The SAG Awards

On the front page of Monday’s LA TIMES is a picture of Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons with the headline “Her pair of queens wins”. At first I thought, “wow, that’s inappropriate” until I realized the headline was referring to her two victories for playing queens not the two of them in the picture.

I didn’t see the SAG awards. They’re like watching the Arena football championship game before the Superbowl.

On the other hand, I find the gushing praise and over-the-top outpouring of love on the SAG awards to be most amusing. You know all these actors hate each other. I’ll probably get fifty comments to the contrary but come on, they’re in the most competitive profession ever, and for every winner Saturday night, there were probably forty others in the room who auditioned for and lost that part. And will tell you they could have played it better.

Some thoughts on the winners:

Helen Mirren is a wonder. Won for THE QUEEN in features and ELIZABETH I on TV. She could play Queen Latifa and I’d believe her.

Jennifer Hudson is going to win every award this season but the Heisman Trophy.

I was thrilled the cast of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE won. Why? Because they sent out screener DVD’s to all their members. Hint hint.

Wouldn’t it have been great a few years ago if CASTAWAY had won for best Cast in a motion picture?

Jeremy Irons scored for ELIZABETH I. In a real stretch he played a fop.

Hugh Laurie racked up another win. Maybe now the TV Academy will NOMINATE him for an Emmy.

Glad Chandra Wilson won for GREY’S ANATOMY. It’s nice that there’s someone on that show who isn’t “dreamy”.

Alec Baldwin is the funniest supporting actor in a comedy since David Hyde Pierce. You’ll know how many years 30 ROCK stays on the air by the number of Emmys he’s going to win.

Happy for America Ferrera but isn’t it so Hollywood that instead of hiring an actual ugly actress to play UGLY BETTY they hire a pretty actress and make her look ugly?

By and large I think it’s dumb to give awards to entire casts except in the case of THE OFFICE. They really are an ensemble and that show only works because they all mesh together so well. Note to producers casting pilots: hire FUNNY people.

And the cast of GREY’S ANATOMY wins for best cast in a drama? They’re terrific and sure yummy to look at but I would have voted for LOST. Those actors had to get out of cages, and get trapped in the rain where their hair got messed up. They don’t teach that at Julliard, pallie.

So now it’s on to the next awards show, which I think might be THE PATSYS, celebrating the best performances by animals in television and motion pictures. Elvis, the alligator from MIAMI VICE is going to receive the lifetime achievement award this year.