriam" segment back at the Daytime Emmys, despite omissions such as Gene Bua and Virginia Dwyer. Having IL Volo perform was a nice idea, but at least for me, the distraction subtracted from the warm feeling I normally get as the pictures go by.

I now accept that the winners are almost an afterthought at the Daytime Emmys. It's hard to accurately select the "best" with hundreds of episodes airing but only a couple actually reviewed by judges. Also, in some categories, there are barely enough contenders to justify an award of the "most outstanding." Yes, I'm saying we could live without a Best Song if there are only two candidates. Regardles, though I was surprised by some of the winners, I was never shocked.

Those are my first thoughts. What are yours? Did you enjoy this year's Daytime Emmy Awards?

RELATED:
- WINNERS: Daytime Emmy Awards - DAYS OF OUR LIVES Named Outstanding Drama Series
- WINNERS: 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards
- THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL Leads All Programs With Nine Daytime Emmy Wins
- Sony Pictures Television Daytime Emmys Press Release
- CBS Leads All Networks With A Combined 21 Wins At The 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards
- Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations
- Corbin Bernsen, Jess Walton, Betty White, Max Ehrich, Alex Trebek, Bryton James & Hunter King Among Daytime Emmy Presenters
- Sam Champion, A.J. Hammer & Robin Meade To Host Daytime Emmy Awards; More Presenters Announced
- Daytime Television at the Smithsonian on WE LOVE SOAPS TV -- Susan Lucci, Alex Trebek, Phil & Kathy Baker, John Gray and Malachy G. Wienges
- Nikki Newman's 2002 Wedding Gown Will Be Donated To The Smithsonian; Melody Thomas Scott & Alex Trebek Will Appear At The Daytime Emmys
- Emmy Nominee Cocktail Reception Brings Out The Stars Of Daytime (Photos)

37 comments:

  1. How did you not mention ANYTHING about Days winning their first Outstanding Drama Emmy since 1978?!?! I don't care if last year was wobbly at best, I'll take it and run with it. Love Days and they deserve more recognition than they get.

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  2. Hi Roger
    I agree that the
    "Overall the show just felt kind of cheap and tacky, versus glamorous and classy."

    interesting.

    Kelly Ross

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  4. While some awards were deserving others got Robbed ! Very boring.

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  5. Doug, I thought B&B would win the Drama Series award but happy for DAYS. I hope this helps them come renewal time.

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  6. Spent most of the time in another room just listening. Was not impressed. For some reason I always believed Daytime Awards were catered to soaps with other genres as secondary. Always looked forward to watching the awards even when my faves didn't win.

    We all agree the couch interviews just did not work. They do deserve credit for trying. As the saying goes, "you never know unless you try." When Julie Marie Berman sat, it just reminded me of the interview process on a beauty pageant show (I didn't know one was on at the time until my sister told me). She was just missing her sash saying "Miss...."

    For me there were a lot of upsets. Our "faves" may never win every category but tonight some surprised me. Those were the ones that I never in a million years would have believed had a chance. At least there were a couple that were definitely deserving and was happy for their wins.

    Last year we forgave HLN for the misses because it was put together quickly on short notice. We commended them for taking on the challenge. This year they had no excuse. Plenty of time to plan and get everything together. Time to showcase well deserving recognitions of shows and actors. Sure, they tried different things but now know how poorly it was received by the home audience and the people there. Is it a little too late?

    I feel bad for the hosts. Can't blame everything wrong on them. They had to work with the material given. Did they even have any idea of half the things that were planned? How much influence in the planning process did they have or participate? Did they breathe a sigh of relief when it was over and say, "why did I even agree to do this nightmare of a show? This was not what we agreed to."

    For those who recorded the show, keep it and watch when you have insomnia to help put you to sleep. May next year be much better planned and more attention to our beloved soaps.

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  7. Oltl was robbed for writing! And gh for directing. Arianne zucker for supporting. Also the clips is what make the show before. It looked as tacky as the 4th or the 10th annual emmys, not the 40th! As I said before, air the show in daytime. Also dont air it live. Pre tape it.

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  8. HLN has proven for the second year in a row they have no clue who the audience is tuning in nor do they comprehend how to get the audience there and keep them there. AJ Hammer! Kathy Griffin! Betheny Frankel! Um...whuh? Yes, I know, there are only four soaps left, they gotta fill the night with something, but maybe don't treat these four soaps - who have lifelong audience and fans - like second class citizens at their own award show? The whole night came off cheap and tacky. And that couch interview thing - right after they give their acceptance speech - made no sense whatsoever. Cut the couch, show some clips, it would have split the difference.

