Most Egregious Emmy Slights

[Neil]

1962-63 Best Actress in a Series: Lucille Ball

over the winner Shirley Booth who had already won one the previous season for "Hazel".  Seeing these 1st season episodes again on Me-TV has given me a fresh appreciation for Lucy's range as a performer.  As I mentioned in another post about Booth as Hazel: I love her but the character didn't stretch her acting abilities much. 

Other nominees: Irene Ryan for Hillbillies , Mary Tyler Moore --who would win the next two--and Shirl Conway for the drama "The Nurses"....This was one of the years actor awards combined comedy and drama.

It would be three seasons before Lucy got another Lucy Show nomination. 

 

Also for 1962-63:  Vivian Vance for The Lucy Show as Best Supporting Actress.

Performers in specials, single-appearances, series regulars, comedy and drama were all thrown in together with only Rose Marie representing comedy among the 5 nominees. 

[Freddie2]

Gale should have won something. Anything. Perhaps for his final season nomination for TLS. Werner Klemperer for Hogan was the winner, and he'd win again the next year. In '67 he lost to Don Knotts, who won for the record-breaking fifth and final time. Gale's last nomination was for HL, where he lost to Ed Asner for the first season of MTM. Even though Ed would win an obscene amount of times for playing Lou Grant, I still think he was the best of the 1970/71 season. He got nominated for Our Miss Brooks in '55, losing to Art Carney, who was up for Jackie Gleason's variety show, not The Honeymooners. That year also saw Bill Frawley nominated, who I of course would've preferred to be the winner.

[Neil]

Gale should have won something. Anything. Perhaps for his final season nomination for TLS. Werner Klemperer for Hogan was the winner, and he'd win again the next year. In '67 he lost to Don Knotts, who won for the record-breaking fifth and final time. Gale's last nomination was for HL, where he lost to Ed Asner for the first season of MTM. Even though Ed would win an obscene amount of times for playing Lou Grant, I still think he was the best of the 1970/71 season. He got nominated for Our Miss Brooks in '55, losing to Art Carney, who was up for Jackie Gleason's variety show, not The Honeymooners. That year also saw Bill Frawley nominated, who I of course would've preferred to be the winner.

 

I agree about Gale.  It's easy to take his skill for granted considering his Lucy series material went steadily downhill from 1964 on.  He did whatever was asked of him and was never less than thoroughly professional.  I prefer the non-blustery performances.  If he were to win for any Lucy season, I would pick his first, LS's 2nd when the writing was still consistently sharp and his character more defined.  Later they tended to rely on him to lift the bad material, which puts a tremendous burden on an actor. 

I never once saw him glance at a cue card, even at the age of 80 in "Life with Lucy". 

 

I could say the same about Bill Frawley who made it look so easy.  He handled his laugh lines with aplomb---but added so much else in the scenes that were not focused on him.   Probably the best Bill performance: "Staten Island Ferry".   Upon being woken up by the ferry ticket collector, he still in a daze---and was perfectly believable.  He was more of an actor than people give him credit for.

And while we're on the subject: Desi's performances are overlooked.   I just saw "Lucy Learns to Drive".  I love his scene just after he and Lucy have returned from their harrowing driving lesson.  He's still shaken from the experience and when Ethel asks him twice "Aren't you going to drive the car?" (to the club), the timing of his response "No......I may never drive again" is PERFECT.   No Emmy nomination for Desi was a crime.  He more than held his own with the other three more seasoned comedy performers.  

[Freddie2]

Whenever someone talks about Desi's acting I always picture when his eyes would cartoonishly bug out. When he was given the chance, he sure could shine on the show and nobody, NOBODY had romantic chemistry like he and Lucy.

 

If I'm in the right mood Frawley turns into the laugh-out-loud-funniest part of the show. I love that type of vaudeville personality that you only see with people from Bill's era. Maybe some of it is unintentionally funny nowadays, but the rushes of energy put into his line readings are absolutely joyous for me.

[JoeySanJoaquin]

Gale should have won something. Anything. Perhaps for his final season nomination for TLS. Werner Klemperer for Hogan was the winner, and he'd win again the next year. In '67 he lost to Don Knotts, who won for the record-breaking fifth and final time. Gale's last nomination was for HL, where he lost to Ed Asner for the first season of MTM. Even though Ed would win an obscene amount of times for playing Lou Grant, I still think he was the best of the 1970/71 season. He got nominated for Our Miss Brooks in '55, losing to Art Carney, who was up for Jackie Gleason's variety show, not The Honeymooners. That year also saw Bill Frawley nominated, who I of course would've preferred to be the winner.

LOVE the Olivia clip! "Now that's acting, real acting"!

[JoeySanJoaquin]

1962-63 Best Actress in a Series: Lucille Ball

over the winner Shirley Booth who had already won one the previous season for "Hazel".  Seeing these 1st season episodes again on Me-TV has given me a fresh appreciation for Lucy's range as a performer.  As I mentioned in another post about Booth as Hazel: I love her but the character didn't stretch her acting abilities much. 

Other nominees: Irene Ryan for Hillbillies , Mary Tyler Moore --who would win the next two--and Shirl Conway for the drama "The Nurses"....This was one of the years actor awards combined comedy and drama.

It would be three seasons before Lucy got another Lucy Show nomination. 

 

Also for 1962-63:  Vivian Vance for The Lucy Show as Best Supporting Actress.

Performers in specials, single-appearances, series regulars, comedy and drama were all thrown in together with only Rose Marie representing comedy among the 5 nominees. 

