Poll Results – Who SHOULD Win The Outstanding Actress In A Drama Emmy?

With nine votes cast, the turnout for this poll wasn't as large as for the one for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy where there were 22 votes cast, it was still larger than the turnout for the Actress in a Comedy category where only five people voted. The voting pattern continues to solidify my views on just how long future polling periods should be. And while my Internet connection has gotten faster (much faster than it was) it has a tendency to drop for a few seconds without apparent provocation. Just in case you were interested.

The results were as follows. Tied for fifth place with no votes were last year's winner Glenn Close from Damages and Holly Hunter from Saving Grace. In a tie for third place are the 2007 winner Sally Field from Brothers and Sisters and
Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order SVU who won in 2006. They each had one vote (11.11%). In second place was Kyra Sedgwick from The Closer, with three votes (33.33%). But the surprise winner was Elizabeth Moss from Mad Men with four votes (44.44%). It's interesting to note that Sedgwick and Moss led from the beginning, with Sedgwick edging ahead on the fifth day of polling but with Moss taking the lead the next day.

I have to say that I'm not at all convinced that the voters are right in this one. First of all I think that Glenn Close will win this battle of the Oscar nominees (Hunter has four nominations and one win, Field has two nomination and won both times, and Glenn Close has been nominated five times – and never won which I constantly amazed at). I'm not entirely convinced that she's the best actress of the group, but she has the name and the reputation and it's a showy role. Since I don't watch Brothers And Sisters on a regular basis I can't be sure if Field has brought anything new to role of Nora Walker. Certainly Mariska Hargitay hasn't changed things up too much in Law & Order: SVU. She's an excellent actress but I'm not sure why she keeps getting nominated.

Turning to the actresses who I consider to have turned in the best performances, my personal favourite is probably Holly Hunter. Grace Hanadarko is a deeply scarred and twisted character who has been given a second chance to try to be a good person even though the temptations that she faces and the life she is living aren't always conducive to her reform. As for Kyra Sedgwick's Brenda Leigh Johnson, she faces none of the metaphorical demons (and one very real angel) that Grace does but she is very hard when she is in her element – interrogating suspects – and confused and vulnerable when she is out of it. As a character Brenda is a great deal of fun to watch.

Which leads us to Elizabeth Moss and the character of Peggy Olson on Mad Men. There is a part of me that feels that Moss is nominated in the wrong category; that the only lead character in Mad Men is John Hamm's Don Draper, and that the other characters are there to support him. And yet I don't think you can ignore the emergence of Peggy Olson as a character on this show. She has gone from being the largely innocent secretary turned junior copywriter with a secret in the first season to become one of the powers in the office of Sterling Cooper, eclipsing both the women that she worked with in the secretarial pool, including the chief secretary Joan Hollaway, and many of the male characters, some of who are senior to her. Time and again we see glimpses of Peggy that give her greater depth and reveal more about her. Meeting the women of her family, who basically resent her for rising above her station (this is particularly true of her sister) give us a sense of why she frequently acts in such a repressed manner. And yet Peggy is coming into her own. There's a scene in the next to last episode that illustrates this quite well I think. Alone in the empty office before a huge presentation, without her mentor and safety net Don Draper to take charge, Peggy takes a cigarette and starts smoking. It's clear from the way that she does it that this is the first time she's smoked, and perhaps the last. In a way it signifies the moment that she becomes an adult at the office because after a few puffs she puts the cigarette out and has apparently gained the confidence that she needs because she wins the contract for the company. Throughout the season Elizabeth Moss has turned in little moments like that that add up to a strong performance. But I'm still not sure if it is a role that deserves to be considered a lead, and I'm definitely not convinced that it is on a level with Holly Hunter's Grace.

New poll up shortly.

New Poll - Who SHOULD Win The Outstanding Actress In A Drama Emmy?

Here we go again with the Emmy poll for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama. As always, vote for the actress that you think should win in this category, not necessarily the one that you believe will win. The Nominees are:

Glenn Close - Damages
Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: SVU
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer

As always I desperately want to see comments on why you voted the way that you did, and I am more than willing to keep those comments anonymous.

The poll will end at noon (approximately) on Thursday August 13^th.

Poll Results - Who SHOULD Win The Outstanding Actor In A Comedy Emmy?