    FYI - Roger - please make sure that HLN host girl is there at next year's ISAs to sing a few web series theme songs. Even if they don't have lyrics, have her hum the melody.

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  9. A few other thoughts after watching a second time (yes, I'm a glutton).

    * Liked Kathy Griffin reciting a line from each of the nominated writing teams. It wasn't a clip but at least one line of their work showcased.

    * Giada De Laurentiis is probably a find Food Network host, but she was just horrible on that couch.

    * I think Ken Corday had the makings of a really touching winner's speech for DAYS mentioning his father, Father's Day, his birthday, etc. It didn't totally come together for him but he tried.

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  10. Wow! Am I the only person who actually LIKED the show this year? I just finished reading more comments over on another site of people not liking it. I felt the show was WAY better than last year's! They actually had music and clips from the shows this year, last year they did not. I actually enjoyed watching this year, last year's was boring (not to mention the joke of a "tribute" to OLTL and AMC last year)! Yes, they did have a lot of technical issues with mics and timing. But, overall, I enjoyed the show. I enjoyed NLG's on-the-street segments, I thought they were fun. I didn't feel the show was cheap and tacky, I thought it was fun and entertaining. I don't need glamour and class, it's the Daytime Emmy ENTERTAINMENT Awards! I'll agree that it was kinda ridiculous to have a category for best song where there were only two nominees, but there was, so they presented it. I enjoyed hearing the performances of both songs, I thought the singer was great. I also liked the on-stage interviews after the wins, I thought they too were fun and different. I also agree that I wish they'd had actual clips of the nominees, not just a silent quick look; and I could have done without the weather map at the beginning, but it was the opening, and I've come to realize that the opening of most award shows seems to be a waste of time. So, it was right on par. I also agree about the Wayne Brady thing. I was upset and sad for Monty for his film not being shown. I was hoping they'd show it after his speech. I feel that Wayne just messed up, badly yes, but everyone messes up occasionally. They should have gone ahead and played it. Overall though, I like the telecast, I found it much more enjoyable than last year's; and hopefully next year's will be even better.

    As far as the winners, I actually watched every single one of the acting reels they made public, in their entirety. I don't watch all the shows, so I did what the voters are supposed to do and picked which were the best acting performances based solely on the reels. From the reels I saw, I don't think Doug Davidson should have won. It seems to me that he got the sentimental vote maybe, but not based solely on his reel in my opinion. I thought it was a toss up between Michael Muhney and Jason Thompson. I picked Billy Miller, and Scott Clifton as my second choice, so good there. I picked Kristen Alderson, and I also picked Chandler Massey. I didn't pick Heather Tom, I picked Susan Flannery, but I can see Heather Tom winning. As for Julie Marie Berman, I absolutely LOVE her and watch GH religiously; but, based on acting reels alone, I picked Katherine Kelly Lang. I can see JMB winning though.

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  11. I watched Neil Patrick Harris host The Tony Awards last Sunday and he was flawless. The ceremony was first class all the way. With so many different genres in the mix, why can't daytime get the same treatment? Broadway seems like such a niche market versus daytime but they get a much better awards show.

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  12. Stick with your Format
    The Good:
    Corbin B and Jess W.
    Melody Thomas Scott flawless
    Liked NLG clips since it distracted from the train wreck that was occurring on stage.
    Betty White a 91yo Icon of Awesome

    The Best
    Days winning after 38 years
    Doug Davidson win after 35 years
    Heather Tom Chandler Massey Billy Miller & Scott Clifton in repeat wins that were WELL EARNED
    Angelica McD and Steve Kent showing how a Daytime Network and Line up should be RUN!

    The Bad:
    Emmy Staging, Production and Overall Poorly executed concept

    Forgetting Larry Hagman and so many more in the In Memory

    Pulling the Camera away for long shots to the pics during In Memory and Hated the singing trio of blah

    Having interviewers of the actors by people who know absolutely Nothing about daytime soaps

    The Worst
    That Fugly Couch
    The Worse Red Carpet pre-show EVER
    The disrespect to Monty Hall during his own Tribute
    Not acknowledging the anniversary of The Emmy's (40) GH (50) or R (40) and also running commercials for AMC and OLTL's return but NEVER mentioning it on air

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  13. guy416, great point about GH and Y&R's anniversaries. I could have sworn we were told months ago they would get tributes for that (although it hasn't been mentioned in any recent press releases).

    Another thing that just came to mind, seeing the crowd during the commercials in a small box on the bottom left of the screen was "interesting". I think I would put it in the "bad" category since no one there seemed to know the camera was running during the breaks so many of the shots were actors putting food in their mouths.

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  14. Did the biggest ovation of the night go to Carrie Fisher when she was introduced?

