LOS ANGELES (AP) — The makeup artists, art directors, sound mixers and cinematographers behind the year's top TV shows will be honored Saturday at the television academy's Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony, a five-hour marathon that covers more than 70 categories.
The show is taped, edited down to a tidy two hours and broadcast a week later (typically the night before the big Primetime Emmy Awards show). But the nominees in those behind-the-scenes technical categories — and even some actors and TV hosts — often sit through the daylong show to support their colleagues and see if they've won.
Five hours is a long time to be sitting in a theater in fancy duds. Here's a sampling of how the stars survive the stretch:
— Cat Deeley, nominated for hosting "So You Think You Can Dance": "They have a thing with a clock that starts, and once the person's name is announced, that you have to run up to the podium and you have 30 seconds to thank everybody. Women, by the end of it, were literally taking off their shoes and tucking their ball dresses into their knickers to run up to the stage. So, I might wear running attire ... all aerodynamic."
— Jean Smart, nominated for her guest-starring role on "Harry's Law": "You know what? I don't mean to sound crass, but I'm like a camel: It's never a problem. It's not a problem... My mother wouldn't like me to say that, but better than having to run all the time, like one of those awful commercials on TV."
— Ben Feldman, nominated for his guest-starring role on "Mad Men": "Colostomy bag, I guess? Does that work? I've always said to friends and family who aren't in the business who ask, 'Have you been to the Emmys before? The Oscars?' I'm, like, 'No. These are, like, long award shows. And if I'm not part of it, it's got to be really tedious.' I imagine it's still going to be really tedious. But it's exciting. I'm excited. As long as they have booze there, I'm happy."
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— AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .
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AP Entertainment Writer Mike Cidoni Lennox contributed to this report.