Do you have a clear memory of Shelley Long singing "Solid As A Rock" as host of the 38th Emmy Awards in 1986?

No. Wait, this happened? I do remember her as the spokesperson for John M. Smyth's Homemakers (Chicago area furniture stores), though.

i was a kid. it made me really uncomfortable, but i didn't really have the conceptual framework of "embarrassment" in my head yet. i swear she got to the first "build it up" run and my mom said "oh dear god" or something like that.

xp ah shit i see i had the title wrong! dammit, no thread of mine ever escapes obvious error...

http://popwatch.ew.com/2007/09/06/emmy-memorable/comment-page-2/

Joe from NYC
Fri 09/07/07 3:40 AM

I still remember the 1986 Emmys presented on NBC. David Letterman originally was just going to host the show by himself but, thanks to the intervention of the network suits, they then added Shelley Long to co-host as well as sing and dance. The most unintentionally hilarious moment was when Shelley Long sang a selection of songs, one of which was Ashford and Simpson’s “Solid”. Never had someone so white and bland ever failed so miserably trying to sound full of soulful rhythm. When Sandra Bernhard, who was a frequent guest on the NBC Letterman show, appeared following the Emmys, she made sure to rub the Shelley Long singing debacle in Dave’s face without mercy by imitating Shelley Long sounding like Margaret Dumont from the old Marx Brothers films. Dave was wincing painfully. Again, HI-LAR-RI-OUS!!!

oh, god yes

lol at Margaret Dumont comparison.

man going thru the emmys hosts over the years was pretty hilarious, the idea that this thing might be a kind of warmup gig for the oscars doesn't seem to happen until the turn of the century. john forsythe hosted this thing regularly.

I don't remember this but the 86 emmys look to have been pretty harsh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE2qnZi_IHo

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Never saw nor even heard of this, but within two sidebar clicks of the video aero posted, I found this, for which I am eternally grateful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jpw8HOKj64

yeah that's a top 5 of everything, for sure.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

solid turnout

it's such a bummer that this doesn't appear to be on youtube or anything. surely someone's got an unconverted VHS of the broadcast sitting in the attic somewhere.

I hunted down a rumor that Sandra Bernhard had done an impression of Shelly Long on the 86 Grammys on Letterman, but couldn't find that. if it's around, it might be as close as you can get

oh my god it's here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxOEtfC-yOc&feature=player_detailpage#t=1441

they monkey bit they talk about is also on youtube

shelley long bit starts at 26:00

like a great weight lifted from me...

haha that is fantastic, he truly is mortified as soon as she brings shelley up

The bad Oscar musical performances thread reminded me of this one, and whattya know, YouTube's got it now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgTHLSEkXpY

how did i not see this revive

thank you

alf. alf.

Hard Boiled Entertainment2 years ago (edited)
Such a tragedy that Hollywood wasn't doing "classic"-style, MGM-type musicals in the 1980s, a la Gene Kelley or Judy Garland back in the day. Shelley could've had a LOT more opportunities to shine, with that ever-so-talented voice.

Oh, and of course there had to be a nod to the legendary Sam & Diane (2:48)!

Gotta love the cute awkwardness when she "sheds" the outer dress--both incredibly awkward and (thanks to how much of a class act she is about it) so adorable!

BTW--is it just me...or is Shelley REALLY putting her heart into "How To Handle A Woman", more so than any of the other numbers? (I swear, she's brought to passionate tears when she sings the reprise!) Suddenly, I wonder if she's performing it as if it's Diane singing some vital words of wisdom to Sam...?

Hard Boiled Entertainment