When news hit earlier in the day that O.J. Simpson had been booked for armed robbery of sports memorabilia in Las Vegas of all places; once a sanctuary for the mob, the table seemed set for an all Sopranos love fest. 
      It started well enough, Sopranos producer and creator David Chase accepted a statue for Best Director in a drama series; later followed by a Sopranos musical tribute performed by the Jersey Boys.
      Even Tony Bennett, the son of a grocer and Italian-born immigrant (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto), came away with an Emmy.
      But when the evening advanced to the Best Actor category, and the audience prepared to erupt into a rousing ovation for James Gandolfinia's brilliant performance playing Tony Soprano over the last eight years, the mother of all thefts took place, when David Spader's name popped out of the envelope, before a stunned mob gathered at the Shrine Auditorium. 
      As the Boston Legal star strolled to the stage, feeling, I'm sure, like he had just flicked on the bar lights; chose not to dwell on his performance (even though he should have, he's a gifted actor), or thank his agent, or his parents in Andover, Massachusetts; instead, he acknowledged the cast of the Sopranos; and then proceeded to spit out a few party jokes, like ``how do you even secure a nomination''?; and noting he's been to thousands of concerts in his life; and his seats tonight had to be the worst he's ever sat in. With that, he departed the stage, hoping to exit the overstuffed theater in one piece, with the cast of the Sopranos discharging cold hard stares, particularly Gandolfini, who looked indistinguishable from a frozen corpse
      But the Sopranos ended the show on high note; taking the Best Drama award with the entire ensemble hovered over the proud as punch executive producer and creator
      The overall atmosphere of show was odd; the rotunda stage made it look like a pep rally from a college gym.
      But if you longed for nostalgia, last nights show hit a soft spot, particularly when the cast of Roots paraded on stage in celebration of the miniseries’ 30th anniversary. The collection of performers, who passed away this year, was a nice touch as well, even though remembering Beverly Sills and Luciano Pavarotti (as television performers?) might have been a stretch.
      As usual with any awards ceremony, there were plenty of silent moments, lots of nervous laughter over lame jokes; Kevin Bacon, for example, was caught on camera with a bored expression over Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert's banter, a routine which started well before running out of gas.
      NOTE: If I missed some highlights, please accept my apologies, but my remote was on overdrive swinging back and forth between the Emmy's and Yankees/Red Sox showdown; and as luck would have it, a true masterpiece was taking place on ESPN between two grizzly veterans: Roger Clemens and Curt Shilling, a game that was deadlocked most of the way until Derek Jeter drilled a Schilling fastball deep into the night, securing a Yankee win
-Bill Lucey
billlucey@bellsouth.net