US: The White House received a major vote of confidence yesterday, but only for its fictional representation. The West Wing beat The Sopranos for best drama series at the Emmys, America's television awards, during a long and sometimes rambling and disjointed show in Los Angeles.
Other highlights included victories for Everybody Loves Raymond as best comedy and the stars of The Sopranos, James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, as best actors in a drama series. Lowlights, as far as many critics were concerned, were the absence of a prize for Six Feet Under, the drama series set in an undertaker's, and an awards show that was often unfunny, despite 11 comedian co-presenters.
Dame Maggie Smith won an Emmy for best actress in a television film or mini-series for her role in A House In Umbria. She was not present at the ceremony.
With the other big local story being the California gubernatorial recall election, there were many jokes about the candidates from the platform. Two of the minor candidates, the child actor Gary Coleman and the porn star Mary Carey, attended the event.
It was a night of long, lingering embraces. The actor and comedian Garry Shandling was kissed passionately by Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond, as a take-off of the Madonna-Britney Spears kiss at the MTV video awards last month. Matthew Perry of Friends gave the 73-year-old Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond a smacker when handing her the prize for the best supporting actress in a comedy drama.
After the show, James Gandolfini said The Sopranos had lost out to The West Wing because of the subject matter. "We're thieves and crooks and they show me in my underwear far too much," he said.
Joe Pantoliano, who played his fellow-mobster Ralph in the series, won an award for best supporting actor and was almost too overcome to speak.
It was also a night when Emmy voters seemed to revert to their old habits of opting for the conventional and ignoring the risky. Only one actor under the age of 40 - the 35-year-old Debra Messing of Will & Grace, who won best actress in a comedy series - took a prize. - Guardian Service