Bryce Zabel: All you can do is trust the gut instincts of people who have done things before to take the pulse of the nation and figure what is going to fit at a particular time. The postponement bought us time to reevaluate what would be appropriate on a day-by-day, even minute-by-minute basis. The show is more unpredictable than ever before because in reality, when someone wins, they’re being given an open mike. People can say anything that comes from their hearts or is on their minds.
That show pretty much got thrown in the trash can. Everybody said, “Let’s go back to the drawing board and build it from ground up.”
In times of national emergency and national grief, whether it’s the Kennedy assassination, the Challenger disaster or the World Trade Center tragedy, people come together around their television sets. First for information, but second for community and a sense that we’re going to get through this together. What Walter Cronkite represents is someone who was at that first tragedy, who is well known for that. He can also represent what we’ve edited: a packaged insert about the contribution of television to the national dialogue.
I don’t think Walter Cronkite ever does anything without making sure he knows what it is. He’ll probably be rewriting his copy, as he was known to do when he was on the air.
A split telecast is not a new thought. The Emmy telecast was always split between Hollywood and New York up through the 1970s. Through 1974 there were satellite inserts. It was not a technical decision as much as it was a decision about what would be the most comfortable and secure way for the people to attend. We want to make sure everybody can attend and the reality is there are a lot of shows in New York, from “The Sopranos” and “Sex in the City” to Letterman, Conan and the “Law & Order” shows. We simply wanted to say, “Look, if you choose to attend in person, we love that.” Some of the people in New York feel like, “I just don’t want to tell my family that I’m getting on an airplane and leaving them to go to an awards show.”
It is not co-hosted in New York. According to [Emmy executive producer] Don Mischer, up to 25 percent of the show may originate in New York. In terms of a red carpet and stuff like that, I don’t think anyone wants that.
In my view, we’re doing what the president has asked us to do, which is to carry on with the business of America. So the business of America for us was to continue with this project which, frankly, puts a lot of money in the pockets of workers who produce the show. You could say “They’re not getting on planes and coming out here.” I prefer to say, “Some of them are.” I don’t accept the premise that if you see people in New York then that’s an image of fear. Instead, to me, it’s an image of solidarity. This is a CBS telecast with the New York component originating in an NBC studio. In a small form, at least, that is a symbol of unity. Out of respect to the events that have happened, we’ve simply made accommodations to people who, frankly, I don’t think are afraid of flying. They simply want to be with their families at that point. Our goal was not to make that judgment call about how things look or whether we’re supporting anybody’s message. But to simply do the right thing for the people involved.
I guess I see the paradox in theory. In practice, I don’t think that’s how people are going to see it. Of the people I’ve talked to, nobody but a journalist has actually seen it that way. People who are involved in the process seem to be focused on what they can do for these people. You may have your finger on something, but there’s nothing we can do about it.
Well, you know what? If that’s true, and if there is validity to it, then it means some people are still afraid to fly, which is simply a reflection of where America is at this point. I do know that a lot of people from New York will still be here, and will have flown. There are examples of people who have climbed on a plane: Judy Davis is flying all the way out from Australia for “The Judy Garland Story.” I think the issue is less about people being afraid as it is simply showing solidarity with New York. And because we have had a long-standing tradition of going to New York, we’re entirely comfortable offering that up as something that seems like a good idea this year and probably won’t be repeated next year.