I'm back with the results of the poll on who should win the "Outstanding Actor in a Comedy" Emmy, and I have to say that I'm impressed on a number of levels. After the anaemic turn-out in the first poll, I wasn't expecting many votes, but the response to this poll totally exceeded even my most optimistic expectations. On another note, the voting patterns, which I have also been tracking seem to reinforce the results of the first poll as to when people vote in these things. Of course more data is required to come up with a definitive answer, but what I'm getting so far is probably going to have an effect on how I do poll in the future.

Now to the results of the voting. There were 22 votes cast – four times as many as in the first poll for reasons I don't fully understand...yet. In sixth place, with no votes is Charlie Sheen from Two And A Half Men. In fifth place, with one vote (4.55%) was Jemaine Clement from Flight Of The Conchords. In fourth place with three votes (13.64%) was last year's winner in this category – both in this poll and at the awards – Alec Baldwin from 30 Rock. In third place, with four votes (18.18%) is another previous winner in this category, Steve Carell from The Office. In what for me was a surprising second place was yet another multiple winner in this category, Tony Shaloub from Monk. But the winner with eight votes (36.36%) was Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory.

As usual, Charlie Sheen gets no love from people voting in this category on this blog. And as usual I will make the comment that he's probably crying all the way to the bank. His father has enough Emmys for the whole family anyway. The poor turnout for Flight Of The Conchords star Jemaine Clement probably has a dual cause; his show is on HBO and the focus of this blog tends to be on broadcast TV. Clement, and the show, was the subject of the only comment that I received for this poll (and just as a reminder, I do welcome, and even beg for, comments on why you voted the way you did – I'm even willing to make them anonymous on the blog) even though part of it was a sales pitch for some merchandise: "Their music rocks and i love their show. Who knew kiwis were so funny! I especially love there (sic) First season of songs." Since I can't afford HBO Canada, I can't possibly comment intelligently. The only New Zealander that most of us get exposed to is Phil Keoghan, who I find to be somewhat funny.

Moving on, we have Alec Baldwin and Steve Carell. Although Carell received one more vote than Baldwin, I'm lumping them together here because it is my expectation that either Baldwin or Carell is the likely winner in this category (although they aren't who I want to win) and if I had to choose between the two I'd say that it would be Baldwin who will win. I believe that the Academy voters like what they perceive to be "intelligent" and "sophisticated" comedy. What will probably give Baldwin an edge in the voting is that 30 Rock is a show about television and very specifically about NBC. I'm willing to bet that people in the industry will see people that they know reflected in the show.

I want to spend a minute on Tony Shaloub who is doing his last season of Monk right now. Shaloub regularly gets more votes in this poll than I usually expect him to – he finished second to Alec Baldwin last year and in third place in 2007 – for a show that, if others better qualified to comment than I (who again doesn't have access to the most recent episodes of this show) are to be believed is becoming less sharp as the years have passed. I'm not saying that Shaloub doesn't deserve the nomination, I am however questioning whether he deserves eight votes in this poll.

Or winner however is Jim Parsons, and I think that the acclaim here is well deserved (I should mention however that this is the only one of the nominated comedies that I watch on a regular basis). While The Big Bang Theory is at its heart a fairly routine comedy about a group of friends with a "fish out of water" aspect in the form of Kelly Cuoco's character Penny, and a hint of unrequited love thrown into the mix, Parsons as Sheldon is an absolute stand-out. As the obnoxious roommate/best friend from Hell he's hilarious. He nails the behaviour of this uber-geek so well that there have been several things written trying to diagnose Leonard's behaviour – they tend to come down on the side of Leonard suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, a view that Parson himself agrees with, saying that Sheldon "couldn't display more traits" of AS." His lack of a sense of humour, his total failure to understand irony and his obsessive compulsive adherence to routines ("You're sitting in my spot.") are the principal sources of comedy in this show. What makes Parsons worthy of this award – and why I personally think that he should win it – is that in the wrong hands this role could be obnoxious and a caricature, one of the most disliked characters on TV. The obvious comparison is with Jaleel White's Urkel character on Family Matters; Urkel took over the leading part in the series, but can anyone really say that they liked Urkel as a person? Sheldon could have been the "next Urkel" but instead Parsons has given him enough endearing qualities that for all of his obnoxious character quirks we, as the audience, like him and his friends on the show don't want to throw him under a bus...too often.

