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HBO felt snubbed by Emmy song ‘Put Down the Remote’

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HBO executives were apparently a little miffed that the network was not included in the lyrics of ‘Put Down the Remote,’ the song sung by Neil Patrick Harris that opened the Emmy awards show Sunday night on CBS.

The lyrics, which pleaded with viewers not to turn away from the broadcast and from television in general, featured plugs for practically every network nominated except HBO, which had 99 nominations. Considering that the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and CBS tried to restructure the Emmys this year by eliminating the presentation of awards for movies and miniseries from the broadcast -- two categories usually dominated by HBO -- in favor of just clips of awards being given, one can understand why HBO might be a little sensitive to slights both real and perceived.

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A CBS spokesman dismissed any controversy over the lyrics to the song, saying the network had not heard any complaints from HBO about it. ‘They had a great night, the spokesman said, adding, ‘I can’t possibly imagine that complaint from a network so well represented on the broadcast.’

-- Joe Flint

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