The 2011 Primetime Emmys : Random Impressions and Quasi-Live Blogging

Jane Lynch's opening number was OK - not as good as Jimmy Fallon's number last year.

The Emmytones were very odd, and a weird combination of people: Zachary Levi (Chuck from Chuck), Cobie Smulders (Robin from How I Met Your Mother), Taraji P. Henson (Detective Carter from the upcoming Person of Interest), Wilmer Valderrama (Fez from That 70s Show), and Joel McHale (Jeff from Community and host of Talk Soup).

COMEDY

First upset: Julie Bowen won Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.  The consensus seems to be that either Betty White or Kristen Wiig would win, and if anyone would win from Modern Family, it would be the flashier Sofia Vergara.

What is that on Julianna Marguelis's dress? It looks like some 5th grader glued some huge crystal ovals on the top of her dress.

Ty Burrell won Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.  Phil and Claire Dunphy won Emmys!  I said it was going to be one of the men from Modern Family, and I was right, although I picked Ed O'Neill just for fun.

It's impossible for Zooey Deschanel to look anything but cute.

Modern Family is cleaning up so far in the Comedy categories.  Four for four.

Charlie Sheen...awkward

Whoa - Jim Parsons won again!  Most people (including me) thought Steve Carrell was going to win in his last year.

Sofia Vergara is really, really hot.

Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - all the actresses went up when their names were called.  They pulled it off brilliantly, too.  Totally awesome.   According to People.com, Amy Poehler and Martha Plimpton cooked up this stunt over dinner recently.

Melissa McCarthy won!!!  Total surprise.  I think she won because of Bridesmaids instead of Mike & Molly, but she deserves it.  The tiara and the flowers were a nice touch.  :)

REALITY/VARIETY

I didn't make any picks for the reality/variety categories, mainly because I don't really care about most of the categories.  I am happy that the Amazing Race won the Reality Competition again for the ninth time.  They've won every single reality competition Emmy since the category started, except for Top Chef's win last year.  Too bad Phil Keoghan didn't win for reality competition host - Jeff Probst won again this year.

The Lonely Island performance was funny, and very, very odd.

Lea Michele looked great!  Love the red dress.

DRAMA

Jason Katims won for Friday Night Lights.  I never saw the show, but I love Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, and from what I've read this show has been an underdog for a very long time, so congrats.

No surprise that Margo Martindale from Justified won.  She was the clear favorite.

Yay for Peter Dinklage!  Mr. Y is especially thrilled.

Mr. Y, who's from Jersey, cringed at the Jersey-themed 360 Report.  I, on the other hand, think it's hilarious.

Julianna Margulies won for The Good Wife.  No surprise there.

Wow, Kyle Chandler pulled off the win for Friday Night Lights.  Poor Jon Hamm.  What does that guy havto do to win?  The one year he won the Golden Globes was the year of the strike, so he didn't even get to make a speech.  But yay for Kyle Chandler!  Loved him since Early Edition.

MINISERIES/MOVIE

I didn't do any picks for these categories, either, although we would cheer for anything to do with Sherlock.  Mr. Y and I loved that series.  Too bad it was only three episodes.

LL Cool J rapping with the Emmytones...yup, still the weirdest part of the Emmys.

Best joke of the evening.  Jane Lynch: "You know, a lot of people are very curious why I'm a lesbian.  Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of Entourage."  Even Mark Wahlberg chuckled at that.

Who are these four guys singing Hallelujah during the In Memoriam segment?  According to the internet they are apparently the Canadian Tenors.  Never heard of them.

Yay for Guy Pearce for winning Outstanding Actor.  Didn't see Mildred Pierce, but Guy is one our favorite actors, ever since L.A. Confidential.  It is weird to hear him in his natural Australian accent - he rarely uses it in his movies and shows.

Kate Winslet looks amazing, as usual.  Not surprised that she won the Emmy for Outstanding Actress - everyone said her performance in Mildred Pierce was just amazing.  Originally I thought that she still needs a Grammy and a Tony for an EGOT, but Mr. Y points out that she already has a Grammy.  He remembered an interview that she did with EW where she said that she won a Grammy for Spoken Word.  Good one, Mr. Y. Good one.  So now all she needs is a Tony for an EGOT.

BEST DRAMA AND COMEDY SERIES

Mad Men won for the fourth time in a row for Best Drama.  It's interesting that the series has won so much but the actors rarely win the individual awards - it's a true ensemble show.

What is Gwyneth Paltrow wearing?  Is she going belly dancing after the show?

Modern Family won its second Emmy in the row for Best Comedy.  No surprise there.

Where did Cobie Smulders go at the end?  She wasn't with Jane and the rest of the Emmytones.

Overall, some surprises, but mostly predictable.  Jane did a pretty good job, although the Emmytones didn't really work for me.  Can't wait to peruse the fashions tomorrow.