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Emmys tribute to Cory Monteith overshadows long careers

Emmys remembers James Gandolfini, Jean Stapleton, Jonathan Winters producer Gary David Goldberg and Cory Monteith. But who are they overlooking?

2013-07-14_1651The Emmys has announced 5 individuals who will receive extended In Memoriam segments at next week’s ceremony:
James Gandolfini, Cory Monteith, Jean Stapleton and Jonathan Winters and producer Gary David Goldberg.

“These five individuals brought us such great entertainment and joy, so having their close friends share personal remembrances is something that will be very meaningful for television audiences across the country and across the generations,” said executive producer Ken Ehrlich.

Sopranos actress Edie Falco will pay tribute to her former co-star, Gandolfini, while while Rob Reiner presents Stapleton’s segment, Robin Williams will honour his friend and mentor, Winters and Michael J. Fox will pay tribute to Family Ties producer Goldberg.

Jane Lynch is speaking on behalf of her Glee cast for Cory Monteith’s tribute, but his inclusion is already attracting comment.

For instance where is Larry Hagman’s tribute? Or Jack Klugman’s? What about David Frost? Dennis Farina? Jeanne Cooper played Katherine Chancellor on The Young and the Restless for 40 years.

Andrew Wallenstein, Variety editor-in-chief, digital, wrote in an opinion piece:”When Monteith’s name is elevated alongside the other four people who are being elevated from the usual In Memoriam reel — actors James Gandolfini, Jean Stapleton and Jonathan Winters and writer-producer Gary David Goldberg — his inclusion risks coming across ill-considered.

“The unspoken, uncomfortable truth of the matter is that while the work he did on Glee showed great promise, it was not equal to the incredible careers the other four amassed.”

Indeed, Monteith had never received an individual Emmy nomination.

Rather, the move is a play towards the annual problem for US awards shows: how to attract more younger viewers to their show.

FOX8 screens the Emmys live next Monday morning from 10am.

5 Responses

  1. Ouch. I am sure the Emmy producers weren’t planning to upset anyone with this idea.

    Normally the just have one ‘In Memorium’ segment to honour all the people who passed away in the past 12 months.

    Now they propose to single out 5 of the deceased for an extra special tribute?

    I am predicting that the producers will scrap this idea and just have the ‘in memorium’ segment as per usual.

    And then the only complaints will be who they left out in the segment – and not the ‘why is Corey or James or Jonathan or Jean or Gary more deserving of a special mention over Larry or Jack or etc etc etc’.

  2. I understand the organisers have to chase ratings, but Monteith’s citation is a major slight to an actor who created a character just as iconic, maybe more so, than Tony Soprano – Larry Hagman with JR Ewing.

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