TV Land lauds faces, shows we know, love
A Korean War medical unit and a California cul-de-sac are about to have a big night on television. Again.
"M*A*S*H" and "Knots Landing" are among the classic shows getting their due at the 2009 TV Land Awards, which the nostalgic network televises at 8 p.m. Sunday. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris of CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," the event also salutes "Home Improvement," "Magnum, P.I.," "Married... With Children," the recently ended "ER" and CBS' current "Two and a Half Men" (which gets the Future Classic Award).
Also, Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Seinfeld," "The New Adventures of Old Christine") receives the Legacy of Laughter Award, and insult-king comedy icon Don Rickles is handed the Legend Award.
Recorded a week earlier at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif., the TV Land Awards telecast balances affection for the honorees with a slightly campy feel to the proceedings. Following such previous hosts as Kelly Ripa, Megan Mullally and John Ritter, Harris who did stage musical work ("Cabaret," "Rent," "Assassins") before starting his career-redefining "Mother" role as snarky, womanizing Barney believes he's able to strike the proper tone for the evening.
"It's very flattering" to be given the job, he says. "I've done a little legwork in the hosting world; I've hosted the Los Angeles version of the Tonys, called the Ovation Awards, three years running. I've also subbed for Regis (Philbin, on 'Live With Regis and Kelly') now and again, and I did the Writers Guild Awards this year. Hosting events is not what I anticipated for myself, but they're great, good times."
Harris expected the TV Land Awards would fit right in, just by their nature. "You don't want to be so 'wink, wink, nudge, nudge' that it feels overdone, so I'm angling toward the Will Ferrell style of comedy. I could see him hosting something like this and providing just the amount of ridiculousness that could be palatable.
"It's kind of a Golden Globe Awards vibe," Harris reasons, "with people eating and mingling. And who deserves more to have the spotlight shone on them again? Sometimes, you run into people you grew up watching, and for it to be in the context of being so appreciative of that makes it a really special night. Having the role of ringmaster for that is fun."
During its 11 years (1972-83) on CBS, "M*A*S*H" earned many honors, including 14 Emmy Awards and the still-standing record for highest-rated series episode ever broadcast (for its finale). It receives TV Land's Impact Award for "always striving for humor and humanity," an accolade embraced by co-star Mike Farrell, who joined "M*A*S*H" as Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt in its fourth season and stayed to the end.
"Of course, my sense of the show is so personal and it was all so meaningful to me, everything about it really sticks to my ribs," says Farrell, who would have another notable series run later in "Providence." "That last moment (when Capt. Hawkeye Pierce, played by Alan Alda, and B.J. bid farewell to Korea and each other) still knocks me out."
Besides acting in "M*A*S*H," Farrell wrote five episodes of it and directed four. He's grateful not only for the TV Land Award itself, but also for the reunion the occasion affords.
"It's always pleasing for me to get together with the gang, which we do with some regularity," he says. "Those of us who live in the Los Angeles area have dinner every few weeks or couple of months.
"I'm certainly appreciative," Farrell adds, "of anyone wanting to recognize the special nature of our show and the contribution I think it made to the industry. I consider myself the luckiest actor in the world to have been part of that show, and these ongoing relationships are reflective of that.
"For too many people I know who have been in long-running shows, there was supposed to be a deep and personal interconnection between the cast members, and they really didn't care for one another at all."
The second season of the "Dallas" spinoff "Knots Landing" recently was released on DVD, surely pleasing fans of the 1979-93 CBS serial, one of television's longest-running dramas. TV Land gives the show an award commemorating the 30th anniversary of its debut, and that pleases Joan Van Ark, who was tied up in "Knots" as ever-troubled Valene Ewing through most of its run.
"I'm excited about it," she says, "but it's like a high-school reunion ... and I never do those. I'm all about what lies ahead, so I have butterflies about this a bit. Constance (McCashin, another of the original 'Knots' stars) is coming back for the first time ever for this. I've seen and talked with her since, but she's never done anything related to the series since she left."
Indeed, the only two major "Knots" veterans Van Ark didn't expect to attend the TV Land Awards taping were Alec Baldwin and Nicollette Sheridan. Van Ark notes that ABC's ongoing "Desperate Housewives," on which Sheridan has co-starred, sometimes is referenced in terms of "Knots Landing."
"I really feel 'Knots' was a precursor to other great shows," maintains Van Ark, who directed two episodes in the final season. "In fact, we were desperate housewives. There are so many parallels. Valene essentially was who Lynette (Felicity Huffman's 'Desperate' character) is now, and they have an ensemble cast that just cooks together. Plus, long-running shows always have someone amazing at the helm; it's (executive producer) Marc Cherry for them, and David Jacobs and Michael Filerman certainly were that in our case.
"Also, Alan Ball said when he went up to accept the first Emmy for it that 'Six Feet Under' (which Ball created and produced) was 'Knots Landing' in a funeral home. What an interesting take that was."
