Oh, awards shows. You and I need to have a serious discussion because I can’t stand being the submissive in this kinky little relationship of ours anymore. Finding myself continually coming back to you each time with a deluded excitement that maybe this will be the year you surprise and thrill me, and after half an hour I cannot stay glued to my seat. Yet I stick with you to the bitter end, bad taste in my mouth with a sense of “meh” and “well, I could’ve just checked the IMDb live winner update feed.”
While this seems a backlash of a post, please read as a request for awards telecasts to step up the entertainment and for the various academies to change up the voting habits – not that I don’t love my 30 Rock or Mad Men (congrats to wins not only for best show in their respective categories, but writing too!) – because sitting through 3 hours of “announce list of nominees, open envelope, read winner, not-amusing-nor-poignant acceptance speech, rinse, repeat” gets a little taxing and I think more of us would welcome some upsets, blunders and outbursts once in awhile.
Tonight’s major category winners:
Drama Series: “Mad Men,” AMC
Comedy Series: “30 Rock,” NBC
Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad,” AMC
Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, “Damages,” FX Networks
Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock,” NBC
Actress, Comedy Series: Toni Collette, “United States of Tara,” Showtime
Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Michael Emerson, “Lost,” ABC.
Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Cherry Jones, “24,” Fox.
Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men,” CBS.
Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies,” ABC.
Miniseries: “Little Dorrit” PBS.
Made-for-TV Movie: “Grey Gardens,” HBO.
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm,” HBO.
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “Grey Gardens,” HBO.
Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Ken Howard, “Grey Gardens,” HBO.
Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Shohreh Aghdashloo, “House of Saddam,” HBO.
Directing for a Comedy Series: “The Office: Stress Relief,” Jeff Blitz, NBC.
Directing for a Drama Series: “ER: And in the End,” Rod Holcomb, NBC.
Directing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: “American Idol: Show 833 (The Final Three),” Bruce Gowers, Fox.
Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit: Part 1,” Dearbhla Walsh, PBS.
Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central.
Reality-Competition Program: “The Amazing Race,” CBS.
Writing for a Comedy Series: “30 Rock: Reunion,” Matt Hubbard, NBC.
Writing for a Drama Series: “Mad Men: Meditations in an Emergency,” Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner, AMC.
Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Series: “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central.
Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special: “Little Dorrit,” Andrew Davies, PBS.
Host, Reality or Reality-Competition Program: Jeff Probst, “Survivor,” CBS.
Original Music and Lyrics: “81st Annual Academy Awards: Song Title: Hugh Jackman Opening Number,” ABC.
TV Dish with Trish 
What the hell is “Little Dorrit” and why was everyone involved a lesbian? Brad made a classic line — “We’re taking the Dick out of Dickens.” Honestly, those movie/mini-series categories confuse me so. When and where are these movies shown? I’m a sucker for a good tv movie, and I would appreciate watching some of these. I’m just not that into PBS literary adaptations or anything having to do with Winston Churchill. That probably explains why I miss out on so many of these.
A Masterpiece Theater presentation of a BBC Charles Dickens adaptation…zzzzzz. I can’t get through the sentence without nodding off. Seriously, you know me and my anglophilia, but the one all-encompassing area I’ve never been able to embrace is the collected stories of Dickens (Unless, of course, it’s infused with song and dance! “Please sir I want some more.”) Particularly when done straight-up period piece, just bland. Brad’s comment is tres fitting – those productions are completely neutered.