"Sopranos" star and multiple Emmy winner James Gandolfini is a quiet and media-shy giant of a man, so when he has something to say, people are usually eager to listen. That wasn't the case on Sunday (Sept. 19) night when Gandolfini took the microphone at the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

In the aftermath of the first outstanding drama series win for "The Sopranos," Gandolfini stepped forward to make a statement at the end of the acceptance speeches, but appeared to be cut off, as the show switched to host Garry Shandling wrapping things up. Viewers saw Gandolfini's lips moving, but heard Shandling's closing remarks, before finally being able to see the comic.

"By that time, Garry was scheduled to say goodnight, so the audio opened on Garry's mike," explained the show's director Louis J. Horvitz backstage. "I was on Gandolfini's shot hearing Garry's voice, so I thought it was a good idea to cut to Garry."

In addition to helming ABC's Emmy telecast, Horvitz received an Emmy himself for directing the most recent Oscar show. Moments like the Gandolfini cut-off and several missed cues, including an aimless pan over the audience as Shandling paid tribute to several Olympic medallists in the crowd, would prevent the director from getting Emmy recognition for these Emmys if it weren't already against regulations.

It was up to Gandolfini's "Sopranos" colleagues to fill in the gaps backstage. It had come to Gandolfini's attention that a infantry group in the 1st Platoon Alpha Company in Iraq had named their tank "Stugots" in honor of Tony Soprano's boat on the HBO mob smash. The producers were sent a picture of the soldiers standing in front of their tank and Gandolfini wanted to take a minute to salute the young men.

"They got in a little trouble for spraying 'Stugots' [on the tank], but there's other trouble there," said "Sopranos" producer and writer Mitchell Burgess. "And we wish them to get home speedy and safe and everything. That's what James was going to say."