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Monday, May 12, 2008

Hot Air times two: Barry Nolan sits quietly as Bill O'Reilly accepts a Boston Emmy, after calling him a "mental case" and threatening a protest

It appears that former tabloid television host Barry Nolan's big protest over Bill O'Reilly's Emmy honor in Boston ended in a big gala tuxedoed whimper. You'll recall that that Barry got himself in the papers by shouting that O'Reilly didn't deserve the award because he was a "mental case" (and-- let's cut through the BS-- a conservative) and threatened to disrupt the awards show by bringing real-life mental case Keith Olbermann as his "date" (and you'll recall that after we suggested that our former colleague Barry "get a grip," he responded by attacking our readers, the memory of actor David Dukes and possibly libelling our own Burt Kearns by suggesting he was "sober"). The "mainstream media" didn't follow up on Barry's initial publicity-seeking gasblast, so today we got in touch with the New England branch of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Its president was gracious enough to respond:

"Bill O'Reilly was presented the 2008 Governor's Award. His speech was about his ties to New England and what he learned in TV here. He was humble and gracious. And he was well received by the audience. Barry Nolan attended, Keith Olbermann did not.

"Here's a press release. Thanks for your interest in our event.

"-Tim"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WCVB & WBZ Rule Emmy Night

Bill O’Reilly, Lt. Governor Tim Murray, Kelley Tuthill and Gary Gulman provide a show for the ages

The Boston/ New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) celebrated its 31st Boston/New England Emmy Awards Gala on Saturday Night May 10th at the Marriott Copley Place. WCVB and WBZ grabbed the most statuettes with 10 each, followed by WFXT with 8, WHDH and NESN which took home 5 each, WGBH with 4 and WJAR, WTNH, WTIC, WPXT, CN8 which collected 3 each. Twenty two different stations were given awards and seventeen stations got to the stage multiple times, demonstrating the enormous amount of journalistic and creative talent working in broadcast media throughout New England. In total, NATAS presented 68 awards, selected among 788 entries from 37 stations; each a record number.

The evening’s centerpiece was the presentation of the prestigious Governor’s Award. This year’s award was given to Bill O’Reilly who was effusive in his thanks and praise for the city and market. During his remarks, the nation’s highest rated cable news host called Boston, “by far the best local news market in the country” adding that working at the Phoenix, attending BU and Harvard and anchoring both channels 5 & 7 had “made him what he is today.”

"What a phenomenal night!” said NATAS Chapter President Timothy T. Egan welcoming Lt. Governor Tim Murray to the stage to serve as a surprise presenter. “We are celebrating the best of the industry and this is the one night each year when you realize the absolute wealth of talent that lives and works in New England."

First time host Gary Gulman made a very auspicious debut. The Peabody native and former BC football player turned Leno and Letterman comic favorite kept the audience entertained throughout the evening...

More info at: www.emmyonline.org

Timothy T. Egan
President
National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Thanks, Tim! And Barry, we're glad to see that you got a grip after all.

2 comments:

News 4 New Dork said...

Do you think Nolan had anything to do with the release of the O'Reilly ranting tape? It's interesting timing.

-John

Anonymous said...

So, after all the fuss, Bill O'Reilly accepted his Governor's Award from the Boston/NE chapter of NATAS this weekend while tabloid nemesis Barry Nolan sat quietly and watched.

You'll recall, Nolan (former anchor of Hard Copy) was "appalled, just appalled" that O'Reilly, (one-time host of Inside Edition, as we were all reminded yesterday) was being honored. Nolan even said he would invite Keith Olbermann to the ceremony just to stir things up.

Tabloid Baby talked with the president of the chapter about how it all went down.