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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Marc Peyser

Aired September 22, 2002 - 11:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Two icons of American pop culture are on TV and -- yes -- the very same weekend. Last night Miss America, tonight -- the anticipation -- you can almost hear the drum rolls -- the Emmy Awards.
Let's get a look at the last minute handicapping results from Marc Peyser, TV critic for "Newsweek Magazine." He's with us from New York. Hello to you, Marc.

MARC PEYSER, TV CRITIC, NEWSWEEK: Hey, Kris. How are you?

OSBORN: So let's start in the drama category. A lot of people are saying "Six Feet Under" -- this might be its best chance because it's not up against "The Sopranos" -- at least not now.

PEYSER: Right -- it's a good point. "The Sopranos" will obviously be back next year. They were out of the running this year. "Six Feet Under" was the new show on HBO that everyone was buzzing about -- a family drama that's funny and takes place in a funeral parlor. Not the kind of stuff you usually see on television.

Obviously it has a really great chance but it's up against "The West Wing," which has won the last couple of years. And I think it will be a close race.

I actually think "The West Wing" will probably pull it out.

OSBORN: You do? And what about "Law & Order"? That's a very well-written show as well.

PEYSER: Yeah -- "Law & Order" is obviously a well-written show -- so well-written that there are three "Law & Orders" on television now. It's been on television for a long time. It's a staple and it's an amazing machine, but it's not really the kind of show that anybody thinks of as cutting edge at the moment in the way that "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" are.

OSBORN: Well, now let's talk about the comedy shows. I want to say baby because "Will & Grace," we've got "Friends" and, of course, "Sex in the City" -- they all have a baby theme. What's your pick among those?

PEYSER: Well, really, Kris, this has been the year of "Friends." "Friends" has been on the air for a long time, has never won the Best Comedy award. It was a show that lost its way for awhile there and this year they did exactly what you said -- they jumped the shark -- they threw a baby into the mix. But they responded in such amazing, unbelievably deep ways for a comedy who really were with these characters in ways nobody really thought about before.

This is going to be their last year on the air. I think everybody expects "Friends" to win.

OSBORN: Well -- and, Marc, a lot of people talk about how "Friends" rose from its own ashes from some degree. It had a great season this year and perhaps it's due to some of these individual performances. Let's talk about them.

You have LeBlanc, Perry and Aniston -- they're all up. Who do you think is going to win that?

PEYSER: Well, I think everybody thinks that Jennifer Aniston is going to win. Her character was the one who actually had the baby this year. She'd had a lovely year. It was a wonderful way to bring the character full circle, show us parts of her that we haven't seen before.

The two Matthews obviously are up against each other, which is never easy when there are two characters from the same show.

I think most people think that Matthew -- that Matt LeBlanc will win. He was always the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the show. He was the pretty dumb guy who was always the easy joke.

He showed such depth and such soul this year you really believed in him and pulled for him in the ways he became nurturing to the child and to Rachel. And I think people were shocked by that and really pleased. And I think that will give him a shot.

OSBORN: Well, I saw him on the season-ending episode recently being very nurturing and being very kind to Jennifer Aniston's character at the moment she had her baby. So that's probably something a lot of people are talking about.

What about drama -- best actor? Now a lot of people Peter Krause with "Six Feet Under." The guy -- he's got such a great ability to communicate that the weight of the world is on his shoulders, but he's up against Kiefer Sutherland.

PEYSER: Yeah -- not only is he up against Kiefer Sutherland, but he's up against somebody else from his own show. And, again, it's hard when there are two people from the same show up against each other.

I actually think that the category is more up in the direction of either Martin Sheen as the president of "The West Wing" or Michael Chiklis, who's a real outside shot here. But he really gave the most talked about performance of the year on this show -- "The Shield." He plays a dark sort of dirty cop in L.A. And he was really unbelievably brutal and you really couldn't take your eyes off of him.

It will be interesting to see if people will go for that kind of performance versus the smooth, do-gooder kind of president that Martin Sheen is on "The West Wing."

Sheen's never won before. "The West Wing" is a show that people especially love in this year of heightened patriotism. I think Sheen has the edge, actually.

OSBORN: I was just thinking that with all of this going on in the world perhaps the character who plays the president will have an advantage.

I wanted to end by asking about the spectacle of the Emmys themselves and, of course, Conan O'Brien will be hosting it. What do you think about that?

PEYSER: Well, it's always a crapshoot with the host of one of these awards shows. It's a really -- it's an endurance race. He's on stage off and on for three hours. People are used to seeing him at 12:30 at night where he's very rye and very offhand and very funny.

It will be interesting to see if he can pull it off in a more mainstream prime time audience. Lots of people have done very well on that show. Other people like David Letterman I thought flopped when he did the Oscars.

So it will be -- I'm sure he'll be biting his nails a little bit.

OSBORN: All right -- Marc Peyser, thank you so much for your expertise and the debrief and a bit of a break down and some of your picks, of course, on the Emmys that are coming up tonight. A lot of people are going to be checking that out.

