U.S. strikes force Emmy postponement -- again

From CNN Entertainment Correspondent Sherri Sylvester
and Producer Matt Carey

CBS President Les Moonves at Sunday's news conference

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- "And the Emmy goes to..."

Just when we may finally hear those words remains uncertain. The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were postponed indefinitely Sunday, hours before they were to take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Organizers decided to postpone the show after the United States and Britain launched military strikes against targets in Afghanistan.

"There was a general feeling of people feeling uncomfortable, people feeling it was not a day to celebrate certainly, not a day to go up there and accept the best supporting actress in a comedy," CBS President Les Moonves told a packed news conference at the Shrine. "It seemed like it was trivial."

Moonves, whose network was to air the telecast, met with the chairman and president of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) and the Emmy show producer before making the announcement. They said no specific security threat prompted the postponement, only a belief that it was the appropriate thing to do. There is no timetable for announcing a final decision on the fate of this year's telecast.

"We don't think there's a burning need to present the Emmy Award to keep America moving at this point. We simply want to take the time to talk amongst ourselves to find out what people would like us to do," said ATAS Chairman Bryce Zabel.

The Emmys were postponed Sunday just hours before the telecast was scheduled to begin

Before this year the Emmy Awards had never been postponed in the show's 53-year history. The telecast was originally set to air September 16, but that was delayed three weeks following the terrorist attack on the United States. In the interval producers retooled the show to reflect a more somber tone, shifting the emphasis from awards competition to a display of unity in a time of crisis. Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite was to have made a special appearance.

"I was there primarily to open the program and to point out that the entire broadcast was dedicated to those who lost their lives [in the terrorist attacks] and the heroes who attempted rescue and the workers who have been cleaning up the mess," Cronkite told the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes."

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres had been rehearsing that morning to host the show. Producer Don Mischer described her as "very emotional and somewhat devastated" by the decision to postpone it again.

"She put a lot of effort and a lot of time and a lot of personal emotion into this," Mischer said.

CBS may lose untold millions of dollars in ad revenue if the show doesn't take place. The Television Academy will also feel the pinch.

"If you don't have the program then you're probably going to be looking at losses in the several million-dollar range," Academy President Jim Chabin told CNN. "I'm proud to be part of an organization where that was really a secondary consideration."

Moonves and the Emmy organizers say there was strong support within the entertainment community for postponing the telecast. But they described the decision as disheartening.

"I think we're all sick to our stomachs. That's the truth," Moonves said. "This is one of the toughest decisions I've ever been involved in. Yet, you realize, you know what, we're in the television business. It's really small potatoes compared to what's going on out there in the real world."