If anyone still cares: thoughts about Emmy nominations!
Outstanding Drama Series:
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men
And the rise of cable is fully underway, apparently. I'm thrilled about Lost, particularly since the show hasn't even been so much as nominated for the big prize since they won for their first season three years ago. And though I'm only three episodes into Mad Men, I'm already pretty damn sure it belongs here. The closest I've gotten to Damages is being tempted to swipe stuff from craft services when they've filmed nearby. Dexter I find uneven and overrated. The good news: this Boston Legal bullshit can only happen once more. The bad news: it's officially too late for The Wire. My own personal good news: I still haven't actually started to watch The Wire (I was waiting for the whole series to be available on DVD so that in case I got sucked in like I'm anticipating I will, there wouldn't be any wait; that excuse is about to run out) so on this score, I'm only outraged on the behalf of others.
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series:
Battlestar Galactica, "Six of One"
Damages, "Pilot"
Mad Men, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"
Mad Men, "The Wheel"
The Wire, "30"
It's mystifying to me that this is the BSG episode that got the nod here. I don't know what they submitted, but in terms of the writing, I actually remember "Six of One" being one of the weakest, with the dialogue on the baseship striking me as particularly awkward. Of the episodes that aired during the eligiblity period, I thought Jane Espenson's "Escape Velocity" was head and shoulders above the rest. Oh well.
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Predictably, nearly all are movie actresses deigning to lend their names to TV projects in exchange for showy parts that involve much scenery chewing. And as ever, that is exactly the kind of thing that is rewarded with Emmy love. Boring. And then there's Hargitay, whose continued showings here remain mind-boggling to me. SVU is a show I have on as background noise fairly frequently, and though I'll grant you that she's given mostly painfully obvious exposition to say, her delivery of almost everything frequently strikes me as incredibly unnatural. Here I'll bang my usual drum: it's a crime that the genius Mary McDonnell is left out here, even if her strongest work was in episodes that aired too late for consideration this year (once again, awesome job with the scheduling, SciFi!). Friday Night Lights' fantastic Connie Britton is like the anti-Hargitay, so of course she's also snubbed. And hell, though I actually really dislike Big Love, Ginnifer Goodwin did work last season that would have been really nice to see recognized, too.
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series:
James Spader, Boston Legal
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hamm is brilliant, and I suspect the best is yet to come in the Mad Men episodes I haven't seen yet. And good for Bryan Cranston, who should have won one for his total commitment to the zaniness of his Malcolm in the Middle character. Alas, still no nomination for Connie Britton's counterpart Kyle Chandler.
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series:
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
I can't think of anyone I'd really love to have here, and I've liked all of these actresses in other things, so, um, yay? See! Positivity!
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series:
Boston Legal, William Shatner
Ted Danson, Damages
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
John Slattery, Mad Men
Damn straight Michael freakin' Emerson! If it's Shatner who inevitably beats him (haaaaaaate!), I reserve the right to throw things.
Outstanding Comedy Series:
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
Two And A Half Men
One I love but didn't have a consistently great season, one I like, and three I strongly dislike = I care surprisingly little. I'd have been so happy to see Pushing Daisies here, but I know how polarizing it is, so I'm grateful for the good amount of recognition it did receive.
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series:
30 Rock, "Rosemary's Baby"
30 Rock, "Cooter"
Flight Of The Conchords, "Yoko"
Pushing Daisies, "Pie-Lette"
The Office, "Dinner Party"
Again, I'm surprised by some episode choices. "Dinner Party" was fairly weak; too bad it's not the lovely "Local Ad." And though I know it wouldn't make for the best submission, it would have been great if 30 Rock's "Succession" episode (the one with the awesome extended Amadeus homage) had made it instead of either of those.
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series:
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Again with the drum: Tichina Arnold is so good on Everybody Hates Chris, damn it! Also, if she can't be nominated here, Anna Friel at least deserves some sort of special Emmy for being the only British actress in a new American series who actually managed to get the accent down convincingly. Yes, I'm looking at you, Michelle and Sophia.
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Steve Carell, The Office
Charlie Sheen, Two And A Half Men
Lee Pace's nomination provided my one whooping out loud moment. And though The Office lacked some of its past luster, Carell was as fine as always, so hooray for that. I know Aliens in America's Adhir Kalyan had a snowball's chance in hell, but hey, he was submitted, so once again I will be bitter about the fact that Emmy voters still don't think they should pay attention to anything on the CW. (Nope, still not over Lauren Graham, who, by the way, needs to come back to television tout de suite.)
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series:
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jean Smart, Samantha Who?
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Holland Taylor, Two And A Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
While it's cool that new rules led to something of a shakeup in Amy Poehler, Kristin Wiig is the more deserving SNLer. Kristin Chenoweth is totally deserving, but man, it would have been so cool to see either of the aunts make it in here, too. Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz rule.
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series:
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men
Chi McBride wasn't even in proximity (bitch) and that makes me want to stab someone with one of Emerson Cod's knitting needles.
Other nominations I'd have been happy to see: Amy Ryan for her guest stint on The Office, Battlestar Galactica in the music category, and the all-around top notch Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in non-fiction.
Other happy surprises: lots of recognition for the excellent Extras Christmas special (particularly for Ashley Jensen, whose performance tends to get lost in all the gushing over Gervais), two Office directing nods for the Pauls Lieberstein and Feig, Jon Stewart's nomination for hosting the Oscars, five for This American Life, score and cinematography nominations for the beautiful Sense and Sensibility miniseries, and double the chances that Kathy Griffin will say something that will piss off the humorless even more than what she said last year. Sweet.
