God Bless Television, and the Many Ways It Enriches Our Lives

As I have mentioned to a couple of you, the Emmy Awards are planning on doing a showcase of memorable moments. They preselected 20 choices, and you can visit their website and vote for your favorite moment in a comedy and in a drama. Everyone should go watch and vote. But educate yourself! Let's talk about comedies first.

Comedy voting is here: http://abc.go.com/primetime/emmys/index?pn=comedyvoting_2008_mostmemorablemoments_cv2k8mmm. All 20 choices are shown there, including clips. Most of the moments shown are good choices (although will someone please explain to me - on what planet American Idol is considered a comedy? At least, in traditional terms...Paula can be pretty funny when she's all hopped up on whatever's in that Coca Cola cup). Some are funny moments from sitcoms. For instance, Chuckles the Clown's funeral on the Mary Tyler Moore Show is never not funny. Neither is Seinfeld's The Contest episode, or Carol Burnett as Scarlett O'Hara, dressed in curtains. Some of the moments are humorous and memorable due to their political relevance - Richard Nixon on Laugh-In in September of 1968, for instance. Or Ellen accidentally coming out to an entire airport, or Murphy Brown essentially telling Dan Quayle to get bent.

Yet another category - the emotional moments on sitcoms, which, in my opinion, are often the most memorable. Funny is fine, but if you don't care about the people, it only goes so far. For instance, the Sex and the City clip, before Carrie leaves for Paris, is a poignant look at how much the women have meant to each other through their adult lives. Or Friends, when Ross and Rachel finally kiss in the second season - the buildup throughout their story made you sincerly care for the pair, and it was all the better when it actually happened. Or the M*A*S*H episode in which Henry Blake is finally discharged and sent home, only to have his plane shot down on the way. It reminds me of Mrs. Landingham's death on The West Wing (although M*A*S*H came first...perhaps The West Wing reminds me of that). I voted for M*A*S*H out of the 20 clips - bits of drama are what makes comedy and its characters so appealing, and it takes skill to include this drama in a way that doesn't seem contrite, especially when it's as tragic a moment as Blake's death was.

Drama voting is here: http://abc.go.com/primetime/emmys/index?pn=comedyvoting_2008_mostmemorablemoments_cv2k8mmm, and the choices they made were, for the most part, appropriate ones. I've seen far fewer of these shows (one of these days Roots and Moonlighting will make it to the top of my Netflix queue), but I do remember quite a few of these moments as well. Turning points in series - for instance, Buffy's demise. For a beloved character who was the focus of the whole show to sacrifice herself is very memorable and distressing (although she certainly seemed calm about it). Doug Ross's departure from ER is another such point - and the beginning of the end of ER as we knew it. Even more sad, considering that, at the time, we didn't know if he and Carol would find their way back to each other. A lot less difficult to watch now knowing that they'd be back together in a season or two, albeit off screen. Others are random, publicity-seeking moments, such as the Grey's Anatomy clip from the second half of the Super Bowl episode, "As We Know It," in which my poor Kyle Chandler turns into pink mist. Luckily, he went on to a better place known as Dillon, TX (which should be all over this list, but sadly isn't). I don't know that this moment was a more memorable or series-characteristic one than, say, the "Pick me, choose me, love me" speech, but as the climax after such an emotionally charged and freakishly long set of episodes, it was a good choice to include. I feel the same way about the chosen Dallas moment, which is when Kristin shot JR. I'm sure the shooting was a surprise at the time, but given the publicity storm that the cliffhanger set off, wouldn't it make more sense to include the revelation of the shooter rather than the actual shot? Other moments are simply representative of their series, like The Sopranos. I can think of a handful of moments that stick out more in my mind - Pussy's or Adriana's deaths, for instance, or the very last scene, which is still being debated over a year later. And my choice, the Dynasty clip, which was a classic Krystle vs. Alexis catfight of the highest quality. I could watch those two fight all day and it would never not be funny.

Hmm...I voted for what was probably the most serious of all of the comedy clips (M*A*S*H), and the funniest of all of the drama clips (Dynasty). So, I guess I like funny dramas and serious comedies. I'm just special like that.

Side note - the omission of The West Wing (particularly Mrs. Landingham's death, Leo's death (although that one was far from a surprise), and the shooting in Rosslyn), Friday Night Lights (for any of the moments that almost melted my cold cold heart and drove me to drinking), the end of St. Elsewhere (particularly since the similar end of Newhart was on the comedy list!), and JJ's return from Vietnam on American Dreams from the drama list is a travesty. As is the comedy list's omission of Friends (the contest for Monica and Rachel's apartment, or Ross and Emily's or Monica and Chandler's weddings), the turkey episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (oh, the humanity!), The Office (particularly Michael grilling his foot and Jim and Pam kissing in Casino Night), and anything from Arrested Development. They should've just let me make the lists.