Who Needs Ratings When You Have Emmys?
Conan O'Brien made fun of NBC's tumble in the ratings during his opening number ("To prove things are going to hell, we're relying on Howie Mandel," he sung at one point). But things aren't all bad at the Peacock Network. In fact, if the Emmys are any indication, things are just dandy.
NBC won a total of 14 Emmys (between Sunday's telecast and the Creative Arts Awards given out last week), six of those wins coming last night -- a number equal to the total of CBS, FOX and ABC combined.
The network took home the top comedy prize ("The Office") and writing and directing honors for comedy (both for "My Name Is Earl"). On the acting side, Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU") won best actress in a drama, Megan Mullally ("Will & Grace") won best supporting actress in a comedy and Alan Alda ("The West Wing") won best supporting actor in a drama.
The win for Alda (the sixth of his career) gave "The West Wing" a total of 26 for its seven-year run, tying it with "Hill Street Blues" for the most ever by a primetime series.
So while Conan may have joked that since the Emmys were on NBC, they would probably get canceled halfway through, they still might win an award next year.
