Kathy Griffin at the Emmys

I've talked a great deal about Kathy Griffin, since I "discovered" her this summer, so I thought I'd finally go on the record about her "acceptance speech" at the Emmys last week. Plus, I expect she's appreciate me extending the issue longer.

If you hadn't heard, Kathy caused some controversy at the Emmys this year by taking the Lord's name in vain. Below is the first part of her interview on Larry King for background. (The rest of the interview is also on YouTube.)

My take on the whole thing is that this kind of thing is true to Kathy's form. She did it for the publicity, since her schtick is getting press and attention at all costs. And it worked, at least for about a week and a half.

As I've said previously, I like Kathy because she "gets" our culture's obsession with celebrity. Her whole D-List career is based upon it. She calls out the celebrities who are famous for being famous, and those whose behavior is ridiculous and over the top. That's something we need, and it's often hilariously funny. This is simply what she was doing at the Emmys--satitizing the tendency for many award-winners to thank Jesus. As Robin Williams said in his appearance in "Inside the Actor's Studio," you don't ever hear them thanking Vishnu. That was Kathy's point.

At the same time, though, I wish Kathy would've at least mentioned her father at one point in the midst of all this controversy, since I suspect that it was the depiction of his death in her show that won her the Emmy. She should've at least credited him for it. I suspect, though, that he wouldn't have wanted her to do it, anyway.

So congratulations, Kathy--you deserve the Emmy and your descent (choice of word intentional) out of the D-List!