Griffin Shameless in ‘Schmemmys’

By GREG HERNANDEZ

So what if she calls them “the Schmemmys”? It’s Kathy Griffin who really put the Creative Arts Emmys on the map with her wild acceptance-speech antics last year.

On Saturday afternoon, I chatted with Kathy as she made her way into the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles for this year’s show and wondered if she felt maybe a tad remorseful for giving the event what is now a pretty famous nickname.

Not a chance.

“‘Schmemmys’ is an endearment that I say with complete love because that fact that it starts at 2:30 (p.m.) is not something a real award show would ever do,” Kathy said. “I got up for hair and makeup around 4 (a.m.); it was still dark out. But there’s also a lot of big stars here, so I’m really excited. I’m also excited to see who’s too famous to walk the red carpet. I, of course, am not.”

Plenty of stars — both nominees and presenters — did show up, including James Gandolfini, Lee Pace, Jennifer Beals, Valerie Bertinelli, James Pickens Jr., Joe Mantegna, Chloe Sevigny, Bryan Cranston, Masi Oka, Seth Green and Sarah Chalke, who co-hosted the evening with Neil Patrick Harris.

These are the Emmys given the week before the televised prime- time Emmy telecast to animated programs, reality shows, guest spots on comedy and dramatic series and in technical categories including makeup and editing.

Highlights from the show will air on E! on Saturday.

I wondered how Kathy felt about returning as the reigning reality- show queen after her win last year for “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.”

“It’s a little bit of a middle finger up at high school; it’s not even against Hollywood,” she said. “It’s more against the cheerleaders who tortured me in high school. I actually wish they were all here right now — every pompom girl and cheerleader. Then I would finally have my moment.”

Sharon Gless has two Emmys at home for “Cagney & Lacey” but was excited to be nominated in the guest-actress category for an episode she did of FX’s “Nip/Tuck.”

“This (is) my ninth nomination, but I’ve never been nominated in this category, and I’ve never been to the Creative Arts (Emmys),” said Sharon. She said she was surprised to get the nomination and gave credit for it to series creator Ryan Murphy, who wrote “the sickest, most twisted thing he’s ever written” for her to play, she said.

Also nominated was Broadway legend Elaine Stritch, already a two- time Emmy winner going into Saturday’s ceremony. We had a good laugh when Elaine, nominated again as guest actress for her role as Alec Baldwin’s mother on NBC’s “30 Rock,” talked about a letter she got from a man at the Television Academy “telling me how to behave.”

“The part I really loved about it was when he said, ‘And don’t pay any attention to those people who hug you on your way up (to the stage) because they just want to get their faces on camera,’” she said. “Are you kidding? He told me how to do it! It’s the funniest thing. He tells you how to behave emotionally, physically. I thought, ‘This is Stella Adler’s class!’ And then he said, ‘And please do this in 33 seconds.”

It was also great to see Marissa Jaret Winokur, the Tony winner (“Hairspray”) who made it to the semifinals of “Dancing With the Stars” last season. She and her Emmy-nominated husband Judah Miller (“King of the Hill”) said the event was essentially their first date since the arrival of their son, Zev Isaac Miller, seven weeks ago.

“My husband had to get nominated for an Emmy for us to go out,” Marissa said. “I put our son in a little onesie today with a little tuxedo and bow tie. I got him dressed up to take pictures with us, so it was very exciting. It’s a big day.”

(c) 2008 Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.