Lovable to the End

Final Season of 'Raymond' Is Named Top Comedy; First Season of 'Lost' Wins As Drama Series

A stunning upset in the best comedy category, moving memorial tributes to Johnny Carson and Peter Jennings and several outbreaks of desperately needed comic relief helped make the 57th Annual Emmy Awards, telecast live from Los Angeles on CBS last night, one of the more nearly entertaining and least irritating Emmycasts in memory.

The upset occurred when the last Emmy was given out just before 11 p.m. -- a sentimental farewell Emmy to "Everybody Loves Raymond," the CBS sitcom that ended its nine-year run in the spring. It defeated the front-runner, ABC's "Desperate Housewives," which was the most talked-about new show of the 2004-05 TV season.

Emmys did go, however, to "Housewives" co-star Felicity Huffman and to Charles McDougall, who directed the controversial comedy's pilot episode. Wins by "Housewives" and the second most talked-about new show, "Lost," helped ABC to a total of six Emmys (of awards announced for the first time on the show), a close second to HBO, which usually dominates the competition and won seven Emmys.

CBS won five Emmys, Fox won two, and NBC -- currently the fourth-place network -- also won two. Other Emmys were scattered among such smaller networks as Showtime, Comedy Central (winning two for "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," its only program of merit) and PBS (for a "Masterpiece Theatre" production, "The Lost Prince").

Ellen DeGeneres, who won high praise for hosting the delayed Emmys that aired after the tragic terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, did another stellar job last night -- noting that she was working once again in the shadow of a catastrophe, this time Hurricane Katrina. She and some other participants wore magnolias in support of hurricane victims in New Orleans and other cities. In addition, there were repeated public service announcements asking for donations to Habitat for Humanity via the CBS Web site.

David Letterman, who has been averse to awards show appearances since flopping as host of the Oscars in the 1990s, made a rare Emmy visit to tumultuous applause and hosted a tribute to the late Johnny Carson, for nearly 30 years host of "The Tonight Show" and, said Letterman, "the biggest star in the history of television." Letterman came across as dour and desultory, however, suggesting he was anything but happy to be present on the Emmy stage.

The show's loudest and longest standing ovation went to Dan Rather, former anchor of "The CBS Evening News," and Tom Brokaw, former anchor of "NBC Nightly News," who said they'd hoped to be reunited with Peter Jennings, the "ABC World News Tonight" anchor who died last month of cancer. The segment became a tribute to the passing of an era, when Brokaw, Rather and Jennings were part of an American tradition and, said presenter Alan Alda, "anchors in more ways than one."

They represented a time of homogeneity and relative stability that is now fading fast into history. This was an emotional last great farewell. "Peter will have a place in this brotherhood forever," Brokaw said as part of the tribute to Jennings.

Pleas for hurricane relief presumably being nonpartisan and public-spirited, the Emmycast was devoid of the political statements by winners that have erupted in previous years with one exception: Blythe Danner, nominated in three categories and a winner for her role as a psychiatrist's mother in Showtime's "Huff," said of Iraq and the war being waged by American forces and a few allies, "Let's get the heck out of there."

The long evening's most endearing acceptance speech was probably the one given by S. Epatha Merkerson, a familiar presence to viewers of NBC's long-running hit "Law & Order" but a winner last night for her role in HBO's acclaimed movie "Lackawanna Blues." Merkerson, in a low-cut shimmering blue dress, said she'd made notes for a speech but that the paper had slipped down her cleavage when she stored it there.

"It's probably stuck to me," she said, making a few attempts to retrieve it -- finally giving up and saying to her viewing mother, "Ma, I lost it!" -- a statement with particular resonance coming from an actress on a stage in Hollywood.

Other entertaining highlights included a feature that DeGeneres called "Emmy Idol," after Fox's successful "American Idol" talent contest. Various artists popped up to sing a few classic theme songs from old TV shows -- most notably an amusingly countrified Donald Trump, in overalls and a straw hat, teamed with Megan Mullally of "Will & Grace" to sing the theme from "Green Acres." The show's star, Eddie Albert, seen in clips behind the singers, died earlier this year at the age of 99.