Show must go on, Emmys organizers say

By Lynn Elber
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Organizers of the Emmy Awards say the show will go on — they just aren't sure how or when it will be staged.

Worker Mark Hoffman throws red cloth from risers set up for the second postponed Emmys broadcast. Associated Press

The awards show, originally set for Sept. 16, was postponed three weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and then called off again last Sunday when the U.S.-led military strikes in Afghanistan began.

CBS, which was to air the show, and the academy are sorting through various plans, including holding the ceremony at a California military base with troops as the audience.

Other settings such as hotel ballrooms also were under consideration. The original venue, the Shrine Auditorium, is out of the running since some in the industry are jittery about taking part in a ceremony at such a well-known landmark. Academy officials have said no threats were received before the show was postponed Sunday.

One thing is clear, said academy president Jim Chabin: "The show will go on."

CBS also is intent on proceeding with the 53rd prime-time Emmys.

"There's a lot of money at stake," CBS Television president Leslie Moonves said in New York.

The network stands to lose advertising dollars and a promotional platform for its regular programming, while the academy depends on the $3-million-plus network license fee and ticket sales for a large portion of its annual budget.

The industry is divided over whether the Emmys should proceed, Moonves acknowledged. He said canceling Sunday's show, just hours before airtime, was the right thing to do.

Veteran Emmy producer Don Mischer bowed out of the ceremony Thursday. His departure was expected because he is committed to producing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The Games begin Feb. 8.

Mischer will serve as a consultant for the rescheduled awards, the academy said. A new Emmy executive producer has not been announced.