Emmy Viewers Stunned By Ceremony's Opener

It was horrifying to watch for workers at the NBC Television affiliate in Lexington, KY.

Just hours after a CRJ-100 crashed on take-off from Blue Grass Airport, killing 49 of the 50 people on board, the station was broadcasting a live feed on the Emmy Awards. That ceremony is supposed to be dedicated to television's finest moments... but the telecast kicked off with a comedy skit about an airplane crash.

WLEX station manager Tim Gilbert responded swiftly when he saw the parody, which featured host Conan O'Brien's plane crashing into the sea near a deserted island... a reference to the popular TV show "Lost."

While the skit did not show the actual plane crash, Gilbert believes it still was in extremely poor taste given the day's earlier events.

"It was a live telecast. We were completely helpless," Gilbert said to the Lexington Herald-Leader. "By the time we began to react, it was over. At the station, we were as horrified as they were at home."

Gilbert added he wants an apology from the network... and he's not alone. LA Times Television Critic Scott Collins called the skit "cringe-inducing... of questionable taste."

Why, they wonder, didn't NBC pull the pre-recorded skit? When producers of the Emmy Awards show were asked that question, they refused to comment.

"They could have killed the opening and it wouldn't have hurt the show at all," Gilbert said. "We wish somebody had thought this through. It's somewhere between ignorance and incompetence."

FMI: www.nbc.com