Big Night Out for TV’s Finest

If it’s any consolation, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences throws a Governors Ball worthy of an Oscar.

While television’s annual awards show seems doomed to run a perpetual second to the Oscars in ratings, glitz and glamour, the party thrown Sunday after the 43rd annual Emmy Awards was lavish in a truly Hollywood way.

It all began as the telecast ended. The black-tie crowd left the front doors of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and descended into the building’s basement. Granted, this isn’t the most glamorous way to start a party. But the underground corridors were spotlighted and draped in black and white cloth that made for a dramatic effect (as well as keeping the guests’ eyes off the ratty carpet).

As 2,200 of TV’s finest traipsed down the corridor, they passed seven dinner tables in the exhibition hall foyer. The tables were given such abominable placement, it was as though they were for punishment. “Is this where you sit if you produce a flop?” asked one arrivee.

Fortunately, this Siberia for Nielsen underachievers was only a brief encounter. Nearby, the huge exhibition room with its 40-foot-high ceilings had been transformed into a ballroom.

Yellow and blue lights played on the walls, and 200 tables covered in black-and-white tablecloths crowned with 6-foot-tall floral centerpieces filled the cavernous hall. It was, in the words of comedian and Emmy co-host Jerry Seinfeld, “amazing that you can make an airplane hangar look this good.”

The decor came from Party Planners West, but the real source of the party’s lavishness was the network televising the show.

“We get a lot of money from Fox,” said former TV academy chairman Sonny Fox. “If the show was on one of the three networks, they wouldn’t pay us enough to have Col. Sanders’ chicken dinners.” As it were, guests feasted on a menu from Rococo served from Lazy Susans--poached salmon, corn souffle and lamb noisettes.

Though the ball is nominally a sit-down dinner--and a technical marvel at that with 2,200 served at the same time--at any moment it seemed a third of the crowd was in transit. The “L.A. Law” crowd was moving past the “thirtysomething” gang, the “Cheers” writers were schmoozing with the “Murphy Brown” creators as the waiters tried to navigate the blocked aisles.

Perhaps the happiest person standing was Lynn Whitfield. Besides winning an Emmy for her performance as Josephine Baker on HBO, she met her husband, director Brian Gibson (who also won a directing Emmy for “The Josephine Baker Story”) during the production. “I just wish I was 10 pounds smaller,” said Whitfield. “All these women here in slinky dresses and I just had a baby three weeks ago.”

For a while, Whitfield also wished she had a place to sit. When she arrived, her seats had been taken. There was a flurry of activity as things were straightened out and a handful of diners were whisked off in mid-meal to another location. No doubt to those Siberian tables in the foyer.

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