Dish Of Salt: Emmy Weekend Wrap Up, Part Two

In part two of my Emmy weekend wrap up, I break down the night from the minute I hit the red carpet to the last dance at the HBO party.

2:30 PM
My first stop on the red carpet is the Access Hollywood platform where I frantically search for one of our hair people to fix my hair catastrophe. One of the curls has come out on my chignon. Luckily, our girl Heather came to the rescue!

2:35 PM
Arrive to my red carpet position where we will be live streaming for NBC.com, Emmys.com, Ustream.TV and AccessHollywood.com. Now usually the celebrity presenters and nominees don’t start arriving to the red carpet until around 3 PM. Not this time around! Jane Lynch was the first nominee on the red carpet. Jane had to arrive early because she was in the opening act of the show. Fortunately, we were able to scramble and get up and running so we would not miss an interview with Jane. She told me she was looking forward to changing into her Sue Sylvester red tracksuit, but her purple Ali Rahimi dress was actually quite comfortable.

2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
For the next hour it’s a steady stream of celebrities. The times are fuzzy.

I chat with some of the cast of “30 Rock” who are pretty sure they will lose to either “Glee” or “Modern Family,” despite the fact that “30 Rock” has won Outstanding Comedy Series three years running. They were right.

The cast of “The Office” agrees that the competition is tough this year and they probably won’t see any Emmy statue for the show. Again, they were right.

Wanda Sykes tells me her Zuhair Murad Emmy gown was custom made for her because she has a lot of working parts that needed to be covered.

Returning “American Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe tells me he needs the judges in three weeks. So, he really hopes they come to a decision soon. He offers me the job. Of course, later I hear Nigel offered a lot of TV reporters the job on the red carpet including my co-worker Shaun Robinson. I guess it was his running joke!

“Friday Night Lights” beauty Connie Britton and I share a laugh over our very similar strapless sequined navy blue gowns. Fortunately, this was not a ‘Who wore it best?’ moment. Her dress was Burberry. Mine was Nicole Miller. They were similar but different and both were beautiful.

I chatted with “30 Rock” nominee Jane Krakowski who was wearing a one shoulder navy blue gown. Just as we were wrapping our interview Lea Michele was being whisked by me. She gave me a smile and I also noticed her in a navy blue strapless gown. Apparently, navy was a big trend at the Emmys this year. “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi was also sporting a strapless navy gown. She paired hers with a necklace from her own jewelry line. She seemed a little offended that I didn’t know she had her own line. I can’t follow everyone’s consumer products side gigs!

“Burn Notice” nominee Sharon Gless proudly brings over her granddaughter during our interview to say hello. She looks like a teenage version of Bryce Dallas Howard from “Eclipse.” Sharon quizzes me to see if I know for what role she won two Emmys in the 1980’s. “Cagney and Lacey” of course! I did my homework!

“Glee’s” Mark Salling begins to freak out in our interview when he realizes that Eva Longoria Parker’s husband, Tony Parker, is standing right next to him.

4:00 PM – 4:35 PM
We go live and right at the top of the show I’m chatting with Heidi Klum, who has legs for days and is showing them off in a super short black mini dress. Only Heidi can pull off such a daring Emmy look. Her husband Seal joins our interview and approves of his lovely wife’s gorgeous gams.

Blair Underwood waits patiently as we come back from a commercial break to chat about his new NBC show “The Event.”

“Men of a Certain Age” nominee Andre Braugher is impressed that I correctly knew he won Emmys in the past for “Homicide: Life on the Street” and the short-lived FX show “Thief.”

We go to another quick commercial break and just seconds before we come back live Neil Patrick Harris says the F-word! Just as we come back live he apologizes for swearing. Fortunately, no one heard Neil’s F-bomb… Phew! Neil tells me he is excited for the arrival of twins – a boy and a girl but wants to keep the names he and his partner David have private.

John Lithgow is thrilled that he already got his Emmy award last week at the Creative Arts ceremony for his guest role as the Trinity serial killer on “Dexter.” He tells me the word he hears most about his character is “creepy.”

Outstanding supporting actress nominee Christine Baranski tells me that although she is up against her “The Good Wife” co-star, Archie Panjabi, she is actually pulling for her to win.

“The Big Bang Theory’s” Jim Parsons is excited to show me that he brought the good luck charm I gave him at Comic Con, a little purple and silver penguin I named Bazinga. I adore Jim and I had to contain my enthusiasm for this moment since we were live!

