EMMY NOMINATIONS | This year, much less than usual to gripe about
July 20, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN delfman@ suntimes.com
Well, I guess we don't have the Emmys to pick on this year. Most of the right shows got nominated on Thursday. Most of the wrong ones got naught. Three cheers for the Emmys for not totally sucking!
The most gratifying nods are for Alec Baldwin (best actor in a comedy), Tina Fey (best actress in a comedy) and their show "30 Rock" (best comedy). So, Baldwin's recent offscreen parental rant didn't outweigh his incredible performances.
On the other hand, gay T.R. Knight was nominated for best supporting actor in a drama over his homophobic "Grey's Anatomy" co-star, Isaiah Washington.
To recap: Yelling at your daughter is OK (Baldwin); outing a co-worker as a "faggot" is not (Washington). I think I'm good with that.
Most major nominations are fine choices. Sure, "The Sopranos" and "Grey's Anatomy" are a stretch for best drama. Even many "Sopranos" fans didn't love this past season, and "Grey's" was annoying. But at least "Sopranos" and "Grey's" were finely shot, as opposed to Emmy's biggest clunker -- a best comedy nod for "Two and a Half Men." All that show deserves is two and a half viewers.
An unworthy nomination like that makes you think the Emmys are just giving kudos to cash cows, to make networks happy.
Then again, nominators didn't kowtow to rabid fan bases for overrated hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," or the critically acclaimed but tiresome "Friday Night Lights" and "Battlestar Galactica." All those series were shut out of big awards.
If I could tell the Emmy people one thing, it would be, "Watch more Showtime and FX." Showtime's "Dexter" and its star, Michael C. Hall (as a serial killer who only kills other killers), deserved loving and didn't get any. FX's great "Rescue Me" was forgotten too, except for star Denis Leary. I'll be rooting for him to win best actor in a drama.
Like Oscar nods, Emmy nominations are impossible for cartoons to get outside of animation categories. "South Park," "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" picked up exactly the same number of lesser nominations as "According to Jim": one. That's absurd.
Also reflecting recent Academy Awards history, the Emmys' strongest category again rewards best dramatic actresses. Women are shining on TV. Minnie Driver probably should win for FX's "The Riches."
But there is one huge omission in the supporting actress list. The fantastically talented Mary McDonnell from "Battlestar Galactica" was overlooked in favor of women from "Grey's," "Sopranos" and "Brothers & Sisters." That's a huge mistake.
And the miniseries and TV movie field is a joke. HBO's mediocre "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" collected a category-record 17 nominations. USA's awful "The Starter Wife" got 10. ABC's heinous "Path to 9/11" has seven nominations. The problem here isn't the Emmys, though. The state of miniseries and movies on TV is just dismal.
On a little bright side, Prince's Super Bowl halftime show was nominated for a technical award. You may not remember, but after he performed, a bunch of sex-obsessed prudes went national with their complaint that his guitar cast a silhouette that reminded them of weedwacker-sized penises they've apparently come in contact with over the years.
Evidently, these prudes had never seen a guitar silhouette before, during, oh, the past 60 years. This is news? So, hurrah for the Emmys for sticking up for half of a century of super obvious guitar symbolism.
Other big categories
Lead drama actor: James Spader, ''Boston Legal"; Hugh Laurie, ''House''; Denis Leary, ''Rescue Me''; James Gandolfini, ''The Sopranos''; Kiefer Sutherland, ''24."
Lead drama actress: Sally Field, ''Brothers & Sisters''; Kyra Sedgwick, ''The Closer''; Mariska Hargitay, ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; Patricia Arquette, ''Medium''; Minnie Driver, ''The Riches''; Edie Falco, ''The Sopranos.''
Lead comedy actor: Ricky Gervais, ''Extras''; Tony Shalhoub, ''Monk''; Steve Carell, ''The Office''; Alec Baldwin, ''30 Rock''; Charlie Sheen, ''Two and a Half Men.''
Lead comedy actress: Felicity Huffman, ''Desperate Housewives''; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ''The New Adventures of Old Christine''; Tina Fey, ''30 Rock''; America Ferrera, ''Ugly Betty''; Mary-Louise Parker, ''Weeds.''
Miniseries: ''Broken Trail,'' AMC; ''Prime Suspect: The Final Act,'' PBS; ''The Starter Wife,'' USA.
Movie: ''Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,'' HBO; ''Inside the Twin Towers,'' Discovery Channel; ''Longford,'' HBO; ''The Ron Clark Story,'' TNT; ''Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy,'' Lifetime.