New poll up in a few minutes.

Poll Results - Who SHOULD Win The Outstanding Actress In A Comedy Emmy?

Our first Emmy Poll and I've got some interesting preliminary data. Oh not about who you think should win the Emmy; we're dealing with a small sample size here and the result was about what I was expecting. No, what I'm thinking of here is when you voted. If nothing else this should allow me to streamline next year's process assuming some degree of consistency in the data over the long term. Assuming of course that there is a "next year" (well you never know what's going to happen in 365 days – we've all lost friends suddenly).

As to the poll results, there were five votes cast. Tied for fifth place in this six horse race were Sarah Silverman and Mary Louise Parker with no votes. In a three-way tie for second place are Christina Applegate, Toni Collette, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss with one vote each (20%). But the winner with two votes is Tina Fey with two votes (40%) Yeah, I know, hardly a ringing endorsement.

Still I think you guys got it exactly right. You know that I don't watch comedies very much, but you'd have to have your head buried pretty deep in the sand (or some other dark and even more inaccessible place not to hear the news that 2008-09 was Tina Fey's year. She was in the perfect place at the perfect time for the arrival of Sarah Palin on the scene, which is why I anticipate that she'll win the Guest Actress in a Comedy Emmy as well, but you can't ignore the fact that doing Palin on Saturday Night Live had have an impact on viewership of 30 Rock. Add to that the fact that she won last year – deservedly – and that 30 Rock has maintained its quality, and you come to the conclusion that she's heading for another date with Emmy. But hey, what do I know – I've never seen a full episode of any of these shows!

New poll up in a few minutes.

New Poll – Who SHOULD Win The Outstanding Actress In A Comedy Emmy?

I wrote this yesterday and thought I had posted it but obviously something went wrong, so here's the abbreviated version.

Vote for the Actress who you think should win the Emmy in this category. The nominees are:

Christina Applegate - Samantha Who?
Toni Collette - The United States of Tara
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures of Old Christine
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Mary-Louis Parker - Weeds
Sarah Silverman - The Sarah Silverman Program

The polling period will last nine days. This year for the first time I will be tracking the number of votes cast by day and for whom they are cast (just to satisfy my own curiosity).

Please feel free to comment on the reasons why you voted the way that you did. I'll include the comments in the post listing the results and offer my own opinions. Actually my knowledge of the shows in this category is so limited that having someone else available to offer opinions would be most welcome.

Remeber, the deadline for this poll is noon on July 26^th.

Emmy Nominations 2009

The Emmy nominations are out and I'm suddenly left to wonder where the summer has gone. Oh sure, we've still got half of July and all of August and the first couple of weeks in September before the new TV season starts but all the things I wanted to do that haven't been done. I was (and still may) recap the one and only season of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, a show I still feel was unfairly abused by the critics, mishandled by the network, and sadly ignored by the mass of the public, in the latter case for apparently treating the audience as if it was smarter – and less sheep-like – than it apparently was. But no, the Emmy nominations are out and that means the Emmy polls and the analysis of the categories and the comments that go with it and even now it is putting me to sleep just thinking of it. Or maybe that's the allergy tablet I took a couple of hours ago. And yes, for anyone who thinks that this stuff is unimportant, I do realise that in the context of worldwide recession, international crises and yet another Canadian soldier dying in Afghanistan this morning writing about the Emmy Awards is a frivolous use of time, but writing about TV is what I like to do.

Before I get on to a quick glance at the "major categories" in this year's Emmy Awards, I would like to show you part of what is wrong with the Emmy Awards by showing you the nominees in the two writing categories:

Outstanding Writing For A Comedy
Flight Of The Conchords – "Prime Minister" (HBO) - James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie,
30 Rock – "Reunion" (NBC) - Matt Hubbard
30 Rock – "Apollo, Apollo" (NBC) - Robert Carlock
30 Rock – "Mamma Mia" (NBC) - Ron Weiner
30 Rock – "Kidney Now!" (NBC) - Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock

Outstanding Writing For A Drama
Lost – "The Incident" - (ABC) - Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof
Mad Men – "A Night To Remember" - (AMC) - Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men – "Six Month Leave" - (AMC) - Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Matthew Weiner
Mad Men – "The Jet Set" - (AMC) - Matthew Weiner
Mad Men – "Meditations In An Emergency" - (AMC) - Kater Gordon, Matthew Weiner

