By Lauren Mattia

This year’s Emmy Awards, unlike some previous years, proved to be a worthwhile three-hour tribute to America’s favorite (lazy) pastime. Contending with the Giants-Cowboys showdown, the Emmy’s managed to snag over 13 million viewers—the most the show has seen in the last three years.

I give most of the credit for the increase to Neil Patrick Harris, the best host I have seen in years. He opened up the show with a song and dance that had me thinking, “Where have you been all my life, Doogie?” He had the perfect combination of wit, humor, and grace—and the most fantastic white tuxedo to boot! Despite his stellar performance as one of the most entertaining hosts in the show’s history, I found myself hanging my head in shame when he lost the best supporting actor award (for his performance in “How I Met Your Mother”) to Jon Cryer, a mediocre actor in an even more mediocre show, “Two and a Half Men.” Seriously, does anyone watch that show? If you aren’t going to give the award to a deserving Neil, at least give it to Tracy Morgan for his hilarious role as himself on “30 Rock.”

The show was complete with just enough Kanye West jokes, from Neil’s opening remark: “Here’s hoping Kanye West likes ‘30 Rock,’” to Justin Timberlake interrupting Tina Fey’s acceptance speech by saying “Imma let you finish.” If there’s anything that the Emmy’s has over the Oscars, it lies in the show’s lightness—the stars, although all wearing designer gowns and suits, make jokes, wear fake mustaches or glasses when shown on screen for nominations—all of this works to make the audience realize that this is not just a show attempting to be the Oscars, but something more fun and different. It is for that reason that I really enjoy watching the Emmy’s—it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is more than I can say about the Oscars.

The not so unexpected winners included “30 Rock” for outstanding comedy series, “Mad Men” for best drama series, “The Amazing Race” for outstanding reality competition program (it has won every year since the award’s creation), and “The Daily Show” for outstanding comedy series, to name a few, but I think everyone was surprised when Kristin Chenoweth took the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy for “Pushing Daisies.” In case you’re trying to figure out when the new season starts, remember, the show was cancelled. Yes, Kristin may have won an award for a show that is no longer running, but her speech was spot on, joking about her recent unemployment: “I’m unemployed now so I’d like to be on ‘Mad Men.’”

Another surprising moment of the show was the “In Memoriam” musical performance by Sarah McLachlan. What? Have I suddenly time warped to the late 90s? Or am I watching a commercial about abused kittens? Don’t get me wrong, I understand that we lost some phenomenal stars this year (Bea Arthur, you will be thoroughly missed), but can we please give the song “I Will Remember You” a rest already? Can we get any more cliché?

All in all, the Emmy’s were just as action-packed as the Sunday Night Football game (which grabbed the most viewers in SNF’s history). If the show wants to keep its viewers, I would strongly recommend bringing Neil Patrick Harris back for the next show. As for Sarah, I think she should stick with the ASPCA commercials. Maybe the guys at the Emmys can get Kanye West to perform in her place next year.