Buffalo & the Emmy Awards

Hey, the Emmy Awards are tonight.  Will you be watching?  Probably not….last year’s show was one of the lowest-rated ever, and the Emmys have lost a lot of their luster.  But every once in a while, something interesting happens on the show.  And every once in a while, Buffalo plays a role.

From Buffalo Bob Smith and Lucille Ball right up to tonight’s show, Western New Yorkers have been nominated for countless Emmy awards.   Some of them have won a bunch of Emmys…and they deserved them.  Some are well known for their ties to the area…some not so much.

But here are a handful of reasons why Western New York & Emmy go together so well. 

Kyle Chandler

I bet you didn’t know the star of Friday Night Lights is from Western New York.  He was born here.  He didn’t spend much time here…his family moved to Chicago when he was little, then to Georgia when he was eleven….he grew up in a small town there named Loganville.  But we’ll take him as one of ours.

If there’s any justice, he’ll win the Emmy for best actor in a drama series tonight.  It’s the first time he’s been nominated for his role as coach Eric Taylor on FNL, which is a crime.  It’s also the last time he’ll be nominated, since the show is now history.  And since Chandler is from Buffalo (even briefly) he’ll probably finish second.  But we can hope.

 

Wendie Malick

Betty White is up for best supporting actress in a comedy….and let’s face it, it’s Betty White’s world right now….but no one would have been surprised if one of the other stars of Hot in Cleveland had been nominated instead.

Wendie Malick may be the best scene stealer in Hollywood.  She more than holds her own with White.  In fact, whatever her role, whatever the TV show, she stands out.  She’s funny….really funny.  She absolutely owned the sitcom Just Shoot Me.  Playing Nina, a neurotic former model struggling with middle age, Malick received two Emmy nominations and won one Golden Globe.  She won four Cable Ace awards for her role as Judith Tupper Stone in the quirky HBO comedy Dream On.  She had recurring roles on Frasier, Kate & Allie….and Baywatch (!)

She’s a graduate of Williamsville South High School.

Trivia tidbit: Malick, who was in the movie The American President,  has real-life politics on her resume.  She worked for Congressman Jack Kemp.  Must have been one funny office.

The writers

People from Buffalo have created some of the best television shows ever.  David Milch, a Nichols School graduate, was the co-creator & Executive Producer of NYPD Blue and the creator & head writer of Deadwood.  Tom Fontana, who graduated from Canisius High School and Buffalo State College, was the brains behind St. Elsewhere (one of my all-time favorite TV shows), Homicide: Life on the Streets, and Oz.  Diane English, another Buff State grad (she’s a Nardin Academy alum) created Murphy Brown.  These three created some of the most memorable shows, memorable characters, memorable moments….and incredibly memorable dialogue….in the history of television. 

Buffalo Bill

No, not the real Buffalo Bill.  The sitcom about a TV talk show host working in Buffalo.  What, you never heard of it?  It only ran for part of two seasons in the early 1980’s.  But both years, it was nominated for best comedy.  It received a total of eleven Emmy nominations.  And it should have won a bunch of them.  It was groundbreaking.  It took chances…imagine a show today using a baseball fantasy game to determine if a character should have an abortion!

But most of all, it was hilarious.  Dabney Coleman starred as Bill Bittinger….egotistical, mean, totally unlikable….and ranked #42 on TV Guide’s list of the 50 greatest TV characters of all time.   A great supporting cast including Geena Davis.  Former NBC programming genius Brandon Tartikoff said canceling this show was his biggest mistake ever.

Nancy Marchand won multiple Emmy awards for Lou Grant and should have won one for The Sopranos.  Wolf Blitzer won an Emmy for his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing.  Christine Baranski won for her role on Cybil.  Ron Silver (not from here, but a UB grad) was nominated for his role on The West Wing.  William Fichtner (did you know he’s from Cheektowaga?) hasn’t gotten a nomination yet, but got rave reviews for his role on Prison Break.

The list goes on.  What role will Kyle Chandler play on that list?  As they say on TV every day…stay tuned.