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The TV Land Awards: 12 Hours of Self-Congratulation

by Mindy Monez April 27, 2009 9:45 AM
The TV Land Awards: 12 Hours of Self-Congratulation The Neil Patrick Harris-hosted TV Land Awards aired last night, and the show was... well, it was too damn long, is what it was! Almost two and a half hours? I'm not saying there weren't some entertaining moments in there, but overall the thing was brutal, I don't care how fierce Katey Sagal looked (really, really fierce, but that's not the point). Here are my personal bids for best and worst moments of the night.

Best:
-- The opener, in which NPH was transplanted into classic TV shows wasn't really knee-slapping hilarious, but it was pretty delightful. The Rod Serling eyebrows made me laugh, and his Charles Nelson Reilly impression isn't nearly as good as Alec Baldwin's, but I loved it anyway.
-- "I thank you, and my mustache thanks you." -- Tom Selleck.
-- The Knots Landing clip reel. "You. Are. Suchaslut." had me rolling in my living room. I've never seen the show (it was just slightly before my time), but I definitely want to now.
-- Alan Alda was the Jack Nicholson of the night, grinning adorably and laughing big at everybody's jokes. He was loving every minute of that show! He was bizzaro me!
-- Don Rickles' acceptance speech. That guy is always funny, and always awesome.
-- The Married... With Children reunion. Christina Applegate was cute as a button, Katey Sagal looked incredible, and it really was nice to see them with Ed O'Neil and David Faustino again. I have to admit it got to my sentimental side. Insert obligatory "OMG Ted McGinley was there and the show wasn't cancelled mid-broadcast!" joke here.

Worst:
-- Where the hell was JTT? A Home Improvement reunion without JTT is a Home Improvement reunion not worth having. It was like when Genesis reunited without Peter Gabriel.
-- The running fake blogging gag. Even NPH seemed to regret it. The jokes weren't terrible groaners, but they weren't terribly funny either, and they slowed down the show.
-- Oh my god, the Sid and Marty Krofft tribute. I know people always say things are like an acid trip, and that's a very easy joke to make, but I just don't know how else to describe it! It was so long and weird, and there was a handwalker and a Barry Williams and a green squid with leaves on top and everything! Thank god for Amy Poehler's "That happened, right?" comment about how insane it was; I was afraid I was alone on that.
-- Alan Alda is awesome (as I stated above), but him grabbing MASH's Hot Lips and kissing her was cringe-tastic. Nobody likes when men do that on awards show stages, Alda!
-- Earth, Wind & Fire is for crappy wedding DJs only. Why were they there?
-- The whole premise of the show, which is just basically awarding shows that have already been endlessly rewarded in some way or another. ER has like 6,000 Emmys, MASH is universally regarded as one of the best and most important shows in the history of television, Two and a Half Men is the biggest sitcom around, and I took an entire class on Married... With Children in college. It was just a little superfluous, is all. Harmless fun, but also unnecessary. And way too long.

Your thoughts on the show? Leave 'em in the comments.

9 Comments

April 27, 2009 12:00 PM
JK
Reply

I only saw the pictures of what people were wearing, but you're SO Right about Katey Sagal. If (God & all the cosmos forbid)they ever do a Made for TV remake of "The Graduate", she could/would/must be Mrs. Robinson in a heartbeat...Yeah, I said it. And I'll say it again if I have to.

April 27, 2009 12:19 PM
SH
Reply

Knot's Landing was one of my favorite shows. The first year was kind of bland, but after that it was really good.

April 27, 2009 12:53 PM
valandsend
Reply

Knots Landing is also one of my favorite shows. Unfortunately is was underrated during its original run. I have the first two seasons on DVD and pray the rest of them are released.

Very cool to see Constance McCashin, who was forced out due to budget issues and hadn't done any of these reunions. I just wish more of the cast had been given time to talk! And that the producer would follow up on his promise to recreate the show, and (as he said) with gay couples on the cul-de-sac this time.

April 27, 2009 1:32 PM
Shae
Reply

I didn't see it, darn it, because I'm kind of obsessed with Alan Alda. There's a couple of episodes in M*A*S*H where Hawkeye unexpectedly grabs Hot Lips and gives her a huge kiss so the kiss might have been a call back. Alda is fairly well known for being a feminist and I can't imagine him doing this without it being a callback.

April 27, 2009 10:19 PM
NoRez
Reply

I didn't see the show yet either, and also have an Alda obsession... which I remember kicked into overdrive 30 years or so ago at the end of part one of 'Brothers in Arma' a.k.a Hawkeye and Hotlips omg-do-it!!! The kiss was absolutely a callback to that and to the final episode where they share a very warm goodbye, farewell and amen.

Gotta see this awards shindig... I hope they rerun it a lot.

April 28, 2009 5:30 AM
JZ
Reply

I'm glad KNOTS received the kudos (Married w/ Children too). Both shows were excellent, but snubbed by the awards shows (Emmys and Golden Globes) - so I thought about how overdue this was for all involved. Oh, and Knots was so much fun...enjoy!

April 28, 2009 10:54 PM
daniel82
Reply

The Knots tribute was wonderful, though you could tell Reba McEntire had never seen the show she was introducing. The "You are such a slut" line was from Constance McCashin's Laura (to Abby), and is just one of a million great lines she got during her time on the show. They could have done an entire clip package of her alone. She also seems equally adept at avoiding the reunions as she is at avoiding the botox, 'cause she has aged the best of all the Knots ladies.

April 29, 2009 12:17 AM
Wanda
Reply

Poor Mindy! You must be one of those people that can't enjoy a band unless you are dead drunk!Either that or you just never learned to dance. The Earth Wind and Fire comment is uncalled for.

April 30, 2009 12:12 PM
Walter
Reply

Hey Mindy. Alda was simply re-creating what he & Hot Lips did on the show. Lighten up for pete's sake and get a sense of humor to go with it! Drop all that politically correct nonsense.

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