Every awards show adopts a few moments of solemnity as entertainers who died in the past year are honored for their artistic contributions. This year's Primetime Emmy Awards will be no different. The 2013 Emmys will even go the extra mile and pay special tribute to five TV titans who died in the past year. However, "Dallas" fans are up in arms over "Dallas" legend Larry Hagman getting excluded from the show's special segment of the "in memoriam" tribute.
Cinema Blend reports that five television personalities will be given an extra-special tribute after the traditional reel is shown that pays tribute to TV actors, producers, directors, etc. who passed away this year. The five celebrities getting an extra tribute will be James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos"), actor Cory Monteith ("Glee"), actress Jean Stapleton ("All in the Family"), TV writer/producer Gary David Goldberg ("The Bob Newhart Show") and comedian/actor Jonathan Winters ("Mork and Mindy").
Larry Hagman was left off the list of special tributes, which has angered "Dallas" fans both old and new. Hagman played the iconic role of J.R. Ewing in the original "Dallas" series, which he reprised on TNT's revival of the classic primetime soap until his death. Hagman's other iconic role was playing Major Anthony Nelson in the seminal TV series "I Dream of Jeannie." He had a myriad of other roles throughout his lifetime on shows such as "Knots Landing", "Nip/Tuck" and "Desperate Housewives."
Although many are outraged over Hagman being left out of the special tribute section, Emmys producer Ken Ehrlich stood by the decision.
"No matter what we do, there will be people who feel we had other options and could have done other things. In all candor, this becomes a producer's option. And in this case, we selected these five knowing certainly others could be treated this way, but these were the five we chose," Ehrlich said.
The Hollywood Reporter pointed out that Monteith, who only had one television credit, was chosen because of "the extenuating circumstances of his sudden death in July." The current popularity of "Glee" also played into the decision.
Although Hagman will not be given a special segment, he will be honored in the regular "in memoriam" reel.
The 65th Emmy Awards will air Sunday, September 22 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
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