And there you have part of the problem with the Emmys summed up in a proverbial nutshell. Apparently only two comedies and two dramas were considered "worthy" of a nomination in their respective categories. And presumably if Mad Men and 30 Rock could have come up with a fifth writing team they could have gone without competition from any other show. This business of multiple nominations for a given show – even if the categories are for writing teams rather than shows – indicates a certain clsed mindedness amongst the academy. I'm certainly not convinced that there wasn't at least one episode of Battlestar Galactica that was better than the worst of the for four episodes of Mad Men that were nominated, and the same goes for the comedy category – surely there was an episode of The Office that could or should – have been nominated instead.

Several of the major categories have more than five nominees. This apparently is a result of a quirk in the Emmy rules which allows shows to be nominated if the number of votes they receive in the nomination process falls within a certain percentage of the nominee with the fifth highest total. Even so, as always there were a lot of snubs and a lot of "questionable" inclusions. Is Tony Shaloub really worthy of yet another Actor in a Comedy nomination for the tired and soon to be departing Monk? Anyway here are the major categories and a few more which caught my attention.

Outstanding Comedy Series
Entourage - (HBO)
Family Guy - (Fox)
Flight of the Conchords - (HBO)
How I Met Your Mother - (CBS)
The Office - (NBC)
30 Rock - (NBC)
Weeds - (Showtime)

Entourage is nominated yet again even though a lot of critics that I respect feel that the latest season of the show has been the worst yet. One interesting entries in this seven-way race is Family Guy. Family Guy is the first animated show to be nominated for Outstanding Comedy since 1960 and The Flintstones. Of course back then the category was called "Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor," but it was up against The Jack Benny Program (which won), Candid Camera and The Andy Griffith Show so that counts.

Outstanding Drama Series
Big Love - (HBO)
Breaking Bad - (AMC)
Damages - (FX)
Dexter - (Showtime)
House - (Fox)
Lost - (ABC)
Mad Men - (AMC)

More proof – if any is needed – of the depths that network drama has fallen. Of seven shows nominated, only two – House and Lost – are from a broadcast network. Beyond that there are no shows from the most watched network CBS. Of course there are no shows nominated from NBC or The CW but really, have either of them produced any show that is worthy of a nomination? A bigger travesty is that two departing shows Battlestar Galactica and The Shield weren't nominated (something that we shall see carried on through most of the categories. The snub for Battlestar Galactica can probably be explained by the collective prejudice that the Emmys have against science fiction and fantasy, regardless of how good those shows are, but what explains the refusal to honour The Shield? And what explains Friday Night Lights?

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race - (CBS)
American Idol - (Fox)
Dancing with the Stars - (ABC)
Project Runway - (Bravo)
Top Chef - (Bravo)

I confess that this is one of my favourite categories because it includes my favourite show. Of course it has edged towards a "usual suspects" line-up of nominees. In fact this is the exact same list of shows that were nominated in 2008... and 2007. Obviously the Emmys decided not to reward the "sturm und drang" that was on display in this year's edition of Celebrity Apprentice. I have no expectation (or wish) that the winner will be different this year than it was last... or the year before... or the year before that.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell - The Office (NBC)
Jemaine Clement - The Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Tony Shalhoub - Monk (HBO)
Charlie Sheen - Two and a Half Men (CBS)

It must be very frustrating to be Charlie Sheen, to star on the top rated situation comedy on network TV, and to be nominated repeatedly for an Emmy and not only never win but have people complain about you being nominated more than they complain about Tony Shaloub being nominated for the increasingly unfunny Monk. Charlie will never be the hip new thing. That role is filled this year by Jermaine Clement from The Flight of the Conchords and even more by Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory. Nor will he ever have the critical acclaim that Alec Baldwin and Steve Carell receive for their shows (and how awesome would it be to have Baldwin and Carell present an award and actually hav time to work off of each other – make it happen please). Yeah, I'm sure that Charlie Sheen is crying about this... all the way to the bank.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
Christina Applegate - Samantha Who? (ABC)
Toni Collette - The United States of Tara (Showtime)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
Tina Fey - 30 Rock (NBC)
Mary-Louis Parker - Weeds (Showtime)
Sarah Silverman - The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central)

