Date Posted:02:35:02 09/21/04 Tue Author: Computer Geek! Subject: Emmy and Enterprise
09.13.2004
Two Emmys Go to Enterprise; First for Shatner
It was a good night at the Emmys last night for Star Trek and related company. Enterprise added two more of the coveted statues to its trophy case, plus William Shatner picked up his first award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Enterprise won in the categories Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series, and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore). The show had received four nominations, though it only had three chances to win because it was competing against itself in the Visual Effects category.
"Countdown" beat "The Council" for that prize, accepted by nine members of the Visual Effects team led by supervisor Ronald B. Moore. "Countdown," the next-to-last installment of Season 3, happened to re-air the very weekend it won its Emmy.
The uncommonly moving "Similitude" was responsible for the Music award, which was bestowed upon composer Velton Ray Bunch. Combined with the two trophies won by the show in its first season (related story), this brings the total Emmy count for Enterprise to four.
The kudos were handed out at the Creative Arts Awards presentation, the ceremony consisting mainly of technical, music and guest actor categories, held separately from the main Primetime Emmy show which takes place next Sunday.
For the climactic award of the night, we can honestly report that Captain Kirk defeated Darth Vader — Shatner beat James Earl Jones along with Martin Landau, Bob Newhart and Matthew Perry in the category Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He did so for his highly praised role as "Denny Crane" in The Practice, which has spun off into a new starring vehicle for Shatner this fall called Boston Legal.
The audience at the Shrine Auditorium reacted to Shatner's win with a bit of surprise, followed by a long and hearty ovation. "What took you so long?" Shatner remarked to the Academy as he accepted his award. After thanking everyone who voted for him along with everyone who didn't vote for him, he recognized Practice creator David E. Kelley for writing the part and inviting him to play it. "We gotta find out what that 'E' stands for," he added. This was Shatner's second Emmy nomination (after 3rd Rock from the Sun) and his first win.
During the red carpet arrivals prior to the ceremony, STARTREK.COM asked Shatner if he did anything special to prepare for his "Denny Crane" role. "Oh, yes — I did push-ups, calisthenics ... I learned my lines..." He was not expecting to win that night — he had practically already conceded to his competition.
When Bunch accepted his Music Composition award, among his acknowledgements was Enterprise star Scott Bakula, "who has been a fan and so loyal to me over the years." Bunch's career has been closely intertwined with Bakula's — in fact, two of his three prior Emmy nominations were on Bakula shows, Quantum Leap and Papa's Angels. This, also, was his first win.
Nine trophies were actually given out for the Visual Effects award to the Enterprise crew members who took the stage. Besides Moore, that team consisted of visual effects producer Dan Curry; coordinator Elizabeth Castro; lead compositor Paul Hill; lead animator Greg Rainoff; CGI supervisor Fred Pienkos; and lead CGI animators Sean Scott, Eric Hance and Chris Zapara.
"I'm not worthy," Moore humbly stated as the group's spokesman. "I'm here because of the gentleman behind me [Dan Curry]." He also acknowledged the show's supervising producer Peter Lauritson, along with Bakula and the rest of the "wonderful" cast, and his visual effects mentor Richard Edlund.
Backstage, Curry was quick to point out that the award represents many others who were not on stage, "a large number of people who are dedicated to making Star Trek look great." He had been afraid that the two nominations in the same category would cancel each other out, "because the episode supervised by Art Codron ["The Council"] is equally good and I don't know how anybody could choose one over the other."
So what do they think distinguished "Countdown" from the others? "I would think probably a lot of the flying over this big alien bomb," Moore said, as well as the "big interiors" of the Xindi weapon. The same team won Enterprise the Visual Effects Emmy two years ago, but Curry, Moore and many of the others have won numerous awards over the years for the Star Trek franchise, since the first season of The Next Generation. And they're not done yet.
"Look for next season. We're doing some work that we are so psyched about — we're amazing ourselves. We think the present season's gonna blow us all away," Curry predicted.
Makeup supervisor Michael Westmore got a nomination for "Zero Hour" in the category Outstanding Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Prosthetic). That award went to Nip/Tuck's James MacKinnon, who happens to be a Trek alumni, having done makeup on "Star Trek: First Contact."
The big winner of the evening with five technical awards was HBO's Carnivŕle, which is executive produced by former Trek writer/producer Ronald D. Moore (the "other Ron Moore").
The Creative Arts ceremony will air — in a two-hour highlights show (condensed from four) — Saturday night, September 18, on E! at 8:00 p.m. (please check your local listings). The Primetime Emmys will take place the following night and will be broadcast on ABC. At that presentation several other Trek alumni are up for awards, including Patrick Stewart as executive producer of Showtime's "The Lion in Winter" (related story).
