THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280851
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
TONIGHT ON FOX, when the many accomplishments of Latinos in films, theater, television and music are recognized at 9, it will mark the 45th time this year that an awards show has been televised.
We've heard a lot of, ``May I have the envelope, please?''
While I feel certain that the Council of La Raza 1995 Bravo Awards on Fox tonight are a good and noble thing, do we need another awards show in prime time? Univision beat the Bravo Awards to the punch with its ``Premio lo Nuestro a la Musica Latina'' show.
Now Latinos have two TV awards shows, tying them with the people in gospel music, placing them two behind the country music crowd and one up on teachers, fashion models and independent film producers.
Are there too many awards shows on television, often preempting our favorite series? When cable channels, such as VH-1 and ESPN, cook up awards shows just to fill an hour or two of TV time, does it diminish the telecasting of awards that really mean something to millions - the Oscars, Emmys, Grammies and Tonys?
Do we really want all those country music awards shows? In the last year, I've seen enough of Tim McGraw to last a lifetime.
When I asked readers to call me on Infoline (640-5555, Category 3333) with their comments about the TV awards shows, four out of every five said too many of them were on TV. A caller from Elizabeth City, N.C., who didn't leave his name, had the best comment:
``There are so many of these TV awards shows that any day now I expect to see an awards show for the best performances on other awards shows.''
Now that's an award Susan Lucci can win.
Laura Keene in Virginia Beach called to ask if I've noticed that the same people get nominated over and over again all over prime time. Yes, Laura, I am aware that the same names pop up on the Country Music Association Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and the Grammys.
Lindsay in Virginia Beach has a bright idea - a quota for awards shows. She suggests no more than once a month. Any more than that is too much, she said. L.A. Williams in Chesapeake believes the televised awards shows are nothing but spectacles of people patting themselves on the back.
The TV awards shows are as caller Williams describes them - people who have the same calling in life congratulating each other for doing what they are paid to do. There is a TV awards show for stand-up comics on Black Entertainment Television. Blockbuster decided to produce a video and music awards show of its own in 1995 for no reason other than the company wanted to give itself a great big plug on CBS.
The TV awards shows keep coming, pretending that they are the Oscars. Why so many? Because they are cheap to produce and generally bring in decent ratings. How else can the networks get so many famous people to show up on camera for free?
``The producers have come to realize that the public likes event television,'' said Dick Clark, whose company produces the Golden Globes and Academy of Country Music Awards.
``What else is there on television that's live, unscripted and unpredictable except sports and breaking news?''
Yes, unpredictable.
Remember when Bono of U2 used the f-word on the Grammys? And how they cut off Frank Sinatra in the midst of the ceremony honoring him as a Grammy legend?
TV is there when they give out the Golden Globes, Kids Choice Awards, the Soul Train Awards, Horatio Alger Awards and MTV Movie Awards. But where are the cameras when they hand out the biggest awards of all? The Nobel prizes? If they can get Madonna to show up, maybe Fox will bring the Nobels to us live in 1996. And David Letterman can host. ``Uma. . . . Oprah. Oprah. . . . Uma.'' by CNB