PEYSER: Thanks, Kris.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 22, 2002 - 11:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Two icons of American pop culture are on TV and -- yes -- the very same weekend. Last night Miss America, tonight -- the anticipation -- you can almost hear the drum rolls -- the Emmy Awards.
Let's get a look at the last minute handicapping results from Marc Peyser, TV critic for "Newsweek Magazine." He's with us from New York. Hello to you, Marc.

MARC PEYSER, TV CRITIC, NEWSWEEK: Hey, Kris. How are you?

OSBORN: So let's start in the drama category. A lot of people are saying "Six Feet Under" -- this might be its best chance because it's not up against "The Sopranos" -- at least not now.

PEYSER: Right -- it's a good point. "The Sopranos" will obviously be back next year. They were out of the running this year. "Six Feet Under" was the new show on HBO that everyone was buzzing about -- a family drama that's funny and takes place in a funeral parlor. Not the kind of stuff you usually see on television.

Obviously it has a really great chance but it's up against "The West Wing," which has won the last couple of years. And I think it will be a close race.

I actually think "The West Wing" will probably pull it out.

OSBORN: You do? And what about "Law & Order"? That's a very well-written show as well.

PEYSER: Yeah -- "Law & Order" is obviously a well-written show -- so well-written that there are three "Law & Orders" on television now. It's been on television for a long time. It's a staple and it's an amazing machine, but it's not really the kind of show that anybody thinks of as cutting edge at the moment in the way that "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" are.

OSBORN: Well, now let's talk about the comedy shows. I want to say baby because "Will & Grace," we've got "Friends" and, of course, "Sex in the City" -- they all have a baby theme. What's your pick among those?

PEYSER: Well, really, Kris, this has been the year of "Friends." "Friends" has been on the air for a long time, has never won the Best Comedy award. It was a show that lost its way for awhile there and this year they did exactly what you said -- they jumped the shark -- they threw a baby into the mix. But they responded in such amazing, unbelievably deep ways for a comedy who really were with these characters in ways nobody really thought about before.

This is going to be their last year on the air. I think everybody expects "Friends" to win.

OSBORN: Well -- and, Marc, a lot of people talk about how "Friends" rose from its own ashes from some degree. It had a great season this year and perhaps it's due to some of these individual performances. Let's talk about them.

You have LeBlanc, Perry and Aniston -- they're all up. Who do you think is going to win that?

PEYSER: Well, I think everybody thinks that Jennifer Aniston is going to win. Her character was the one who actually had the baby this year. She'd had a lovely year. It was a wonderful way to bring the character full circle, show us parts of her that we haven't seen before.

The two Matthews obviously are up against each other, which is never easy when there are two characters from the same show.

I think most people think that Matthew -- that Matt LeBlanc will win. He was always the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the show. He was the pretty dumb guy who was always the easy joke.

He showed such depth and such soul this year you really believed in him and pulled for him in the ways he became nurturing to the child and to Rachel. And I think people were shocked by that and really pleased. And I think that will give him a shot.

OSBORN: Well, I saw him on the season-ending episode recently being very nurturing and being very kind to Jennifer Aniston's character at the moment she had her baby. So that's probably something a lot of people are talking about.

What about drama -- best actor? Now a lot of people Peter Krause with "Six Feet Under." The guy -- he's got such a great ability to communicate that the weight of the world is on his shoulders, but he's up against Kiefer Sutherland.

PEYSER: Yeah -- not only is he up against Kiefer Sutherland, but he's up against somebody else from his own show. And, again, it's hard when there are two people from the same show up against each other.

I actually think that the category is more up in the direction of either Martin Sheen as the president of "The West Wing" or Michael Chiklis, who's a real outside shot here. But he really gave the most talked about performance of the year on this show -- "The Shield." He plays a dark sort of dirty cop in L.A. And he was really unbelievably brutal and you really couldn't take your eyes off of him.

It will be interesting to see if people will go for that kind of performance versus the smooth, do-gooder kind of president that Martin Sheen is on "The West Wing."

Sheen's never won before. "The West Wing" is a show that people especially love in this year of heightened patriotism. I think Sheen has the edge, actually.

OSBORN: I was just thinking that with all of this going on in the world perhaps the character who plays the president will have an advantage.

I wanted to end by asking about the spectacle of the Emmys themselves and, of course, Conan O'Brien will be hosting it. What do you think about that?

PEYSER: Well, it's always a crapshoot with the host of one of these awards shows. It's a really -- it's an endurance race. He's on stage off and on for three hours. People are used to seeing him at 12:30 at night where he's very rye and very offhand and very funny.

It will be interesting to see if he can pull it off in a more mainstream prime time audience. Lots of people have done very well on that show. Other people like David Letterman I thought flopped when he did the Oscars.

So it will be -- I'm sure he'll be biting his nails a little bit.

OSBORN: All right -- Marc Peyser, thank you so much for your expertise and the debrief and a bit of a break down and some of your picks, of course, on the Emmys that are coming up tonight. A lot of people are going to be checking that out.

PEYSER: Thanks, Kris.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com