BY DOUG ELFMAN delfman@ suntimes.com
Well, I guess we don't have the Emmys to pick on this year. Most of the right shows got nominated on Thursday. Most of the wrong ones got naught. Three cheers for the Emmys for not totally sucking!
The most gratifying nods are for Alec Baldwin (best actor in a comedy), Tina Fey (best actress in a comedy) and their show "30 Rock" (best comedy). So, Baldwin's recent offscreen parental rant didn't outweigh his incredible performances.
On the other hand, gay T.R. Knight was nominated for best supporting actor in a drama over his homophobic "Grey's Anatomy" co-star, Isaiah Washington.
To recap: Yelling at your daughter is OK (Baldwin); outing a co-worker as a "faggot" is not (Washington). I think I'm good with that.
Most major nominations are fine choices. Sure, "The Sopranos" and "Grey's Anatomy" are a stretch for best drama. Even many "Sopranos" fans didn't love this past season, and "Grey's" was annoying. But at least "Sopranos" and "Grey's" were finely shot, as opposed to Emmy's biggest clunker -- a best comedy nod for "Two and a Half Men." All that show deserves is two and a half viewers.
An unworthy nomination like that makes you think the Emmys are just giving kudos to cash cows, to make networks happy.
Then again, nominators didn't kowtow to rabid fan bases for overrated hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," or the critically acclaimed but tiresome "Friday Night Lights" and "Battlestar Galactica." All those series were shut out of big awards.
If I could tell the Emmy people one thing, it would be, "Watch more Showtime and FX." Showtime's "Dexter" and its star, Michael C. Hall (as a serial killer who only kills other killers), deserved loving and didn't get any. FX's great "Rescue Me" was forgotten too, except for star Denis Leary. I'll be rooting for him to win best actor in a drama.
Like Oscar nods, Emmy nominations are impossible for cartoons to get outside of animation categories. "South Park," "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" picked up exactly the same number of lesser nominations as "According to Jim": one. That's absurd.
Also reflecting recent Academy Awards history, the Emmys' strongest category again rewards best dramatic actresses. Women are shining on TV. Minnie Driver probably should win for FX's "The Riches."
But there is one huge omission in the supporting actress list. The fantastically talented Mary McDonnell from "Battlestar Galactica" was overlooked in favor of women from "Grey's," "Sopranos" and "Brothers & Sisters." That's a huge mistake.
And the miniseries and TV movie field is a joke. HBO's mediocre "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" collected a category-record 17 nominations. USA's awful "The Starter Wife" got 10. ABC's heinous "Path to 9/11" has seven nominations. The problem here isn't the Emmys, though. The state of miniseries and movies on TV is just dismal.
On a little bright side, Prince's Super Bowl halftime show was nominated for a technical award. You may not remember, but after he performed, a bunch of sex-obsessed prudes went national with their complaint that his guitar cast a silhouette that reminded them of weedwacker-sized penises they've apparently come in contact with over the years.
Evidently, these prudes had never seen a guitar silhouette before, during, oh, the past 60 years. This is news? So, hurrah for the Emmys for sticking up for half of a century of super obvious guitar symbolism.
Other big categories
Lead drama actor: James Spader, ''Boston Legal"; Hugh Laurie, ''House''; Denis Leary, ''Rescue Me''; James Gandolfini, ''The Sopranos''; Kiefer Sutherland, ''24."
Lead drama actress: Sally Field, ''Brothers & Sisters''; Kyra Sedgwick, ''The Closer''; Mariska Hargitay, ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; Patricia Arquette, ''Medium''; Minnie Driver, ''The Riches''; Edie Falco, ''The Sopranos.''
Lead comedy actor: Ricky Gervais, ''Extras''; Tony Shalhoub, ''Monk''; Steve Carell, ''The Office''; Alec Baldwin, ''30 Rock''; Charlie Sheen, ''Two and a Half Men.''
Lead comedy actress: Felicity Huffman, ''Desperate Housewives''; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ''The New Adventures of Old Christine''; Tina Fey, ''30 Rock''; America Ferrera, ''Ugly Betty''; Mary-Louise Parker, ''Weeds.''
Miniseries: ''Broken Trail,'' AMC; ''Prime Suspect: The Final Act,'' PBS; ''The Starter Wife,'' USA.
Movie: ''Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,'' HBO; ''Inside the Twin Towers,'' Discovery Channel; ''Longford,'' HBO; ''The Ron Clark Story,'' TNT; ''Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy,'' Lifetime.
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