What began as some sort of tribute to the 50-year history of television wound up being another moribund, banal and predictable program that supposedly showcases the best in TV.
The "best?" Why, then, were outstanding shows like "Seinfeld" and "The Larry Sanders Show" once again snuffed out of top prize contention by such inferior ratings winners like "Frasier" or the mindless and abysmal "3rd Rock From the Sun?"
Somehow, amidst all the greed and lust that drives the Hollywood of today, the Oscars, Tonys and even last week's MTV Video Music Awards are able to weed out the diamonds from the coal, the flowers from the weeds. Not so for the Emmys.
So it should be no surprise that the very special show to honor 50 years of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (those who hand down the golden statuettes from on high) quickly turned into a jam-packed and tiresome display of mediocrity.
Host Paul Reiser of NBC's "Mad About You" did not do much to help the proceedings, spewing forth inane quips for the little time that he spoke on stage, and yielding to the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Candice Bergen and Marlo Thomas for much of the rest of the program (why not throw in a little TV aristocracy to douse the flames in which your host is shamelessly burning?).
Other awkward moments arose when Milton Berle arrived on stage to smile and crack a joke - not to present or accept an award - or when Oprah presented L.A. Dodgers' player Brett Butler who recently overcame cancer to return to the game. I suppose this means Butler is going to star opposite his namesake in "Grace Under Fire" next season.
It certainly was nice to see old TV favorites like Carroll O'Connor, Tim Conway and Carol Burnett march on stage. It was embarrassing to see just how poor the current television stars have gotten when compared to these legendary predecessors.
And while "ER," which has become like a Hollywood minor league ball club that features downtrodden movie stars and hot hot newcomers, may have swept up the first of many best drama awards it will receive, "NYPD Blue" will always be No. 1 in my mind.
Dennis Miller proudly shares his two awards for his HBO comedy series.