Feature - Emmy Nominations

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 62nd Emmy Awards early this morning, and I thought I would share some (well, a lot) of my thoughts. The Emmys have a very difficult task: they are supposed to award the very best that TV has to offer. Seems simple enough, until you consider just how many shows there are on TV, and the fact that none of the voters have seen anywhere close to all of them. So, it's somewhat understandable that the Emmy voters usually reward what they are familiar with - previous winners are almost guaranteed to get nominations, which makes it harder for newer shows to make the cut. This year, however, represents probably the biggest shake-up in the nominations in recent times (and given how conservative it usually is, that's really not saying much). New shows like Glee (a whopping 19 nominations), Modern Family (14 nods), and The Good Wife struck it big, and there were several surprising nominations given to traditionally overlooked shows like Friday Night Lights. So, I'm gonna give my thoughts on a few of the specific categories, and then a brief general impression at the end. Sound fun? No? I'm very sorry.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Ty Burrell, Modern Family
- Chris Colfer, Glee
- Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
- Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
- Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

I'm glad to see Modern Family getting a lot of love, especially in this category. My vote would be for Stonestreet, but I'd be ok with pretty much anyone winning (Chris Colfer did solid work on Glee, and his nomination is one of the few Glee ones I had no issue with), except for Jon Cryer. Can we please not give the suck-fest that is Two and a Half Men any more awards? I'm a little disappointed that no one from Community made it here (or anywhere - more on that later), and I would have loved to see Ron effing Swanson from Parks and Rec on the list. Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, and even Chevy Chase are more than equal to those selected, but the Academy did alright here.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Julie Bowen, Modern Family
- Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
- Jane Lynch, Glee
- Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men
- Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
- Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

More Modern Family nods here, which is fine by me. I'm not quite a devoted follower of the show, but everything I've seen has been great (and my parents love it). Sofia Vergara would be my choice, as she is downright hilarious, but I'm guessing Jane Lynch pretty much has this clinched already - which I'm ok with; she's more than deserving. Again, enough with Two and a Half Men, and what the hell...Kristen Wiig? Really? That one's pretty weird to me, especially since she plays the same character in nearly all her skits. But hey, it's not like there were any other funny women out there (cough, cough, Allison Brie, cough).

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
- Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age
- Michael Emerson, Lost
- Terry O'Quinn, Lost
- Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
- Martin Short, Damages
- John Slattery, Mad Men

Wow, this is definitely the toughest category this year, and I think the Academy actually came up with a pretty strong list of nominees here. It's a surprise to see Braugher make it (he was great on Thief, and I've liked the little I've seen of him on Men of a Certain Age - an underrated show), though I doubt he has any real shot of winning. I don't watch Breaking Bad or Mad Men, but from what I've heard, those are both good choices. The Emmys continue to love Damages, as do I, and Short is a solid pick. Emerson and O'Quinn were both somewhat underutilized in Lost's final season, but O'Quinn in particular did great work in his "flash-sideways" episode. My one big complaint is that John Noble from Fringe, who has done honestly some of the finest acting work I've ever seen, was left out. Not a big surprise, given the Academy's general distaste for genre shows, but that one really irks me - replace Emerson with Noble, and I'd be perfectly happy with the category.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
- Rose Byrne, Damages
- Sharon Gless, Burn Notice
- Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
- Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
- Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife

I haven't seen enough of any of these shows to really say whether these are good choices or not. I'm still amazed that Byrne submits under supporting actress given that she's essentially the show's main character and probably has the most lines, but I guess a chance at winning is more important than those kind of semantics. Oh well. Yawn. I guess I can talk about The Good Wife here - it's a show that I've seen maybe 3-4 episodes of, and I've mostly enjoyed it. It's probably the only CBS procedural I'd ever consider watching, and I'm fine with it getting nominations, but I have no real desire to watch it regularly. Okey dokey, moving on!

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
- Steve Carell, The Office
- Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Matthew Morrison, Glee
- Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
- Tony Shalhoub, Monk

Ugh, this category. Baldwin, Carell, and David I have no problem with - they're giving the same fine performances that they always do. Parsons I can't comment on, since I haven't seen The Big Bang Theory, but given what I've read he seems like a solid pick. However, I thought we were done with Monk, and I'm so sad to see that we're not. Nothing against Shalhoub - I think he's a fine actor - but Monk is such a tepid, mediocre show (a USA specialty) that I just can't understand why he continues to be nominated, year after year - I mean, he's already won three times! The Academy essentially spit in the face of actors like Joel McHale (who was co-hosting the nominations announcement - ouch) who have been doing great, original work on shows like Community. And Matthew Morrison is...well, he's bland. He's so bland that I can't think of a single funny or moving performance from him in the 5 or so episodes of Glee that I've seen. Now, "comedy" is a loose term here - actors aren't necessarily nominated for being funny or even being in real "comedy" shows - Glee certainly isn't. But if you were going to nominate someone like Morrison, why not instead give it to Zachary Levi, who's been consistently impressive comically and dramatically on Chuck? Ah, because no one in the Academy watches Chuck, and lots of them watch Glee.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
- I'm skipping this one, because I don't really have anything meaningful to say (not that I do for the other categories, but whatever). I'd be fine with any of the nominees winning.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
- Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
- Matthew Fox, Lost
- Michael C. Hall, Dexter
- Jon Hamm, Mad Men
- Hugh Laurie, House

