I was invited to join the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1974 at age 24 when I was working for Gold Key Entertainment, a division of The Vidtronics Company—both aligned with the Technicolor Corporation.
I’m especially fond of the Emmys. The Television Academy’s annual awards show has always seemed more approachable than others. That could be because I’ve had more insight into their voting process. I often voted as a member of blue-ribbon panels which were convened in hotel suites where we viewed nominated shows for hours, discussed them, and then voted privately.
I was heading to the Emmy Awards. I loved that tux. A Brioni.
My most memorable blue-ribbon viewing moment occurred in 1975, I believe. I was scheduled to review shows in a small suite with, among others, Steve Allen’s wife, Jayne Meadows. She walked in early that morning wearing a black suit, a giant lavender silk flower on her lapel, a massive black straw hat with a lavender hatband, and a black patch over her right eye. She paused in the doorway.
We all looked up, and with her typical command of a room, she said slowly, “Steve and I were in rehearsal…I was hit with a pie.” She inserted about 3 seconds of silence as a dramatic pause and continued, “It was still in the tin.”
Have fun, and enjoy the show. Here’s your printable ballot for the 2019 Emmy Awards.
Jayne Meadows 1919-2015
Thank you for the memory – and the dapper photo of you.