Worst Emmys Ever

That seems to be the collective reaction to last night's Primetime Emmy Awards -- yikes was it bad. As usual, I was backstage in the deadline press room, writing up an analysis piece as it happened.

Check out Variety's full Emmy coverage here.

My thoughts: No more lip service, the TV academy needs to overhaul this thing. Create a new longform Emmys ceremony, for starters -- and perhaps televise it on HBO. That will free up some time for the awards show to add more entertaining elements and not just go from category to category.

Another thing: Comedians should always host. The end. Reality hosts' strong suits -- keeping a show moving and blending into the scenery -- doesn't work for an awards show, where spontaneous, improved humor is a must.

And please, no more half-assed looking back at the past. Either make it a truly big, memorable moment, or stick with honoring what's great about TV now. (That "Laugh-In" bit probably looked great on paper, but was such a disaster that it's probably ruined people's fond memories of that groundbreaking show.)

My pal Tim Goodman has even more ideas in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Now that you've given director Louis J. Horvitz (yet another) Emmy, it's time to fire him. He certainly bears a great deal of the blame here.

It's also time to fire pretty much everybody with their name in the credits last night. Listen, when the people you're honoring are making fun of how god-awful the event is, you are past due on change.

You should view last night's effort as a cry for help from the people inside the industry. They knew it was bad almost immediately. They talked about how inept the writing was and how the pacing rushed off the actors and writers normal folks actually tune in to see and hear. Your inability to fix the Emmys when year after year critics tell you how broke the thing is can no longer be tolerated.

For the love of God and all things entertaining, flush out the old guard and bring in some new blood. Last night was the nadir. Last night your cluelessness was mocked by the people you were trying to celebrate. Open your eyes - they were directing those jabs at you. Maybe they thought that by admitting - live on television - how bad the show was that maybe you'd fix it. Whatever cache the Emmys had evaporated last night.

If you value these awards, come out of the bunker and blow the thing to pieces and restart. Otherwise you might as well just put on the People's Choice Awards or the Billboard Awards or something equally pathetic.

Embrace change. And start now. No, really, right now.

But first, take out full page ads in Daily Variety, the Hollywood Reporter and Television Week - and apologize. To the industry. And to viewers.