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  15. I do agree with forgetting many people in the in memorium, and the pulling away from the pictures during it. I was fine with the people interviewing, but the couch was too much. Everything was red! Too much red! The red carpet show was the worst ever, but whatever. And I already said how upset I was about the tribute to Monty Hall. I didn't even think about the anniversaries (Emmys, GH, Y&R, Let's Make a Deal (50, although not continuous)). I know I read that they were going to acknowledge the anniversaries, and they didn't. I also thought that showing the audience during commercial breaks was interesting, but unnecessary. I don't really care either way about that.

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  16. Have to agree Days's win is a "Good" that was missing!

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  17. I totally agree with Melanie when she said, "Last year we forgave HLN for the misses because it was put together quickly on short notice. We commended them for taking on the challenge. This year they had no excuse."

    Roger, I think you were way too nice. Last-minute mistakes are part of life, but there's nothing to forgive the badly conceived ideas like the "couch interviews" and the misuse of NLG's talents (I'm really surprised she did that). Most of the show perpetuated the myth that daytime is a joke, and that makes me angry, because I know most of daytime works harder than most industries, yet often gets little respect.

    I did feel like Jeanne Cooper's spirit was there, thanks to Corbin Bernsen calling out the ridiculousness of that stupid couch. I did also enjoy most of the soap actors' speeches, especially those of Doug Davidson and Kristen Alderson (both long overdue for a win), but others just need to learn to be professional and be prepared, no matter how excited they are or "unexpected" the win. Heather Tom struck an excellent balance between grateful emotion and well-spoken professionalism. I don't want to hear people blather on about how they didn't expect it and say pretty much nothing in their acceptance speech. It is an honor to be nominated, and a bigger one to win. Respect yourself and the genre and be ready to deliver something worthy. (Yes, this means you, Scott Clifton and Julie Marie Berman, as talented as you are.)

    My own thoughts -- great to see OLTL and AMC promoted constantly during the show. Maybe TOLN should produce the Emmys! Also, nice to hear the theme music from the winner's show playing as they reached the stage. Last year, it was the same generic tune for everyone, and it really helps to heighten the significance with the right music.

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  18. This years show was absolutely horrible. Very unorganized. For the caliber of talent in daytime tv, you'd think of all things that the emmy show would showcase that talent. All this show did was mock it.

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  19. It was a train wreck! The best part was Jess and Corbin's Tribute to his mom! Why do we even need HLN people hosting? Most don't know or care who they are, they need daytime people that the audience can relate too! Hopefully next year it will not be an HLN production

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  20. I could spend half a day writing about the disaster that was this show.

    They made such a big deal about touting the 40th anniversary, yet presented no clips of prior Emmy telecasts. I would have rather seen that than the performance of those two songs.

    I walked away feeling like that if an episode of Glee had the kids given the assignment of putting on an awards show, it would have been better.

    Train wreck in every way.

    Just so happy that Doug Davidson won. I've loved watching him since I was a teenager.

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  21. Doug Davidson was so deserving of this award. It was horrible that they brought on Betthany Frankel, Robin Meade, AJ Hammer, Giada, & so many others that have zero knowledge of the soaps world. Even if they would of had past soap stars hosting, it would have been much much better. Why they showed so little of the actual nominated clips & instead had Robin & that awful singing is beyond me. This was pulled together very half a**ed. I think a bunch of highschool kids could have pulled together something better then we we got last night.

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  22. In all the years I have faithfully watched the Daytime Emmy's I was shocked that I missed them last pm all because there was very little preview or mention of the date and time . Please bring them back to DAYTIME and not on a news channel , all the comments I have read talked about how bad the show was .....that should speak volumns !! On the plus side Doug Davidson winning was long over do , so happy for him !!!

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  23. Read all the comments, and while I agree with most of you, I'm going for the glass half-full here: Last night's show was better than the Las Vegas infomercials we got in previous years. Keeping things in perspective...

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  24. The one bright spot on a totally pathetic awards show was Doug Davidson getting the recognition he so deserves. When you have a troubled news network trying to produce a show that they are in NO WAY equipped to do, the result is what we got last night: an embarrassing disaster.

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  25. The reason they were on HLN is because the broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) don't want them anymore. HLN stepped in last minute last year to host them or they won't have happened at all. I feel that the only reason they had the nominations for the 2 songs was to showcase Robin Meade's singing. Has there ever been nominated songs before? They certainly could have done without that. And the couch interviews were ridiculous and awkward. They certainly could have done without that, too. Should have, absolutely should have fixed the mess with Monty Hall's video tribute. That was awful. Why not have some of the great talent from within the daytime community host? The whole thing just reeked of thrown together yet they had ample time to prepare. Seeing, actually seeing and hearing the clip of each actor is so important. What a shame that more thought wasn't put into this show.

