Thursday, July 14, 2011

2011 Emmy Noms: The Good, The Bad, and The Snubly

Primetime Emmy noms came out this morning!  Huzzah!  While I know some people just roll their eyes at awards shows and insist they are a joke/all fixed/just another chance for Hollywood peeps to pretend they’re more important than they are, I think the Emmys are a pretty solid way to judge what new shows are hot and what old shows still attract attention.  This can be useful information when say, deciding to write your next spec (hmmm maybe a Justified?) or when deciding to write a pilot (the fact that Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire are both nominated for best drama makes me feel solid about tackling a “period piece” for my next pilot).

She's got the whole world, in her hands!

So, how did the Emmys do?  I present (in my opinion…and probably my opinion only): The Good, The Bad, and The Snubly:

THE GOOD

Overall, I thought most of the nominations looked pretty good…much more to like than not to like.

Best Drama - So excited to see three shows I’ve pushed and profiled on this blog get three of the six drama nomination spots: Friday Night Lights, The Good Wife, and Game of Thrones.  All the shows are awesome (or were awesome…as FNL is now finito).  Not that these shows are huge surprise noms, but I'm still glad.

FNL - FNL’s writing and acting nominations are much deserved as well...Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, and Jason Katims…I heart you all for this show.

Michael J. Fox – Heck yeah!  Michael J. Fox always knocks it out of the park when he’s on The Good Wife…well deserved guest actor nomination.

Peter Dinklage - Not surprised at all to see Peter Dinklage nominated for GOT, as I said earlier this week, I think he is awesome and will/should win.

Mireille Enos – I haven’t watch The Killing (it looks scary!) but Mireille Enos was one of my favorite actors on Big Love…so happy to see her having so much success.

Melissa McCarthy - I’m not a huge comedy nut, and I don’t even watch Mike & Molly (though I’ve read the pilot and thought it was a solid and funny sitcom) but Melissa McCarthy’s nomination makes me happy.  I think she’s a star and she’s hilarious (she steals every scene she’s in, in Bridesmaids).

Jim Parsons – I know TBBT isn’t for everyone and some people find it tired, but I freakin’ love Jim Parsons, so there.

Louis C.K. - Happy for the Louie related noms…every ep of the show that I've seen has cracked me up.

Matt LeBlanc - I haven't seen any of this show because I don't have Showtime, but as a huge fan of Friends from back in the day, I'm happy to see Matt move past Joey.

No Walking Dead - I don't have a grudge against this show, I swear (hey, I watched the whole first season) but as I wrote earlier this year, I thought the show was lacking in some areas.

South Park – Not that Trey Parker and Matt Stone need more awards considering the success of Book of Mormon, but I thought "Crack Baby Athletic Association" was one of the best episodes of TV I’ve watched in the past year…period...and I’m admittedly not a big comedy show watcher.  Glad to see them get nominated for this episode, hope they win.

THE BAD

Mariska – Ah, the obligatory Mariska Hargitay nomination…seems a bit silly at this point, no?  No issue with Ms. Hargitay’s acting and all, but on a procedural the plot is always gonna take center stage, not the characters (or actors playing them).  Ms. Hargitay might be a star and a great actress, but I think her Emmy nomination usually comes at the expense of snubbing another worthy actress.  Also, if you’re gonna nominate her, what about Christopher Meloni (who is btw an AMAZING actor, both comedy and drama).

Modern Family Cast - I’ve only seen a few episodes of Modern Family and I like it, I really do, but seriously, EVERY SINGLE principle cast member nominated for an Emmy?  Maybe if I was a hardcore fan I’d feel differently.

Glee – I watch Glee every week and I really enjoy it, I do, but I felt Glee was pretty mediocre at times this season and not all that funny when it was at its best.   I dunno, best comedy seems a bit much.   I’m down with acting nominations for the talented cast and guest actors, but the show as a whole was lacking in some ways this season or the plots just came out of nowhere/went nowhere at times.

Jon Cryer – I love you Duckie, but I feel like this nomination has a heck of a lot more to do with snubbing Charlie Sheen than the quality of Two and a Half Men as of late.

THE SNUBLY

Justified - I don’t watch Justified, but all my friends tell me it’s the best darn show on TV.  The show got several acting nominations but was itself not nominated for best drama in favor of longer running favorites like Dexter and Mad Men.  Snubbed or not snubbed?

Breaking Bad - Where was Breaking Bad in the nominations?  This is the other “best show on TV” that I’m embarrassed to say I’ve only watched a few episodes of.  Is the lack of nominations due to some schedule thing…like the show not airing a season during the nominations period?  EDIT: Took 5 seconds to look this up because it was bugging me and yeah, duh, the show has been on a hiatus...guess if I watched it more than once a year I would have known.

Parenthood - No nominations for Parenthood.  I know some people find the show hard to connect with because it’s a serial without an obvious and clear driving goal (similar to my issue with The Walking Dead).  Unlike Walking Dead, however, I always feel like I can relate to the sometimes mundane sometimes more serious family issues on the show…and yeah I like it a lot, especially the performances of Peter Krause, Dax Shephard (who is very surprising), and the wonderful Max Burkholder.  Plus Lauren Graham…always good.  Maybe like FNL, this show will pick up awards steam in time (if it continues to stick around).

Community and Raising Hope - Even though I’m admittedly not a huge comedy person, I’ve seen several eps of both of these shows and thought they were both great and very very funny.  I think either probably deserves that Glee spot in the best comedy category.


And that's that...we'll see who wins, who cries, and who dresses like a hot mess when the show airs on 9/18.  I'll also, no doubt, be rooting for some of my reality favorites that night like...Top Chef, SYTYCD (Cat Deeley!), and yeah...Idol...I guess...is it possible to simultaneously love and hate a show you watch every episode of?

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