Show Canceled Again

Once again, party interruptus. Add our Emmy credentials to the pile of torn-up invitations. It’s just as well. Who could celebrate TV when all anyone wanted to do was stay home and watch it?

One positive note: Hospitals and homeless shelters reaped the spoils of the canceled post-awards Unity Dinner. UCLA Medical Center and the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center were given 221 Hidden Garden floral centerpieces good enough to eat; apples, pears and grapes were scattered among the roses.

Florist Judy Child looked around the ballroom, with its silk-covered tables and empty gilded chairs, and sighed. “It’s sad,” she said. “But you know, the whole world’s sad right now. It’s hard to celebrate.”

And so, some shelter residents were treated Sunday night to more than soup. About 3,000 servings of lobster salad, filet of beef and Italian espresso cake were given away.

“Almost everybody loved it,” said Midnight Mission spokeswoman Carrie Gatlin, where 1,000 people were fed.

The Grapevine

There was no official way to get the word out to the thousands of Emmy invitees, so the TV stars and their publicists relied on cellular phones, word-of-mouth and, well, television.

Stan Rosenfield, who represents nominees Andy Garcia and Kelsey Grammer, was watching football at home when his daughter, Chase, a schoolteacher, called shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. NBC’s Tom Brokaw had just announced the show was off, she said. “I’m saying, ‘Well, gee, I’m watching this game on CBS, which is carrying the telecast,”’ Rosenfield said, still skeptical.

“It didn’t occur to me that they’d cancel. Being the super genius that I am, I said if they’re playing football today, there’ll be a show. Obviously, I was wrong.”

He got on the phone with staffers Lee Wallman and Karen Samfilippo, who checked with the show’s producer and talent coordinator. Officially, all systems still were still go. But Rosenfield sensed it was a wrap. He called Grammer and Garcia: “I’ve heard this rumor--it’s not verified

Then he called a producer staking out the red carpet for “Entertainment Tonight.” She said they’d just been told to pack their equipment. That was confirmation enough. Rosenfield alerted Grammer and Garcia, less than 90 minutes before their limos were to show up. The two were “matter-of-fact” about the news, he said.

Wallman informed “Providence” star Melina Kanakaredes, who was to present an award. She wasn’t surprised, and called off the hair and makeup primpers. Samfilippo called Billy Peterson, another presenter.

“He felt it was the right thing to do,” she said. “How do you go and celebrate and give out awards when we’ve just bombed someone? We’re bombing Kabul and we’re supposed to stand up and say, ‘Hi, ladies and gentlemen, it’s nice to be here?”’

Meet the Press

Rumors swirled in the media tent, then things got chaotic when word came that everyone was going home early and empty-handed. Entertainment reporters interviewed each other like Sunday morning political pundits. Someone scrawled “Canceled” on an official Emmy notepad and posted it on the podium where the winners were to have given their humble and somber thanks.

When Osama bin Laden appeared on a television monitor, a photographer shouted, “What’s he been nominated for?” The reply was swift, obvious and profane.

Over and Out

“NYPD Blue” star Dennis Franz, who was to have paid an Emmy show tribute to New York’s fallen finest, instead called his publicist’s cell phone with this message: “Please tell everyone to be safe. Go home and be safe.”

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Times staff writers Gina Piccalo, Louise Roug, Dana Calvo, Greg Braxton, Michael Quintanilla and Susan King contributed to this column.