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  26. The show sucked this year just like the last. HLN doesn't not have what it takes to pull off an awards show. They are a news station and should stick to that. That stupid repeatitive background music was back again this year made it feel so cheap once again. The constant chatter coming from the audience while someone was speaking on stage was so rude too. I felt like I was watching a bad Highschool performance that the students weren't interested in watching but forced to be there. The couch interviews were totally lame and should not have been part of the show. If it is on HLN next year I will definitely not watch.

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  27. IMO ... The worst produced and directed "professional" show I have seen in many years! Mics with no sound, guests not having stage exits known, wrong envelope, and don't forget about the couch. Oh my :(

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  28. Hmmm .. The only part of the show I liked was the song by the three young Italian boys. Now they were amazing.

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  29. Two hours of my life I'll never get back.

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  30. I did like it when Robin Meade sang a bit of the opening from The Daisy Awards on One Life To Live.

    Daisy Awards on YouTube

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  31. It was the worst award show ever...2 hours of bloopers!

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  33. This was the worst Daytime Emmy Show that I have ever seen. I got sick over the way Robin Meade had to sing every so often. I kept hearing background noise every time it was on. I could hear the audience talking when the awards were presented or giving their speeches. What about the clips? No preview of their acting? Just pictures of them in silent mode? What the heck? So unorganized, so stupid, writing sucked, Robin Meade sucked (and I love her on her show!) the blonde guy (don't know him) tried, but to no avail. I give kudos to AJ Hammer. He was a natural, but his other hosts even pulled him down. George Lucas looked like he had a stick up his butt until he won. He needs to take acting classes. The Talk crew was sickening. The only ones who I enjoyed were Sara Gilbert and Aisha Tyler. Sharon Osborne reminds me of scratching nails going across a blackboard. She sounds like phony baloney. She must have learned it from Julie Chen. Those two are too over the top. I love Julie Chen on "Big Brother," but on the talk...NO NO NO!!! Even Sheryl Underwood is WAY too loud and too silly. I don't mind a laugh or two from her, but she is over the edge in a different way than Julie Chen and Sharon Osborne. Enough is enough. This show was unbearable to watch. I did because I kept thinking something would happen to change the outcome of this mess, but it never did. The daytime stars were ignored. I watched this show to see them. I would like to have seen the tables scanned to see who their other halves were, but no. What about all of the beautiful songs that are sung on the soaps for love scenes? They should have been nominated in a category for best song on soap. ???? Just saying. The couch was unprofessional and sucked. What about "In Memoriam?" How disrespectful! Jeanne Cooper did get her tribute, and Jess Walton and Corbin Bernstein made sure of it. Congratulations to Doug Davidson! What a wonderful actor. I love my Y&R and the Bold and the Beautiful! Congratulations to Billy Miller and Scott Clifton! Melody Thomas Scott was beautiful and her speech was warming. Finally glad that "Days" won. I don't watch this show. I used to. Still it was time for it to win. What happened to CBS or NBC having this show on their network? They got praise for these shows. Did these two networks desert their own shows? Shame on you. I would rather have seen Jane Velus-Mitchell and Nancy Grace. They would have taken charge of this show. They would have cut the mikes of all thes unbearable people who had no reason to be heard. This show was a disgrace to the Daytime Emmy Award shows. If it doesn't do 100% better next year, forget me watching it. Robin and AJ, I still love you. Stick to your daytime show, Robin. You are excellent at it. I love you AJ. Don't get involved in a mess like this again, please. ATTENTION DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS SHOW....I am available both as a writer and a host. I am an expert on the Young and the Restless and the Bold and the Beautiful shows. I have watched the others and could catch up on any skills that I may need. Contact me at [email protected] if you want a rating boost on this award show next year or any other shows that you need a host for. I am available. I only want a 6 figure salary. I will make you proud. Thanks. GOD is good. Martha in TN

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  34. Don't most people feel that their faves "were robbed" if they don't win but "well-deserving" if they do? Its all subjective.

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  35. The Daytime Emmys was one long bloopers show!

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  36. This show was a train wreck indeed, but my pet peeve is HOW IN DA WORLD was The BLAH & BORING voted best writing and best direction. I just could not see that happening at all. were the voters messmerized cause they went to Italy and they loved the pretty pictures. Were the voters so engrossed with the Leffy/Lopey crap being forced down our throats for the past what 3 years.........WHO DID BRAD BELL PAY OFF OR SLEEP WITH for this to happen.

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