EMMYS UNDER PRESSURE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER DON MISCHER AND CREW AIM TO BRING COMEDY-HEAVY TELECAST IN ON TIME - AND OVERLY FUNNY.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

DON MISCHER is running out of time.

He hasn't been worrying about too few days or hours in which to put the finishing touches on tonight's 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, for which he is executive producer.

Mischer is a veteran of such feats; this is his eighth Emmys telecast, and he has managed many other live productions over the years, from the People's Choice Awards to the massive but elegant spectacle of the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

He's thinking of the seconds and fractions of seconds that can be measured by a new digital stopwatch he unpacked this week in his temporary production office in one of a dozen or so trailers parked behind the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.

Mischer is charged with delivering an entertaining, sometimes tear-jerking tribute to the year's best in television in two hours and 14 minutes. (The 46 minutes of commercials and network promos are Fox's domain.)

``We have 12 commercial breaks, and the 12th commercial break, in order to honor the obligations that Fox made to sponsors who bought those commercials, has to occur before 11 p.m. (Eastern time),'' he said. ``So we're coming up with contingency plans right now to move (some show segments) around.''

Less than a week before the ceremony, Mischer was coping with unforeseen changes, such as the additions of John Ritter and Johnny Cash to the ``in memoriam'' segment. Ritter, one of the best-loved actors in the industry, will be given a special acknowledgment, as will Bob Hope.

Mischer also was trying to anticipate all the possibilities that come from the first-ever inclusion in the telecast of the reality/competitive show category, for which there can be multiple winners under Emmy rules.

``We're dealing with this situation where I could very easily have three winners in that category, and that's going to greatly elongate what we're doing,'' Mischer said. ``We want everybody to come up to the stage at the same time, to stand in groups, take turns giving acceptance speeches and all walk off together. Just combining the walk-ups and the walk-offs will save three to four minutes.''

Comedy on the clock

And the executive producer has been working his new stopwatch on the comedy segments of the show. For the first time, the Emmys have departed from the standard one- to three-host format, opting instead for 12 top-drawer TV comedians, most of whom have been writing their own material. Viewers are likely to appreciate the change, but Fox affiliates want a timely ending as much as a good show.

``Over the weekend, I spent a lot of time kind of envisioning what (the show is) going to be like, thinking about the rhythm of the show, and we're all feeling really good about the comedy,'' he said. ``The comics are going to be great. The problem is the more successful the comedy is, the longer it is.''

He asked the comedians, who include Conan O'Brien, Brad Garrett, Ellen DeGeneres, Dennis Miller, George Lopez, Bernie Mac and Darrell Hammond, to aim for two minutes each.

``I can tell you that, seeing these scripts coming in, a lot of them have 3 1/2, 4 minutes of really, really good stuff,'' Mischer said. ``That's going to be the big problem this week, trying to protect the comedy and not cut it so short that it would kill it. But you can't have 12 comics come out and do 4 minutes each - that's 48 minutes!''

The show is mapped out on a large corkboard that has been a fixture for weeks near Mischer's desk in his Beverly Boulevard office. Stripes of tape mark columns representing the 12 acts, while pieces of colored paper signify awards categories, comedy bits, prerecorded segments and other elements.

Mischer took a short phone call, then walked over to the board and removed one such scrap representing a topical comedy bit. It seems there was a strong objection from the network for one of the programs key to the joke.

``Too bad,'' he said. ``It would have been pretty funny.''

That's the ticket

In the trailer Mischer updated a Fox executive over the phone on the progress of the show preparations.

``What's happening with you?'' Mischer asked the executive. He listened, then said, ``How many do you need?''

Supervising producer Michael Seligman, sitting by Mischer's desk, picked up on the cue and made notes. It was just one of many requests Mischer and Seligman have been fielding for extra tickets.

``What's happened is there are hundreds and hundreds of nominees,'' he said, pointing to a glut of producers on most series. ``When I look at the seating chart, there's hardly any space in the entire orchestra section of the Shrine. Look at the ('Late Show With David Letterman') writing staff. There are 18 or 19 - that's 40 seats.''

With the stage crew enjoying a day off, the auditorium was dark Monday afternoon except for one intense bare bulb in the middle of the house. The set, designed by Roy Christopher, was nearly completely installed, with circular and doughnut-shaped turntables enabling 12 possible configurations of giant florescent-lighted letters spelling EMMY.

Lou Horvitz will direct the show from a truck in the rear lot, referring to a phone-book-thick script to cue everything from lighting changes and camera switches to presenter entrances, announcers and video clips. Viewers at home may remember Horvitz from the times he has accepted Emmys while working, calling camera cues for close-ups of his parents and others he thanked. He's up for another award this year, for directing the 75th annual Academy Awards.

``I hope to win this year, but I don't know that I ever will again. I got a few along the way,'' Horvitz said, noting his boss and longtime friend will not cut him any slack if he does pick up a fourth Emmy. ``Don has been going, 'I mean it, it's 45 seconds for the winners and that includes you!'''

