Why anyone volunteers to produce an awards broadcast is beyond me. You just can't win; there are always going to be awards that people don't care about, and no matter how well you pace things, those awards will always drag the show down.

The producers of Sunday's Emmy Awards did the best they could to keep things moving, and in the first 90 minutes, it looked like they did just that. Then they realized that they had another 90 minutes left. And that's when the problems began.

At least they had a fantastic host in Jimmy Fallon. And if they had used him in the last half, things would have gone much better. But that's not how award shows go, even though everyone who watches them wishes it was different.

Fallon made a huge splash with his opening 'Glee'-inspired video and dance number. The video was funny, and had a chill-inducing feel as Jimmy and the 'Glee' cast incorporated stars such as Tina Fey, Joel McHale, Jon Hamm (doing a funky dance!), Betty White, Jorge Garcia, and others -- they bypassed Kate Gosselin (twice), even though she said she was a "great dancer!" -- in a rousing rendition of Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run.'

Fallon and his Emmycast writers took full advantage of the host's musical and impersonation skills. The best example was when Fallon did a medley of songs to pay tribute to the departed '24,' 'Law & Order' and 'Lost,' channeling Elton John, a member of Boyz II Men, and Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. In the 'Lost' tribute, he pretty much spoiled the entire series for anyone who didn't watch it, concluding by saying "I didn't understand it, but I tried."

Fallon also introduced each genre's awards segment with his acoustic guitar, singing with an audience member who represented that category. It worked with Amy Poehler, Stephen Colbert and Julianna Margulies, but the bit got old, as did the presenter descriptions submitted by Twitter users.

Speaking of the genre segments, they were designed to make the show more exciting, with big categories up front. But all it did this year was make the pacing uneven; producers were speeding their way through the major comedy and drama categories, with very little presenter patter, fast nominee introductions and a quick trigger finger on the play-off music. Matt Weiner, for instance, got abruptly played off when claiming a writing award for the 'Mad Men' season 3 finale ... sure, the guy can be wordy, but that's ridiculous.

But I wonder what happened when the producers saw the gaping maw of the last 90 minutes facing them. It was odd that the comedy, drama, and variety categories took about two segments each, while the movie and miniseries categories took five or six. Sure, it was entertaining to see Temple Grandin standing and pumping her fist every time the HBO movie about her won an Emmy, and the movie deserved it. But most viewers were probably checking out at this point.

Was there any reason why the producers couldn't insert a segment like the one where the 'Modern Family' cast was considering different ideas on how to "improve" their show, including Sofia Vergara in 3D, Cam and Mitchell as sports-loving straight guys, and Clooney everywhere? It might have broken up the boredom. And it would have not been a crime to insert Fallon into that 9:30 - 10:30 hour a bit more; as most hosts do, Fallon disappeared for the most part during the lull, when one zinger line -- Bucky Gunts alone could have killed a half hour -- could have brought the audience back.

More good stuff:
-- Even though it felt like the producers were rushing, I did welcome the elimination of the presenter banter. Only people who knew how to do it well -- Fey, Colbert, Joel McHale -- got to be funny. Even then, they kept it to one or two lines.

-- The Infiniti ads with the cast of 'Community.' Very true to the spirit of the show, and showed very little of the car. I like that kind of product placement.

-- The video montages celebrating the past year in each genre. I give the producers credit for facing the Conan thing head on in the Variety montage.

-- This line from Fallon's mercifully brief monologue: "NBC asked me, the host of 'Late Night,' to come to Los Angeles to host a different show. What could possibly go wrong?" The quick cut to Conan O'Brien shaking his head was perfect.

-- John Hodgman as the announcer, for the second year in a row. My favorite lines: he described 'Fraggle Rock' as a show about meth, and he said Jon Stewart wasn't there because he was resting 'on a bed of melted Emmys.'

-- Clooney's Bob Hope Humanitarian Award speech reminding everyone about the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and urging people not to forget about victims of disasters as time passes.


More bad stuff:
-- The In Memoriam montage. Jewel's song, written for a lost friend, was beautiful, but no one paid attention to it. As usual, the applause meter was in place, showing how popular each member of the deceased was. And they didn't show David Mills, a writer and producer for 'The Wire' and 'Treme' who died earlier this year.

-- The Twitter presenter descriptions thing. I can't repeat how bad it was too many times.

What did you think of the Emmycast this year?