MTV Awards Show Rocks
by J.D. Considine
The Baltimore Sun
Most acts on TV live in mortal
fear of being "too hip for the room,"
that is, workinv, oft cultural refer-
ences most squares wouldn't get
That's not an issue on MTV.
Never mind that much of what gets
air-time on MTV sails right over
the heads of average Americans
(especially if they happen to he
over the age of 25); within its own
rarefied frame of reference, it's al
most impossible to he too hip for
MTV.
But Lord knows. the Video Mu
sic Awards broadcast Thursday
night tried
With comedian Chris Rock as
host and featuring performances by
Nine Inch Nails, Lauryn Hill, the
Backstreet Boys and Kid Rock, the
1999 MTV Video Music Awards
was everything that award shows
usually aren't - entertaining, unpre
dictable, provocative and fre
quently unquotable in a family
newspaper.
What other show would refer to
Latin pop idol Ricky Martin as "the
Puerto Rican Al B. Sure? Where
else would you hear the Artist For
merly Known As Prince introduced
with the phrase, "He's got more
records than the census bureau?''
`Practice,' Mcßeal' take top Emmy Honors
by Brian Lowry
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES The love affair be
tween the television industry and
David E. Kelley swelled to historic
proportions Sunday. as two legal pro
grams created by the producer, "The
Practice" and "Ally Mcßeal. - were
recogniLed as best dramatic and com
edy series, respectively, at the 51st
annual Nighttime Emmy Awards.
It's a feat unmatched by any tele
vision producer, all the more remark
able considering that Kelley wrote
nearly every episode of both pro
grams, which is virtually unheard of
in the television business.
In addition to being the first one
hour program to successfully vie in
the comedy series balloting. "Ally
Mcßeal - ends "Frasier's - unprec
edented five-year streak as hest com
edy - a total unequaled by any series,
comedy or drama. Starring Cali sta
Flockhart as a daffy lawyer, the show
also becomes the first Fox series to
w in in either of those prestigious cat-
c$1(111C , ,
Kelley, who was also honored
ith hest-drama Enuhys while pro
ducing "L.A. Law, - and in 1993 and
1994 tier his moderately rated drama
ALERIO I S
Italian Restaurant
& Pizzeria
Rapper Dr. Dre performed with Eminem and special guest Snoop
Doggy Dogg.
Would any other emcee e \ en
dream of relerring l 'ti Sync a.
..The Spice Boys?-
Of course not. But that's because
other aV,, .trd sho\‘. s lia\ c normal
hosts. \Ode the VMAs hart Chris
Rock . Totally unflappahle and
complete!) irreverent. Rock rocked
the Video Music Av. ards, upstag
ing many of the musical acts and
"Picket Fences. - also Zell the Shrine
Auditorium \\ ith a second consecu
li e Emmy for his drama about Bos
ton defense attorneys. "The Prac
tice.- That rubbed out any chance of
the ear's moot nominated program,
Home Buy Office's nob drama - The
Sopranos, - becoming the first cable
serieN to be named hest comedy or
drama.
"This is a hit of a shoci:, - Kelley
said in accepting for "The Pract
looking more dazed moments later
k 1 hen he returned on behalf of "All)
In terms of actors. an illTa\ of past
NA inners paraded to the stage. Helen
Hunt closed out her 11111 On NBC's
- Nlad About You - vv ilh her fourth
straight Ernm . as star of that show,
an unprecedented feat for any actress
in a coniedy. "NI . PD Blue's - Den
nis Franz was also honored with his
fourth in six years as Deice
ti\ e Andy Sipowiet. while John
Lithgow went home \ l / 4 ith his third
trophy kir the NBC sitcom "3rd Rock
From the Sun...
Only two performers. Candice
Bergen and Don Knott;. in "Murphy
Brown - and "The Andy Griffith
Show, - ha\ e won inure awards than
Franz and Hunt for playing the same
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must of the winners
OK, so many of his jokes were
too racy to he repeated here. So
what? It's not like many of the win
ners had anything, quotable to say.
Ricky Martin, who won for Best
Dance Video and Best Pop Video,
dutifully thanked all the people
who helped him up the ladder to
fame.
character in the same series, each re
ceiving live for their respective
‘,11()%1S
Presenting an award together ear
lier in the evening, co-star Paul
Reiser joked with Hunt about her
previous Emmys. Reiser went home
empty-handed again, never winning
despite numerous nominations.
"The Sopranos" settled for a lead
actress Emmy for first-time. nominee
Edie Falco and, having garnered !bur
of the five drama writing nomina
tions. not surprisingly took that
award as well.
Though "Sopranos - generated an
enormous amount of critical praise,
few programs in recent years have
received the Emmy in their first sea
son. Fellow nominees "ER," "The
Practice - and "NYPD Blue" all were
chosen as hest drama in their second
seasons, while this year's final nomi
nee. "La & Order," waited until its
sixth year.
Winners are chosen by peer group
members from the Academy of Tele
vision Arts & Sciences, the organi
taMm that presents the Emmys.
"The Sopranos - won four awards
in all, including Emmys casting and
editing presented during an event two
weeks ago, primarily recognizing
Madonna, who won for Best
Video from a Film, thanked all the
people who helped her up the lad
der to that particular hit. Will Smith,
who won for Best Male Video,
thanked his wife. Jada Pinkett.
