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“Late Night” host highlighted other presenters’ lack of comedy Dateline Hollywood (Satire) -- September, 2005 Hollywood – Conan O’Brien has been banned from future Emmy Awards after he brazenly highlighted the lack of humor in every presentation besides his own at the Sunday telecast. Giving the award for best actress in a comedy, O’Brien made several jokes that drew audience laughter, instead of the polite titter generated by other presenters’ written patter. “Conan had a perfectly serviceable vaguely humorous intro written for him on the teleprompter,” said Emmys executive producer Ken Ehrlich. “Nobody asked him to come out there and be funny, thereby highlighting how every other presenter was not.” O’Brien first mocked the “Emmy Idol” segment of the show by singing the theme song from “Charles in Charge.” He then joked that by giving an award to only one of the five nominees, he would fulfill a lifelong dream of disappointing four women at once. “This really weird thing happened when Conan was on stage,” said nominee Jason Bateman. “I laughed out loud because somebody said something funny, instead of just making a short laugh-like sound because there was an awkward pause before a presenter started listing the nominees.” Emmy producers and CBS executives were outraged that O’Brien threw off the tone they were trying to set for the whole show. “We told [host] Ellen [Degeneres] from the beginning to be ‘funny-ish,’ but not actually funny, and she followed those instructions to a tee,” Ehrlich explained. “But then Conan had to come out and say something actually humorous. Apparently he just didn’t care how that would make every other presenter look in comparison.” Ehrlich added that O’Brien’s introduction has forced the network to add a delay to next year’s broadcast. Also, as a result of his unscripted outburst, O’Brien has been banned from all future Emmy telecasts. If he ever wins an Emmy, he will have to send [NBC parent corporation[ General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt to accept his award. “I know there’s a niche audience for Conan’s brand of so-called ‘funny comedy,’” Ehrlich said. “But the Emmys are no place for laugh-out loud jokes from a television personality, especially when they’re on CBS.” |