On the scene at the Creative Arts Emmys: Triple-digit heat and hours of awards

Despite the Creative Arts Emmy winners being an incredibly diverse bunch (everything from Game of Thrones and Frozen Planet to Two and a Half Men and The Penguins of Madagascar grabbed the golden girls), there was one topic that united nominees, presenters, crew, and media alike — the unbearable triple-digit heat.

“It feels like they are holding this awards show on the surface of the sun,” Once Upon a Time’s Jennifer Morrison told EW when she arrived on the red carpet at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles Saturday. “At least [they could have sprung for] a tent. It’s just not nice. No one looks good in this much sunlight.”

Mad Men mastermind Matthew Weiner agreed to spearhead a petition, which may or may not have been suggested by a desperate and melting magazine reporter, to move the show to a cooler month. “Traditionally, it’s been held at this time of year to kick off the fall season, but our show has never been a part of that so it doesn’t hold sentimental value for me,” he quipped. “For as long as I have been attending Emmy festivities, it has never not been hot. I blame global warming, and that’s not going anywhere so maybe we should consider pushing it to a cooler time of year.”

Marc Shaiman, a nominee in the outstanding original music and lyrics category for his work on Smash, seconded the motion, if only for clothes comfort. “This heat is something else and there are no good warm-weather options in men’s formalwear. The ladies can wear almost nothing and get away with it. They’re so lucky.”

But before you go doling out the sartorial sympathy, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has a counter argument. “This is where I would want to be if the zombie apocalypse were to go down. We could probably survive a zombie bite because we’re wearing like nine layers and they wouldn’t break the skin. The women would be the ones in trouble then,” joked Kirkman, whose scary show took home the trophy for outstanding prosthetic makeup for a series, miniseries, movie or special. “Or maybe we are all so sweaty that we would slip out of their grasp. Teeth would just slide right off your skin. And if all else fails, I would Otis the Antiques Roadshow folks in a heartbeat.”

Complaining about the show’s length — clocking in at about three and a half hours — was also a common theme. Raising Hope executive producer Greg Garcia even joked about it from the podium as he presented, explaining that he’d told his son that the difference between this ceremony and next week’s primetime Emmys was that this “show’s a lot longer but there are fewer assholes here.” (It’ll be interesting to see if that joke makes the condensed telecast Sept. 22 on Reelz Channel.) His show’s star, Martha Plimpton, took home the night’s final award for outstanding guest actress in a drama series for her role on The Good Wife.

“It was a really long show but this [hoisting up the heavy winged trophy for emphasis] made it worth the wait especially because I was not expecting it at all. It’s a fantastic role on an awesome very, very good show but there are so many fantastic actresses nominated in that category,” Plimpton said backstage.

The only winner who seemed more shocked to hear his name called was Jeremy Davies (Justified), who snagged the statue for outstanding guest actor in a drama series. “It still sounds like blasphemy. Despite my misfit self, I’m officially getting away with it. That is, of course, if this is actually happening and it is too late for a recount.”

Plimpton added that the long hours didn’t bother her because of who she spent them with. “You get the opportunity to spend time with the people behind the scenes who really make the shows what they are. Every actor knows that there’s really nothing better than a great crew. When you have professional, warm-hearted, enthusiastic people who are good at what they do, it makes your job so much easier.”

Apparently, this is also something that most attendees could agree on last night.

“This is really the important Emmys,” echoed Margaret Cho, a nominee for outstanding guest actress in a comedy. “These are the awards that count because the people behind the camera are far more important than the people in front of the camera. These are the people that make it all happen. Without them, we’d have no TV shows to love.”

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2012 Creative Arts Emmy winners