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The Duvall Cue
At the start of the Emmy Awards tonight, Broken Trail went three for three: Thomas Haden Church for best supporting actor in a mini-series or movie. Robert Duvall for lead actor in a mini-series or movie. And the AMC show itself for best mini-series, 30 years after Roots created the genre.
That meant, naturally, that members of the original Roots cast, from LeVar Burton to Leslie Uggams, made the presentation to the crew of Broken Trail.
And Duvall took it upon himself to make as much of the moment as he could. Exactly who he was thanking and why was hard to follow. Let’s attribute it to the acoustics at the Shrine Auditorium, the home of the stars, in Los Angeles. Maybe.
As you might expect, these Emmys were a visual feast. For the first time, a round stage. Huge screens on two sides. Seven screens behind the presenters. Dangling globes promoting The Sopranos and Grey’s Anatomy. A huge circular screen that ascends or descends on the stage depending on the moment and dramatic need.
But hearing? That was another matter. If you were watching at home, you probably heard the acceptance speeches, jokes and video clips perfectly.
Not so, if you were in the auditorium itself. Music, applause, diction got in the way. Just ask Duvall.
Katherine Heigl of Grey’s Anatomy and other actors and actresses before Duvall were able to make lengthy acceptance speeches and not violate the timekeeper’s sensitivity. Heigl got away with noting her mother said she wouldn’t win, that two other members of Grey’s Anatomy who were up for the same award were a source of inspiration, that she’d worked her backside off for 17 years and, citing the standards set by other actresses that she tried to measure up to, said she had persevered “because of you” and “for you.”
By contrast, Duvall’s acceptance speeches for best actor and best miniseries were drowned out by increasingly loud tonal sounds that tried to give him the hook, both times.
In effect, “Broken Trail” went three for three. Duvall went two for two. And the Duvall Cue seemed seemed to set the stage, so to speak, for other cable program winners soon to follow. The Sopranos’ went two for two as well, with Alan Taylor and David Chase himself each getting the Duvall Cue.
We’re still not sure what they said that got them yanked, though. Maybe Josh Sapan, the AMC and Rainbow Media chieftain who enjoyed the kind of night that comes rarely in one’s career, will either have memorized the Duvall speechifying or release transcripts in the aftermath.
In the meantime, it didn’t matter when The Sopranos’ cast got the entire stage to themselves soon thereafter. Whether they had won a group achievement award or not was irrelevant. The message from their peers was clear: They had completed their monumental run and achievement, together.
Next year, though, remind me to bring a NanoTV and earbuds. I want to hear every bit of what’s going on. Not just The Duvall Cue.
As Lewis Black clearly enunciated, “We don’t care about the next show. We care about THE show” we’re watching, right now.