Outstanding Drama Series:
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men
And the rise of cable is fully underway, apparently. I'm thrilled about Lost, particularly since the show hasn't even been so much as nominated for the big prize since they won for their first season three years ago. And though I'm only three episodes into Mad Men, I'm already pretty damn sure it belongs here. The closest I've gotten to Damages is being tempted to swipe stuff from craft services when they've filmed nearby. Dexter I find uneven and overrated. The good news: this Boston Legal bullshit can only happen once more. The bad news: it's officially too late for The Wire. My own personal good news: I still haven't actually started to watch The Wire (I was waiting for the whole series to be available on DVD so that in case I got sucked in like I'm anticipating I will, there wouldn't be any wait; that excuse is about to run out) so on this score, I'm only outraged on the behalf of others.
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series:
Battlestar Galactica, "Six of One"
Damages, "Pilot"
Mad Men, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"
Mad Men, "The Wheel"
The Wire, "30"
It's mystifying to me that this is the BSG episode that got the nod here. I don't know what they submitted, but in terms of the writing, I actually remember "Six of One" being one of the weakest, with the dialogue on the baseship striking me as particularly awkward. Of the episodes that aired during the eligiblity period, I thought Jane Espenson's "Escape Velocity" was head and shoulders above the rest. Oh well.
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Predictably, nearly all are movie actresses deigning to lend their names to TV projects in exchange for showy parts that involve much scenery chewing. And as ever, that is exactly the kind of thing that is rewarded with Emmy love. Boring. And then there's Hargitay, whose continued showings here remain mind-boggling to me. SVU is a show I have on as background noise fairly frequently, and though I'll grant you that she's given mostly painfully obvious exposition to say, her delivery of almost everything frequently strikes me as incredibly unnatural. Here I'll bang my usual drum: it's a crime that the genius Mary McDonnell is left out here, even if her strongest work was in episodes that aired too late for consideration this year (once again, awesome job with the scheduling, SciFi!). Friday Night Lights' fantastic Connie Britton is like the anti-Hargitay, so of course she's also snubbed. And hell, though I actually really dislike Big Love, Ginnifer Goodwin did work last season that would have been really nice to see recognized, too.
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series:
James Spader, Boston Legal
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Hugh Laurie, House
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hamm is brilliant, and I suspect the best is yet to come in the Mad Men episodes I haven't seen yet. And good for Bryan Cranston, who should have won one for his total commitment to the zaniness of his Malcolm in the Middle character. Alas, still no nomination for Connie Britton's counterpart Kyle Chandler.
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series:
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment
I can't think of anyone I'd really love to have here, and I've liked all of these actresses in other things, so, um, yay? See! Positivity!
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series:
Boston Legal, William Shatner
Ted Danson, Damages
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages
Michael Emerson, Lost
John Slattery, Mad Men
Damn straight Michael freakin' Emerson! If it's Shatner who inevitably beats him (haaaaaaate!), I reserve the right to throw things.
Outstanding Comedy Series:
30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
Two And A Half Men
One I love but didn't have a consistently great season, one I like, and three I strongly dislike = I care surprisingly little. I'd have been so happy to see Pushing Daisies here, but I know how polarizing it is, so I'm grateful for the good amount of recognition it did receive.
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series:
30 Rock, "Rosemary's Baby"
30 Rock, "Cooter"
Flight Of The Conchords, "Yoko"
Pushing Daisies, "Pie-Lette"
The Office, "Dinner Party"
Again, I'm surprised by some episode choices. "Dinner Party" was fairly weak; too bad it's not the lovely "Local Ad." And though I know it wouldn't make for the best submission, it would have been great if 30 Rock's "Succession" episode (the one with the awesome extended Amadeus homage) had made it instead of either of those.
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series:
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Again with the drum: Tichina Arnold is so good on Everybody Hates Chris, damn it! Also, if she can't be nominated here, Anna Friel at least deserves some sort of special Emmy for being the only British actress in a new American series who actually managed to get the accent down convincingly. Yes, I'm looking at you, Michelle and Sophia.
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies
Steve Carell, The Office
Charlie Sheen, Two And A Half Men
Lee Pace's nomination provided my one whooping out loud moment. And though The Office lacked some of its past luster, Carell was as fine as always, so hooray for that. I know Aliens in America's Adhir Kalyan had a snowball's chance in hell, but hey, he was submitted, so once again I will be bitter about the fact that Emmy voters still don't think they should pay attention to anything on the CW. (Nope, still not over Lauren Graham, who, by the way, needs to come back to television tout de suite.)
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series:
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies
Jean Smart, Samantha Who?
Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Holland Taylor, Two And A Half Men
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty
While it's cool that new rules led to something of a shakeup in Amy Poehler, Kristin Wiig is the more deserving SNLer. Kristin Chenoweth is totally deserving, but man, it would have been so cool to see either of the aunts make it in here, too. Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz rule.
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series:
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson, The Office
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men
Chi McBride wasn't even in proximity (bitch) and that makes me want to stab someone with one of Emerson Cod's knitting needles.
Other nominations I'd have been happy to see: Amy Ryan for her guest stint on The Office, Battlestar Galactica in the music category, and the all-around top notch Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in non-fiction.
Other happy surprises: lots of recognition for the excellent Extras Christmas special (particularly for Ashley Jensen, whose performance tends to get lost in all the gushing over Gervais), two Office directing nods for the Pauls Lieberstein and Feig, Jon Stewart's nomination for hosting the Oscars, five for This American Life, score and cinematography nominations for the beautiful Sense and Sensibility miniseries, and double the chances that Kathy Griffin will say something that will piss off the humorless even more than what she said last year. Sweet.
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