Why Award Shows Suck

I am certified in my particular profession, and I am a member of the professional organization for that profession. I am also a member of the local chapter of the organization. This evening, I attended the monthly chapter meeting. For each meeting, a variety of issues and notices are covered prior to the main speaker. These can include upcoming events, volunteer opportunities and job openings. At tonight's meeting, one of these items was the announcement that one of our local members had received an award given by the region that includes our chapter.

Now, I do not want to diminish this person's accomplishment. By all indications, he worked exceptionally hard and did a fantastic job, all of which culminated in amazing results. It seems that he completely deserved the award that he received. That being said, after receiving the award from our local chapter president, the guy broke into an acceptance speech right out of the Oscars or Grammys (minus being rudely interrupted by an obnoxious rapper). He started with the traditional "I would like to thank..." and proceeded to thank the members of the board, the other volunteers on his team, and the guy that held his position the previous year. He even threw in a few "special thanks" for some people. By then, I was waiting for his orchestra music cue and the cut to commercial. I think he definitely went over his 45-second limit. This was before he recognized his replacement for this year, and they exchanged a few jokes ("Thanks for not setting the bar too high").

I think this guy was talking completely off-the-cuff, and I don't think he was aware beforehand that he was receiving the award. It wasn't like he had a prepared speech that he whipped out of his pocket. Regardless, it was obviously that the guy was taking a page out of the award-show playbook in the same way that a rec-league softball player prances around the diamond after hitting a home run like he just won the World Series. Spawning acceptance speech emulators and imitators are one reason award shows suck.

Of course, I'm not the only person that think awards shows suck.