Breakfast w/Greg: Emmy ratings best in three years; Happy B-day Ricki Lake! Tom Cruise in Boston

Good morning all!

Had so much fun at the Emmys yesterday.

But let’s face it, that red carpet was red because it was on FIRE!

Damn was it hot out there. I suggest maybe some giant fans strategically placed if faced with the same situation next year. But everyone was in the same boat with us guys in our penguin suits trying not to dissolve into a puddle of sweat!

I thought the show itself was terrific. It lacked any big emotional moments but it had so many enjoyable ones that I’d give it a solid A. You gotta give much of the credit to host Neil Patrick Harris for setting the tone and keeping it throughout the brisk three hours. He sang, danced a bit, did clever voiceover intros for each winner, had a hilarious Dr. Horrible bit and gave the show a nice, comfortable center. You felt like it was i good hands – and it was!

Ratings were up too!  The telecast on CBS was seen by 13.3 million viewers, 11 percent higher than last year and stopping a three-year ratings decline.

I will have much more this week from the Emmys including some red carpet interviews that I can’t spill all in one day.

BIRTHDAY WISHES: When I met Ricki Lake at Howard Bragman’s terrific book party, my friend Michael and I had a great time chatting away with the star of the original Hairspray film.

We were taking about Facebook for some reason and she said she had stopped friending people she didn’t actually know because it just gotten too out of hand. After we hung out a bit, I asked if she’d friend me. And she did! So, I’m wishing a happy 41st  birthday to my friend today.

Rick, who was a sensation as an afternoon talk show host for several years, is the current host of VH1’s Charm School. She has also  made several other movies since Hairspray including the sweet Mrs. Winterbourne opposite Shirley MacLaine and played  Kathleen Turner’s daughter in the terrific Serial Mom.

A real labor or love for Ricki is the documentary The Business of Being Born about home birth and midwifery.

But I love Ricki most for her staunch support of LGBT equality. I’ll never forget last November, shortly after the passage of Prop. 8, she appeared at a rally in downtown LA and said: “There’s a line that I say (in the first ‘Hairspray’ movie’) “I wish I was dark-skinned. Well today, I wish I was gay! I’m thrilled to be here to show my support.”