For a (some may say all too) brief moment in time, Hollywood came face-to-face with its own shallowness.
Last year, Emmys host Ellen DeGeneres opened the solemn show with a bit of humor: “Welcome to the 53rd, 54th and 55th annual Emmy awards…. Is the show canceled yet?”
No kidding. The 53rd annual primetime Emmy Awards ceremony was originally scheduled for Sept. 16, 2001, but was postponed because of the terrorist attacks. The event was rescheduled two more times before finally taking place on Nov. 4.
Something else changed besides the date: the dress code. Celebrities swapped their usual flashy, glammed-up fashions with “business casual” attire. Gone were sparkling Badgley Mischka gowns and bright Ozwald Boateng suits, replaced with conservative black dresses and traditional, tailored suits.
The show was peppered with tender moments. Who could forget the video montage showing how the Sept. 11 attacks saddened people in foreign countries, with footage of people from South Korea to Germany to Panama hoisting the American flag in their homelands?
Jean Smart‘s tribute to Fraiser producer/writer David Angell, who died in the attack on the World Trade Center, brought Fraiser stars Kelsey Grammer and Peri Gilpin to tears. Barbra Streisand sang before of a wall of names of those lost on Sept. 11.
There was also a touching tribute to all of the great TV actors, producers and writers who passed away that year, including Jack Lemmon and Carroll O’Connor.
But DeGeneres saved the show from being totally cheerless.
“Leslie Nielsen’s here!” the comedian yelled out, pointing out Steve Martin in the audience.
“That’s right! Naked Gun forever!” Martin called back.
Her comment hoping the Taliban was watching the program (“What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?”) will be hard to follow, although this year’s host, talk show host Conan O’Brien, will undoubtedly be plenty funny too.
And while no one wants to forget the tragic events of Sept. 11, let’s hope the red carpet fashions take a 180-degree turn from last year. Hopefully, we will see the return of fun dresses like Calista Flockhart‘s red ruffled Albero Ferretti number or Lucy Liu‘s mint-green Versace dress, circa 2000.
Black gabardine and flannel begone! Bring back the silk, satin and glitz!