(Yawn!)
Fortunately, the MTV VMAs
were less about "Who won?" than
"Who did what onstage?" And the
onstage doings were plenty wacky.
For example, there was Norman
"Fathoy Slim" Cook, who turned
"Praise You" into a glitteringly
amateurish send-up of MTV pro
duction numbers. Between Cook's
deadpan fakery at the piano and his
dancers' Solid Gold (or should we
say Solid Brass'?) choreography, the
number proved a welcome relief
from the typical professionally pol
ished mindlessness.
Of course, it helped that the
Fathoy followed TI,C, whose ob
viously lip-synced version of "No
Scrubs" tried to substitute choreo
graphed ambition for genuine in
spiration. Theirs was the kind of
performance that almost invited
parody.
Fortunately, most of the music
offered by the VMAs was all-the
way-live. Lauryn Hill and her crack
hacking hand did a medley of "Lost
Ones" and "Everything Is Every
thing" that did much to explain why
Emmy winners in technical areas.
Including results from that cer
emony, HBO amassed 23 awards,
more than any other network. The
pay channel has led in total wins once
before, in 1993. Cable programs
didn't become eligible for Emmy
consideration until 1987.
NBC. the most honored network
the past four years, compiled 17
awards for second place. followed by
ABC, with 13, and 11 for CBS.
Fox, which televised this year's
Emmy ceremony, won seven awards
in all hut only avoided tieing shut out
in the 27 categories handed out Sun
day when "Ally Mcßeal - pulled off
its night-capping coup.
In addition, "The Practice's" best
drama prize two of its supporting
players, Holland Taylor and Michael
Badalucco, were both winners in
their first nomination. Taylor looked
genuinely stunned, thanking Kelley
for creating a female character "who
puts a flag on the moon for women
over 40. - Actresses have long com
plained about a dearth of roles for
more mature performers.
As with the leading comedy roles,
supporting awards went to familiar
faces. Emmy co-host David Hyde
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SEPTEMBER 17, 1999, THE BEHREND BEACON, PAGE 10
WWF wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin takes a break
from the ring for the MTV Video Music Awards
she won for both Best Female
Video and Best R&B Video.
The Backstreet Boys merged "I
Want. It That Way'' and "Larger
Than Life - into a performance so
tough that, afterward, Chris Rock
joked, "They're going to change
their name to 'CWA' _ Crackers
With Attitude."
But it was Kid Rock (no relation
to the host) who most meniorahly
rocked the joint. Not only did he
hring out veteran rappers Run-
D.M.C. to join his hand, Twisted
Brown Trucker, in a medley of
Pierce won his third Emmy for
"Frasier, - while Kristen Johnston
walked away with her second in the
last three years as one of the zany
aliens on "3rd Rock From the Sun.-
"Frasier" also snagged the comedy
writing Emmy. while the critically
acclaimed first-year ABC series
"Sports Night" nahhed directing hon
ors.
HBO continued its domination of
the made-for-TV movie voting
thanks to "A Lesson Before Dying...
The pay service has now won an as
tounding seven straight Emmys in
that field, adding to its tally with a
best actor award going to Stanley
Tucci for his portrayal of columnist
Walter Winchell in "Winchell.-
Still. HBO faces stiffer competi
tion in the arena of prestige movies
from other cable networks, under
scored by A&E sailing away with
best miniseries for its new version of
"Horatio Hornblower - and Helen
Mirren earning the second Emmy of
her career for the Showtime movie
"The Passion of Ayn Rand. -
Despite lagging behind "The To
night Show With Jay Leno" in the rat
ings, CBS' "Late Show With David
Letterman - emerged as outstanding
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"King of Rock" and "Rock Box, -
but he topped off a supercharged
version of his own "Bawitdaba
with an all-star run through "Walk
This Way.'' featuring Acrosmith's
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.
It was like a five-minute history
of everything that has made MTV
matter to millions of kids, and a
five-minute lesson in how live mu
sic can he made vital on TV. Here's
hoping the rest of the industry was
taking notes.
variety. music or comedy series for
the second year in a row. Hl3( Is "The
Chris Rock Show" took the prize for
best writing in that category.
In a year where the major networks
have found themselves under siege
for a shortage of minorities in new
programs, there were a few refer
ences to that issue during the telecast.
Paris Barclay, a black who claimed
his second Emmy in a row for direct
ing "NYPD Blue, - lauded series co
creator Steven Bochco by saying,
"His commitment to dig crsity means
'Get the hest people. (and) look a
little harder.'
John Lep i /aim), who received an
Emmy for his FIB() special "Freak,"
also pointed out in his acceptance
speech that the Latino voice is un
der-represented in the media.
Anne Bancroft was also chosen as
hest supporting actress in a movie for
CBS' "Deep in My Heart, - meaning
both she and her husband, Mel
Brooks, received Emmys this year -
Brooks' honor coming two weeks
ago for his guest role on "Mad About
You." Another veteran actor, Peter
O'Toole, was recognized with a first
Emmy for his supporting part in
CBS' miniseries "Joan of Arc."