Entertainment Weekly's 10 Most Memorable Emmy Moments Options

[goodcharlotte]

BEST EMMY OPENER EVER
CONAN O'BRIEN
The first 15 minutes of the 58th annual Emmy Awards may have been the funniest awards show opening ever, thanks to its endlessly inventive host. First was a pre-taped segment that saw O'Brien stumble through scenes from several popular shows, including Lost, The Office, and even South Park. Next was an acerbic monologue (on the weight of the Emmy trophy: ''Of course it's heavy. It contains the shattered dreams of four [losers]''). And he wrapped with a song-and-dance parody of ''Ya Got Trouble'' from The Music Man, a spoof about the grim state of the TV industry (the refrain: ''Gee, we're screwed!''). Can Conan emcee every year, please?



MOST EMOTIONAL REUNION
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
Among those paying tribute to megaproducer Aaron Spelling, who died in June: the original Charlie's Angels — Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Jaclyn Smith, all looking smashing and speaking with warmth of Spelling's kindness to actors. (No one mentioned Fawcett's acrimonious early split from the show.) ''Miracles do happen,'' Smith said. ''I'm sure he's looking down on us right now and smiling knowing that he's brought us together again.''


FUNNIEST INGRATE
GREG GARCIA
Winning for best comedy writing, the My Name Is Earl creator twisted the usual acceptance speech and named the people who didn't deserve thanks, starting with ''my eighth-grade social studies teacher, who told me to sit down and shut up because I wasn't funny.'' He also named an ex-boss and even the Big Guy: ''God, I'm sure you're responsible in some way, but you took my hair, and that's not cool, man, not cool.'' Pretty funny, though we fear that blasphemous wrap-up could earn Garcia some Earl-style karmic payback.


BEST CENSOR SLIP-UP
HELEN MIRREN
Accepting the Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie prize for the title role in HBO's Elizabeth I, classy British thespian Helen Mirren gave a thoughtful speech that gently urged writers to create more stories about women. But viewers are more likely to remember her opening line: ''My great triumph is not falling ass over tit as I came up those stairs.'' Not sure how that one slipped past the NBC censor, but it was so funny that presenters Calista Flockhart and Craig Ferguson both repeated it a few minutes later. They went unbleeped as well.


HOTTEST PRESENTERS
EVANGELINE LILLY AND WENTWORTH MILLER
TV's sexiest fugitives, Lost's Evangeline Lilly and Prison Break's Wentworth Miller, presented two or three awards for... um, well, we really can't remember. One of them, apparently, was the prize for best directing (drama), but we're not sure, because the two presenters were so dazzling that, when 24's Jon Cassar came up to accept the award, the camera didn't cut to him right away but lingered on Lilly and Miller for a few seconds longer.


FUNNIEST DUO
STEPHEN COLBERT AND JON STEWART
The Comedy Central faux newsmen stayed in character as they presented the award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Series: Stewart tried to keep a straight face while reading the bland patter scripted for him, while Colbert pretended to moralize, addressing the showbiz crowd as ''godless sodomites.'' Then Colbert broke down and admitted he was just upset over losing the best variety performer award to Barry Manilow. At last, the truthiness comes out.


MOST MOVING TRIBUTE
DICK CLARK
Even Simon Cowell, who hosted the segment paying tribute to America's Oldest Teenager, had only complimentary things to say about the longtime TV music impresario. A grateful Clark (left) appeared on stage, looking and sounding pretty darn good for a 76-year-old recovering from a stroke. Barry Manilow (right), himself ailing from torn cartilage in both hips, capped the tribute by singing his ''Bandstand Boogie'' theme song and, a few minutes later, dedicating his new Emmy for best variety performer to Clark.


BEST STUNT-CASTING
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR
In an effort to enliven a usually dull segment in the Emmy show, Conan O'Brien tried to introduce the ballot-tallying accountants as if they were action-adventure heroes. Each man's entrance was accompanied by dramatic fanfare, blue lights, and dry-ice fog. Last introduced was an apparently new member of the Ernst & Young team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Watching the accountants trying valiantly to high-five the basketball legend made the sketch his funniest moment since Airplane!


BEST CRYBABIES
JEREMY PIVEN, MARISKA HARGITAY, and JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS
Who'd have thought Entourage shark Ari Gold would be such a wuss? But there was Jeremy Piven (center), winning the award for Supporting Actor in a Comedy, getting all misty as he thanked his acting-coach mom. Winning the Lead Actress in a Drama prize, Law & Order: SVU cop Mariska Hargitay (right) also got choked up. But teariest of all was Julia Louis-Dreyfus (left), winner of the Lead Actress in a Comedy prize for The New Adventures of Old Christine. She even cried a tear of joy as she finally banished the so-called Seinfeld curse once and for all: ''Curse this, baby,'' she said, holding her trophy aloft.


BEST INCENTIVE FOR BREVITY
BOB NEWHART
The Emmy producers found a diabolically creative way to encourage winners to keep their speeches short: They put Bob Newhart in a glass booth said to have exactly three hours of breathable air, so if the show were to run long, the beloved TV icon would suffocate to death. A running gag throughout the telecast saw the cameras cut to Newhart, pounding on the walls and screaming silently to be set free. It must have worked: The show actually ended three minutes early.

source