The In Memoriam segment on Sunday night’s Emmy telecast paid respects to Shannen Doherty, Chance Perdomo, Martin Mull, Richard Lewis and many more TV luminaries lost in the past eight months.
Shelley Duvall and SCTV cast member Joe Flaherty, however, were two notable omissions from the revamped annual fixture of the telecast.
Duvall, though perhaps best known for her film work with major directors including Robert Altman and Stanley Kubrick, had a long and substantial TV career and was a two-time Emmy nominee. She created and produced a number of enduring shows, including Faerie Tale Theatre and Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories. Duvall died in July at 75.
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Flaherty died in April at 82. His absence from the Emmy segment was awkward given that one of his SCTV costars, Eugene Levy, co-hosted the telecast and another, Martin Short, was a nominee and presenter.
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The segment included some of the customary elements but had also been tweaked in some notable ways. Before the customary orchestra-scored montage of tributes played, singer Jelly Roll led off with brief spoken remarks. “I believe that music is therapeutic,” he said. “I believe that music can heal. I also believe that storytelling is just as cathartic.” Before starting to sing his song, “I Am Not Okay,” he added, “I hope that this song can act as a healing moment for those mourning the storytellers we’ve lost this year. If you are feeling lost or alone tonight, I want you to know it’s OK to not always be OK.”
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The producers kept the In Memoriam montage’s final image of Bob Newhart, who died in July at 94, illuminated on the screen behind the stage instead of fading to black. After the musical performance capped off the segment, instead of the usual cut to a commercial break, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel paid homage to Newhart.
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