When I think of award shows, I think of the glitz and glamour, the long nights and lots of champagne (if we're lucky). I think of gracious Hollywood stars accepting awards in front of their peers and listing off names we, as the public, probably don't know. And I think of the losers who have to smile and pretend like Jean Smart winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series is the best thing to ever happen to Tracee Ellis Ross.

Now, I have no doubt that Ms. Ross is happy to celebrate her fellow nominee at the 2021 Emmys. Smart was absolutely electric in HBO Max's Hacks, and she was the projected winner for the award. But the way the awards season circuit is still dead set on zooming in on the losers of each category while the winner accepts the award tells me that no matter how far we come in diversity and inclusion in the nominations (and sometimes the wins), we still have a little bit of Petty White in us all.

Take, for example, Jean Smart's win. She was nominated alongside Kaley Cuoco, Aidy Bryant, Allison Janney, and Ross. And while all eyes in the room were on Smart when she accepted the Emmy award and gave a touching speech, the cameras were on... Kaley Cuoco and Aidy Bryant and... you get where I'm going, right?

You may think that these other women were all doing their best acting on their respective shows. But let's be honest, the camera zoom-in on losers is the ultimate test of acting. "Conceal, don't feel," as they say in Frozen. Don't show anyone that you may or may not have a notecard in your pocket. Or that you looked in the mirror earlier that morning and said, "I'd like to thank..." Or that you humbly said, "It's just an honor to be nominated" to Karamo Brown on the red carpet even though there was a small inkling inside of you that thought, "But it'd be a bigger honor to win."

Or maybe, in this case, you realized you were nominated alongside Jean Smart and just accepted your fate.

Regardless, let's never lose this small ounce of shade at award shows, OK? If we have to sit through skits with Alyson Hannigan and Zooey Deschanel and Jason Alexander, we deserve to watch someone's dreams escape them right before our very eyes.

Images: screenshot, CBS