As ardent a life-long fan as I am of Miss Ball I'm almost as big for Team Booth and for her to win one if not more Emmys for her heartwarming, hilarious portrayal -- particularly in the first season in B&W -- was more than deserved IMHO, no matter who her "competition" was (and for you to make the claim that it wasn't much of an "acting stretch" for her tells me you haven't seen very many episodes and moreover, that I'm certain she was no more like Hazel than Lucy Ricardo/Carmichael/etc. was like Lucille Ball and thus quite disengenous.)

 

Both gave stellar performances in their respective roles and "reward" one over the other to me doesn't mean the other(s) were any less deserving.

 

Just sayin'. 

[Neil]

Joan Fontainne: "How come with all those killer bees swarming around, Olivia is not the one to get stung".

 

Whenever someone talks about Desi's acting I always picture when his eyes would cartoonishly bug out. When he was given the chance, he sure could shine on the show and nobody, NOBODY had romantic chemistry like he and Lucy.

If I'm in the right mood Frawley turns into the laugh-out-loud-funniest part of the show. I love that type of vaudeville personality that you only see with people from Bill's era. Maybe some of it is unintentionally funny nowadays, but the rushes of energy put into his line readings are absolutely joyous for me.

[Neil]

As ardent a life-long fan as I am of Miss Ball I'm almost as big for Team Booth and for her to win one if not more Emmys for her heartwarming, hilarious portrayal was more than deserved 

 

One more remark like that and I'll have to talk to Tom Watson about retroactively revoking your membership in the We Love Lucy Fan Club and will reveal your covert plans to swing the whole group over to this Shirley somebody-r-other in a club you're forming and calling "The Hazel Nuts"

[JoeySanJoaquin]

One more remark like that and I'll have to talk to Tom Watson about retroactively revoking your membership in the We Love Lucy Fan Club and will reveal your covert plans to swing the whole group over to this Shirley somebody-r-other in a club you're forming and calling "The Hazel Nuts"

[leenorman]

One more remark like that and I'll have to talk to Tom Watson about retroactively revoking your membership in the We Love Lucy Fan Club and will reveal your covert plans to swing the whole group over to this Shirley somebody-r-other in a club you're forming and calling "The Hazel Nuts"

 

Oh, neil, love, YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!  Love giggling like an idiot, all alone, at the computer, this early in the a.m..  Keep on keeping on....I CARE!  Love, JK

[Luvsbway]

Mental Floss had an article on little know Emmy facts and presented this one. I think this might have come up in conversation before but I don’t recall the bit about how this award was essentially made to try and get Lucy a win. She had numerous times to win in several categories before 58’ and they only managed to give it to her twice, so this seems a bit fishy. Also I’m not sure what season the award was for and what else did Lucy do that fit into anything other than comedian.

 

“In the early years of the awards, the Emmys tested out a number of categories, some of them more logical than others. By far the most nonsensical pair came in 1958, when the Television Academy decided to honor the “Best Continuing Performance in a Series by a Comedienne, Singer, Hostess, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist, or Any Person Who Essentially Plays Herself” along with an identical male category. Rumor has it the categories were mostly designed to honor Lucille Ball for I Love Lucy, but if that was the intention, it failed miserably. Dinah Shore won instead for The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, while Jack Benny took the male category for The Jack Benny Show. These categories were seemingly axed by 1959, much to the relief of tongue-tied presenters.”

[Neil]

Mental Floss had an article on little know Emmy facts and presented this one. I think this might have come up in conversation before but I don’t recall the bit about how this award was essentially made to try and get Lucy a win. She had numerous times to win in several categories before 58’ and they only managed to give it to her twice, so this seems a bit fishy. Also I’m not sure what season the award was for and what else did Lucy do that fit into anything other than comedian.

 

“In the early years of the awards, the Emmys tested out a number of categories, some of them more logical than others. By far the most nonsensical pair came in 1958, when the Television Academy decided to honor the “Best Continuing Performance in a Series by a Comedienne, Singer, Hostess, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist, or Any Person Who Essentially Plays Herself” along with an identical male category. Rumor has it the categories were mostly designed to honor Lucille Ball for I Love Lucy, but if that was the intention, it failed miserably. Dinah Shore won instead for The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, while Jack Benny took the male category for The Jack Benny Show. These categories were seemingly axed by 1959, much to the relief of tongue-tied presenters.”

 

"Comedienne ...who essential played herself": I would think would be more along the lines of variety show hosts or performers.  Lucy was an actress who did comedy, not a comedienne per se and certainly doesn't belong in this category.  This was the last year the Emmys were for a calendar year so 1957 would have been the Connecticut I Love Lucy episodes, "Havana" and "Celebrity Next Door".  Viv and Bill were both nominated in supporting actor/actress categories for "I Love Lucy" not the hour shows.   Bill lost to Carl Reiner for Caesar's Hour, Viv to Ann B Davis of The Bob Cummings Show.  Lucy was not nominated in the actress category: the winner was Jane Wyatt (Father Knows Best), other nominees, Spring Byington, Eve Arden for single-season Eve Arden Show, Ida Lupino for Mr. Adams and Eve and .......Jan Clayton for "LASSIE"!!!   The other nominees in the "essentially played herself" besides Lucy and winner Dinah Shore were Gracie Allen (also an ACTRESS), Dody Goodman for her Tonight Show appearances and Loretta Young who qualifies only in that she was the hostess of her show.  At the beginning she would twirl through the door, acknowledge the canned applause, give a brief overview of the upcoming plot  before emoting sincerely about the sponsor's product ("my good friend TIDE").  That was the end of her "essentially playing herself".    1957, for the third year in a row I Love Lucy, still TV's #1 show,  was not nominated as Best Comedy.  The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour (Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show) did not receive any Emmy recognition. 

[Freddie2]

Emmy patterns were so spotty before the 70s. Had the Emmy voting team been the way it is today, ILL would have cleaned up ALL the awards.