Emmys: In Memoriam...and for Posterity

Is it just me, or did it seem like the “In memoriam” segment on tonight’s Primetime Emmys went on far too long?

That is not a criticism. The haunting vocal was perfect and the production, except for cutting too late to the full-screen, was fine.

It was just that we lost far too many fine actors and actresses and writers and entertainers this past year.

Some I knew about, some I must had forgotten. Ron Silver and Robert Prosky were a couple favorites of mine. And Karl Malden. And Bea Arthur. And Larry Gelbart, of course.

But so many others. The good thing about TV is they will always be around to make us laugh or cry. At least so long as we continue to preserve our TV heritage.

That is by way of plugging various archiving efforts, including the UCLA Film & TV Archive and the government-backed project for noncommercial TV.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.