Paula Abdul spots me and runs over to our live stream. Just as we start talking though her publicist whisks her off, not realizing we were live. Paula apologizes and I have to explain why Paula was dragged away.

Ray Romano and Scott Bakula joke back and forth in our interview and I can barely get a word in!

“Friday Night Lights” nominee Kyle Chandler seems excited that I reminded everyone that he was nominated for an Emmy in 2006 for his guest role on “Grey’s Anatomy.” He jokes that he can’t believe he was nominated for blowing up.

4:35 PM
Now, usually the red carpet is still going strong at this time but since everyone decided to come early this year, I found myself having to fill a whole lot of time! Fortunately, we had cameras in several locations, which were able to capture the celebrities who were still on the red carpet.

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
That’s a wrap on the red carpet. Time to head down to the P.F Chang’s Home Menu Frozen Moments Gift Lounge. It’s a great spot to watch the show and the celebrities who were popping in during the show to get a quick break and grab some goodies.

Tracy Morgan jokes that coming into the lounge is like shopping at Super Wal-Mart. He kept joking with everyone that he likes to buy in bulk from Costco.

Just minutes before his Emmy win for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Eric Stonestreet drops in the lounge. He was looking forward to testing out his new Palm Pre. “I’m a gadget guy when it comes to phones. So I’m excited to get it out of the box and give it a shot,” he told us. Edie Falco also grabs a Palm Pre and admits she still owns a Palm Pilot.

“Glee” star Amber Riley declares that she is a “word freak” when she finds out one of the gifts in the lounge is Hasbro’s new Scrabble flash game.

Ted Danson laughingly declares “they are selling sex” when it’s explained to him that the maca root in the men’s skin care collection from The Body Shop has libido enhancing properties. Dennis Quaid makes a similar joke when he learns the same thing.

“Undercovers” star Boris Kodjoe shops with his wife and explains that he is here for her. “The rules are when the wife shops, the men shut-up!”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes her rounds inside the lounge. At the last stop she asks if it’s OK to grab the blue Vera Bradley bag that was holding all her goodies rather than the pink.

8:00 PM
The show is over but that doesn’t mean shopping time is over. Jerry Bruckheimer grabs himself an AMC Signature Pass, which gets him free movies for a year. He had a huge smile on his face when I pointed out the irony that someone who has produced dozens of blockbuster films can now go to the movies for free!

8:20 PM
The lounge is packed with celebs now snapping up the great first – John Lithgow, Cheryl Hines, Julie Benz, Alan Cumming, “30 Rock’s” Judah Friedlander and Ed O’Neill just minutes after “Modern Family” won Best Comedy Series.

8:30 PM
“The Good Wife’s” best supporting actress winner, Archie Panjabi, is one of the last celebrities to enjoy the lounge. She makes the rounds while her husband holds her shiny new golden trophy!

10:00 PM
Off to the HBO party. Arrive just as “True Blood’s” Sam Trammell his the red carpet.

10:30 PM
Lots of celebrity spotting inside the party at the Pacific Design Center. “True Blood” newlyweds Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer hold hands. Partygoers snap photos of the couple.

10:35 PM
“Curb Your Enthusiasm’s” Larry David holds court at a table.

10:45 PM
Glenn Close breezes right by me and I remark, “She is it tonight!”

11:00 PM
I spot “True Blood” hotties Joe Manganiello and Alexander Skarsgard. Of course, being that they are 6’5” they are hard to miss. Tons of partygoers stop them for photos, including all of my gay boyfriends.

11:05 PM
“Castle” star Nathan Fillion and “V” star Morena Baccarin enter the party hand in hand. I inquire if they are dating and later find out they are just good friends and that Nathan’s girlfriend was at the party too.

11:15 PM
Bathroom break time and I run smack into Susan Sarandon as she exits a stall. I’m horrified as I listen to some woman ask Susan to take a photo with her inside the bathroom. She graciously agrees but how inappropriate for someone to even ask in there!

11:20 PM
I hear that Jim Parsons is coming to this party soon. Unfortunately, I never spot him!

11:30 PM
I spot Matthew Perry with his rumored girlfriend, the talented Lizzy Caplan. No PDA but they obviously were together.

11:40 PM
Sofia Vergara arrives and just about every man’s head turns to watch her.

12:00 PM
Terry O’Quinn grabs a midnight snack at the food table and I say a quick hello and thank him for six great years of “Lost.”

12:30 PM
“Lost” and now “Hawaii Five-O” star Daniel Dae Kim also grabs some late night food.

12:55 PM
Time to hang up my Jimmy Choo’s and wrap up Emmy night 2010!