Horvitz stood on the stage, describing the location and function of 15 cameras, the pivoting mechanisms on the stage, the TV stars' entrance points.

``I love Lou,'' Mischer said earlier. ``And I love his kind of militaristic approach to the task. I remember the first few times he directed the Oscars, he kept one of the books by Gen. Patton on his military strategy, he kept it right there on the switcher.

``It's not a bad metaphor. You're like a general in an army, and you're going into battle. That's what producing a lot of these shows is like.''

Ready for anything

Tonight, Mischer will be sitting stage right with a couple of assistants, watching the back-time computer program that tallies remaining telecast time during each commercial break.

``Each time you get through an item, it ripples and catches up,'' he said. ``By the time you get down to the last eight awards, you have different lengths of packages. Let's say you're talking about miniseries: You'll have your desperation package, which is 11 seconds long - 'Hitler,' 'Napoleon,' bang, out. Then you have one that's the medium range where you have a little sense of them with a couple of lines of dialogue leaking through. And then you've got the one you hope you can run, which is the long one in which you get a riveting scene from 'Hitler' and a riveting scene from 'Napoleon.' ''

That diligence pays off by the time an Emmys host says ``good night.''

``The most I've ever run over is about 40 or 45 seconds,'' said Mischer, admitting he envies the Oscars' practically unrestricted running time.

``You feel like a complete idiot talking to nominees who might win, knowing that if they win this will be the highlight of their careers, possibly the highlight of their lives, and you're up there before you go on the air saying to them, 'I'm sorry, but we really need to keep your speech down to 40 seconds, 45 seconds.' It just seems so wrong.''

Mischer said with a chuckle that seconds before going live to 80 percent of the world's television homes with an Olympics ceremony, he has thought, ``What a great place to fall on your ass.'' But that is the exhilarating gamble of producing live television.

``Even a show like the Emmys, you go on the air, and you've done your best, you've gotten the comics, you've worked with them on the comedic material, you think you have some good film packages,'' he said.

``But the key ingredient of the show you have no control over at all, and that's just the dynamic of who wins and how they react when they do win, and what they say when they get up there,'' Mischer said. ``You have no control over that. (Oscars producer) Gil Cates used to say, 'You're at the mercy of the awards-show gods. If they smile on you, you have a good show, and if they don't, you don't.'

``But that's what's fun about it. You're going on the air, you've done your best, now let's see what will happen.''

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

THE 55TH ANNUAL PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS

What: Official recognition of the year's best in television, this year with plenty of comedy and possibly a large collection of gold-winged women for HBO.

Where: Fox (Channel 11).

When: Local coverage begins at 6 p.m., the red-carpet countdown at 7 and the awards presentation at 8 tonight.

So you want to produce the Emmys ...

Don Mischer, serving as executive producer on his eighth Emmys telecast, was hired in March by Fox for tonight's show. Here's a rough idea how things have progressed since then:

April: Finalized the venue, with the approval of the network and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

May: Lined up other key positions, including director, supervising producer, writers and talent coordinator. Decided to go with comedy team instead of single host.

June: Emmys production work became a full-time job for Mischer and staff of about eight.

Mid-July: Nominations were announced, and work went into high gear through August with gathering and editing of nomination video clips and writing material that reflects nominated programs.

Late August: Earliest preparations for telecast began at Shrine; additional crew members began work, including supervisor of volunteer seat-fillers.

First week of September: Began lighting installation, removed theater seats in camera positions, set up on-site production trailers, began set installation.

Second week of September: Loaded furnishings, lighting and decorations in Expo Hall for Governors Ball; built green room; focused lights; checked sound; began taping prerecorded show segments.

Sept. 13: Creative Arts Emmys were presented at Shrine.

Sept. 14: Began set-up of press tent, red carpet arrivals area.

Wednesday: Set up and connected control trucks, TelePrompTers, projection equipment; placed seating cards marking nominees' positions for camera rehearsals.

Thursday: Ran through show for set and lighting changes, orchestra prerecorded some music, installed Mischer's backstage station, checked cameras.

Friday: Rehearsed entire show with stand-ins and cameras.

Saturday: Staggered rehearsals were held and final script changes made for presenters, comedians; complete dress rehearsal with talent; satellite truck was set.

Today: Additional rehearsal as needed. Arrivals start at 3 p.m., house will be closed about 4:45 p.m., orchestra is ready for the downbeat at 5 p.m. and it's show time.

- Valerie Kuklenski

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) This miniature version of the Emmy stage, designed by Roy Christopher, inspires the troops from executive producer Don Mischer's L.A. office.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2) Executive producer Don Mischer, bottom, supervising producer Michael Seligman, left, and director Louis Horvitz are charged with keeping tonight's Emmy telecast within its three-hour window.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(3) Crew member Michael Boisclair assembles an Emmy statue at the Shrine Auditorium in preparation for tonight's broadcast.

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

(4) Christina Applegate accepts her Emmy for guesting on ``Friends.''

Associated Press

Box:

(1) So you want to produce the Emmys... (see text)

(2) Your EMMY ballot

(3) Emmys: fist salvo