Backstage Report: Going to Church

6:55 p.m.:  Thomas Haden Church, a winner for the miniseries Broken Trail, arrives, tie off, casual pose on. The Texas-born Church is chewing on...something. Something organic, hopefully.

6:56 p.m.:  Where does Church get his strength, a reporter wants to know? "Fiber," he reports.

6:57 p.m.:  "Brilliant actor!" Ben Vereen shouts at Church from the wings.

6:58 p.m.:  Who does Vereen think he is? Cicely Tyson?

6:59 p.m.:  "This thing is so pointy; it's like a barbecue fork," Church says, marveling at his spike-tipped statuette. 

7:03 p.m.:  "The Emmys are designed to be entertaining," says TV Academy chairman and CEO Dick Askin.

7:06 p.m.:  "I think it's a very entertaining show," Askin continues.

7:07 p.m.:  Look, if the Emmys bring joy to just one person, isn't that what it's really all about?

—Filed by Joal Ryan