Another one where I don't have too much to say. I'm glad to see that Fox got a nomination, even if he has no chance of winning. He really did excellent work making the audience feel that Jack was the center figure of the show and made everyone forget how terribly his character had been written in previous years. It's also nice to see the Academy giving Friday Night Lights a nod here - lead actor categories are usually almost impossible to break into, and it's refreshing to see them finally recognize a show they've been ignoring for 4 years. Again, I think pretty much everyone here would be deserving of a win.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
- Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
- Glenn Close, Damages
- Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
- January Jones, Mad Men
- Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
- Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Again, I respect the inclusion of Friday Night Lights in this list - which also includes newcomers Julianna Margulies and January Jones (taking the place of Elisabeth Moss, who moved down to supporting to allow her co-star to try for lead). I think Close is the likely winner, though Margulies could be a nice upset - I've been quite impressed with her from my brief experiences with The Good Wife.

Outstanding Comedy Series
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- Glee
- Modern Family
- Nurse Jackie
- The Office
- 30 Rock

If Glee wins this, I will be sorely disappointed. It's not even that I hate the show - I've enjoyed the majority of the episodes that I've seen. But despite it's rabid fanbase of Gleeks (ew), it's an incredibly inconsistent show that has really struggled to latch onto its strengths and has some of the most disorganized, haphazard storytelling I've ever seen. I'm not surprised that it was nominated, but I genuinely think that anyone who watched the full season of Glee and then watched the full seasons of Curb, Modern Family, Community, Parks and Rec, or Chuck would see that Glee just isn't at the level it needs to be. Also disappointing - the wrong half of NBC's Thursday night comedy block was nominated. 30 Rock and The Office both had pretty weak seasons, while Community and Parks and Recreation were fantastic. It's not surprising that the Academy stuck with the two shows, as they are both previous winners, but it's a little annoying. Also odd is the appearance of Nurse Jackie here, which I haven't seen at all, so I won't comment on that, but it's a bit of a surprise. Canceled critical darlings Better Off Ted and Party Down both missed the cut, which is no real surprise, nor is the absence of Chuck from the list. I'm pulling for Modern Family for the win, though Curb would be alright with me as well.

Outstanding Drama Series
- Breaking Bad
- Dexter
- The Good Wife
- Lost
- Mad Men
- True Blood

Yeah, everything pretty much as expected, same shows we saw in the lead actor and actress categories, and...what the fuck? Where the hell did True Blood come from? I honestly thought I had misread that the first time through, and I'm still not sure it's not just a practical joke on the part of the Academy. I've seen random episodes of True Blood before, and while it's not awful, I don't know why it made best drama. It's just bizarre - none of the actors or actresses made it, and they had nothing in the writing or directing categories either. Well, whatever. The rest of the category looks pretty normal for the Emmys. It's probably not what I would have chosen, but I can't really complain either. I'd be happy with Breaking Bad, Mad Men, or Lost taking the category.



So, what do I think about the prospects for this year's Emmy Awards? Well, I think it's pretty much going to be exactly like every other Emmys (except with more Jimmy Fallon. Hmm). Though I started off by saying that there was a lot of new blood nominated this year, the Academy is clearly still incredibly conservative (minus the whole True Blood thing, but that shit is just strange). Shows slightly outside the mainstream, such as: Community, Parks and Recreation, Better Off Ted, Party Down, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Treme, Chuck, Fringe, Caprica; all were largely ignored. I don't think the Emmys are as terrible an awards show as some do, and I'll still be watching this year, but I do think that they still have a long, long way to go before they get things right.

Most outrageous exclusions:
- Community. The show had zero nominations. Zero. I think it was easily the best new comedy of last season, and one of the best on television. But no. Nothing for Joel McHale, nothing for any of the wonderful supporting cast, nothing for writing, direction. And to top it all off: Joel McHale had to read the names of people who were nominated by the Academy. What douches.
- John Noble. I knew that Fringe had absolutely no shot at best drama, despite producing a string of utterly awesome episodes to finish the second season. But Noble did have a shot at supporting actor, and he more than deserved it. He showed incredible range in this season, and it's awful that the Academy snubbed him.
- Any FX show that isn't Damages. I have not seen Justified, Sons of Anarchy, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. However, I know people who are big fans of those shows, and I know that they are all critically acclaimed. But, none of them are about the drama at a law firm (Damages), a conceit that Emmy voters are comfortable with, so they all struck out as well.
- Treme. The HBO show from David Simon of The Wire (a.k.a. One of the Greatest Shows on Television That Received A Whopping Two Emmy Nominations For Writing Over Its Five Season Run) was one of the most well-acted and well-written dramas of the past year. It got one nomination this year. For directing.

Most outrageous inclusions:
- Glee. 19 nominations. I know it must seem from reading this that I hate Glee. I honestly don't. I thinks it a pretty good show that could be a lot better, or a lot worse. I definitely don't think, however, that it is 19 nominations-good.
- True Blood. Just what the fuck? Especially in a year where the voters finally decided to recognize both leads from Friday Night Lights, you would think that would be a natural selection for best drama. Or even Damages, or something. Nope, we get True Blood.

Other points of interest:
- The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien gets 4 nominations. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno gets zip.
- 24 fans (haha) get a little nod for the show's last season with the inclusion of Gregory Itzin for guest actor.
- HBO's miniseries The Pacific beat everyone with 24 nominations, mostly in the technical categories, which I guess is what you get when you spend $150 million on it