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OUTSTANDING COMEDY: “30 Rock”

Good year for a solid sitcom. Can’t argue with the results, although I would have liked to have seen “Weeds” pull an upset. But this might have been the strongest year for the show.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA: “Mad Men.

Yes, it’s slightly overrated, but given the competition, it deserved to win, especially considering the second season was stronger than the first.

OUTSTANDING MOVIE: “Gray Gardens”

No brainer. This has Emmy written all over it.

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY: Toni Collette, “Tara.”

Not sure how “hilarious” Collette is, but she did play more than four roles - and Emmy loves that. She’s also an Oscar nominee, which is a big plus in her department. I wish she would have given a better acceptance speech.

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY: Alec Baldwin (”30 Rock”)

How did Baldwin do it again? The episode he submitted had him playing two roles (a foreign soap opera star and Jack). Again, Emmy loves the multiple roles, especially when one is an “evil twin.” My hopes that Jim Parsons would win for “Big Bang Theory” died hard.

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA: Glenn Close, “Damages”

I rooted for Close last year, and have no big problem with her repeat win. Still, this was Rose Byrne’s season to shine, not Close. She should have been in this category - and won.

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad.”

Cranston’s win last year was my favorite upset in years - so I was a bit stunned that he did it again. But he’s a great guy and a great actor. I’m thrilled that he slipped by my early pick, Jon Hamm.

BEST ACTRESS, MOVIE: Jessica Lange, “Gray Gardens.”

Right project, wrong star. Lange was terrific, as always, but co-star Drew Barrymore was a revelation. This should have been her night.

BEST ACTOR, MOVIE: Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm.”

I like Gleeson, but he was following in the footsteps of Albert Finney, who played Churchill in the earlier film, “The Gathering Storm,” one of the best performances I’ve ever seen - period. In comparison, Gleeson was just OK.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA: Michael Emerson, “Lost.”

OK, “Lost” deserves to win something. Might as well be for Emerson. Sorry, Mr. Slattery.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA: Cherry Jones, “24.”

Not a great year for “24.” Great year for Rose Byrne. She was robbed.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY: Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men.”

The evening’s biggest head scratcher. Holland Taylor won an Emmy for her work in this show a few years ago. That should have been enough.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY: Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies”.

Thank you, Kristin, for actually being enthusiastic about winning. And thank you for being so gosh darn cute. Call me!

UPDATE: It appears that the suspension started last Friday. Star’s boss Wendy Paulson says that he’ll be back on the air this Sunday. She wouldn’t comment further.

Still, Leno can’t rely solely on his easygoing charm and rat-a-tat jokes. At his best, last night, he didn’t. The absolute highlights: A sitdown with Kanye West and a surprise video appearance from Oprah Winfrey.

Jay did a great job with Kanye, still in hot water because of the way he interrupted Taylor Swift at last night’s VMA Awards. Jay smartly asked him what his mother would have said about his behavior. Great question, and while Kanye didn’t really answer,he did tear up - the kind of emotional, real, live moment this show can really jump on. Oprah’s appearance also  scored, in large part because she only addressed guest Jerry Seinfeld, ignoring Jay, and also because, well, she’s Oprah.

But let’s face facts. It won’t be every night that a booked guest will be in the news. It won’t be every night you can get a cameo from the Queen of All Media. On the nights that happen, “Leno” will score. On slow nights, he’ll have to rely on typical banter, monologues and taped bits. In the last category, the show was a big disappointment, kicking off with comedian Dan Finnerty singing silly songs to a car-wash customer. I was also surprised that Leno’s monologue was short, by his standards, only six minutes.

Yes, Headlines was still a reliable chuckler and the “fake” interview with President Obama was amusing, but those are bits I can see on late-night TV anytime I want. Fair or not, people will expect more in prime-time. Leno, for the most part, hit those expectations - for one night. Only 2,300 to go…

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/37575949.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

At this point, you should take a moment to read the original interview: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/onstage/58529122.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Are you done? Took you long enough…OK, back to story. I hadn’t originally planned to make the hike to Hinckley, but the slim chance that Regis would actually warble a few bars of “Like a Rolling Stone” was too much, so I hopped in my car and headed in Duluth’s direction.

The show itself was corny, silly - and lots of fun with Regis sliding through standards like “Swanee,” “Where Or When” and “Me and My Shadow” - and telling predictable jokes about Kelly Ripa and David Letterman. The crowd ate it up.

Then it was my turn to be in the hot seat. About halfway through the show, Regis mentioned our interview and my challenge to him. He then made me stand up (at this point, I went into a bit of schtick, pretending to be an 80-year-old, which, in retrospect, may not have been the most PC choice, since the crowd was full of 80-year-old men). After a couple false starts, Regis sang the chorus of “Blowin’ In The Wind.”

How did I respond? Why, obviously, I….blew him a kiss. Yeah, that’s right. (Regis responded in kind). The good-natured ribbing continued throughout the evening. When Regis came into the crowd, singing “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” he adapted the  line: “I can’t give you anything but love, Neely!” When he invited somone in the audience to join him on “You Made Me Love You” he begged me to chime in (fortunately, for Reege, the crowd and myself I was too far away from the mike). When REgis asked me from stage at one point, what I thought of the show so far, I shook my hand a little, indictating it was “so so.” Regis laughed. The Regis-lovin’ crowd didn’t.

Came backstage afterwards and spent some time with the man, who seemed to truly enjoy his first performance in Minnesota. Funniest moment: We were talking about how important casinos are now to “classic” entertainers and I mentioned how I saw James Brown at a casino years ago.

“What was that line he always said?” Regis inquired.

“Um, I feel good?”

“I FEEL GOOD!” bellowed Regis even after a 90-plus minute show.

Great job, Reege. But next time, see if you can add a couple verses as well.

 I mean, if they really didn’t want Kanye up on stage, security would have stepped in. Then there’s the fact that Taylor Swift just “happened” to be backstage when Beyonce, the night’s big winner, asked her to come out and get a chance to give her full acceptance speech.

Manipulated or not, everyone came out a winner. MTV got a much buzzed about event, Beyonce came across as looking gracious and Taylor got a lot of sympathy. And what about poor, poor Kanye? Don’t cry for him. The guy loves being the center of attention - whether it’s good or bad. His spoilsport act keeps him in the news - and that’s all he wants.

Lost in the controversy is the fact that Taylor delivered the musical highlight of the night just moments after the Kanye interruption. Her performance, starting at the 42nd subway stop and leading up to the top of a taxi in front of Radio City Music Hall, was a perfectly orchestrated bit that reminded me of something of of “Hard Day’s Night.” It was that enthusiastic bit - not Pink’s acrobatics or Janet Jackson aping her late brother’s moves - that stole the show.

But who else does ABC have? Maybe Sawyer will prove me wrong and have the right “gravitas” for the job. We’ll see. The good news is that two of three main anchors will be female. It’s about time. Is this the right move for ABC? Who else is there?