What I know about this category is this: Tina Fey - very funny; Christina Applegate - cancelled (and had a mastectomy); Mary Louise Parker - nude scene in the bath. In other words I know nothing about the performances nominated in this category.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
Simon Baker - The Mentalist (CBS)
Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment (HBO)
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael C. Hall - Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm - Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie - House (Fox)

The only change in the list of nominees this year from last year – which also had six nominations – to this year is that they've quite rightly dumped James Spader and in his place inserted Simon Baker from The Mentalist. Now don't get me wrong, I like Simon Baker. He mixes an impish charm and inquisitiveness with a sense of tragedy and sadness that totally makes his character. He's just not going to win. Edward James Olmos or maybe Michael Chiklis would be contenders in this category if it weren't for that whole not being nominated thing. Kyle Chandler should have been nominated too for Friday Night Lights. Bryan Cranston pulled out a surprise win last year, and I think it's between him and John Hamm again this time around.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series
Glenn Close - Damages (FX)
Sally Field - Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace (TNT)
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men (AMC)
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer (TNT)

Just about everything I said about the Lead Actor Drama category can be said about this one. Okay, so there were only five nominees in the category last year, but all five are nominated again. This time they're joined by Elizabeth Moss for her work as the ambitious Peggy Olson in Mad Men but good as she was she probably won't win the Emmy. In terms of snubs in ths category, I'm not familiar enough with The Shield to know if there was a strong enough female role to to qualify for lead actress (maybe CCH Pounder?), but I do think it was incredible that Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin deserves not only to be nominated but also to win. No mention of Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton either. And I don't even want to start on the Katherine Heigl thing except to say that she was right to take herself out of contention in 2008 – given the Emmy's obvious propensity to repeat nominations as if by rote as seen in these two categories – because her part wasn't nomination worthy last season.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
Jon Cryer - Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Kevin Dillon - Entourage (HBO)
Jack McBrayer - 30 Rock (HBO)
Tracy Morgan - 30 Rock (HBO)
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Jeremy Piven - Entourage (HBO)
Rainn Wilson - The Office (HBO)

Why does Jon Cryer always get sent to the Supporting Actor category from Two and a Half Men? It strikes me that he carries at least as much of the acting load as Charlie Sheen does and does so with far less credit. Not that he's going to win in either category of course. Jeremy Piven has totally owned this category for the past three years, and even though the show has increasingly gone down hill he can't be counted out. There's a lot of talent in this category, and a lot of great characters as well. The hope is that Neil Patrick Harris will finally win some recognition for playing the legen – wait for it – dary Barney Stinson, but I can't help but worry that he'll lose to the showier roles played by Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer and Rainn Wilson. As long as he doesn't lose to Jermey Piven, I'll be happy.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Jane Krakowski - 30 Rock (NBC)
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds (HBO)
Amy Poehler - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Kristin Wiig - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty (ABC)

The nominees are all worthy – which is to say that none came from According To Jim, Kath & Kim or Do Not Disturb, but I would love to see Kristin Chenoweth win just because. I don't expect her to, but I love for her to.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Christian Clemenson - Boston Legal (ABC)
Michael Emerson - Lost (ABC)
William Hurt - Damages (FX)
Aaron Paul - Breaking Bad (AMC)
William Shatner - Boston Legal (ABC)
John Slattery - Mad Men (AMC)

Shatner? Shatner?! Hasn't he been nominated enough for this award? Otherwise this is a category stocked with strong actors and and amazing performances. But again, four out of the six actors in this categories were nominated last year and there are only one new shows represented on this list at all, the nomination for Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Rose Byrne - Damages (FX)
Hope Davis - In Treatment (HBO)
Rachel Griffiths - Brothers & Sisters (HBO)
Cherry Jones - 24 (Fox)
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Dianne Wiest - In Treatment (HBO)

The Supporting Actress in a Drama category is another one with strong performances. Only three of the nominees form last year are back – Rachel Griffiths, Sandra Oh and last year's winner Dianne Wiest – which is a pleasant change from the other acting categories. I've seen Cherry Jones's performance as the tough but loving (at times to the point where her love for someone overrides her good judgement) President of the United States in 24 and Sandra Oh's work in Grey's Anatomy which first rate. Naturally I don't expect either of them to win.

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series

Alan Alda - 30 Rock (NBC)
Beau Bridges - Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Jon Hamm - 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Martin - 30 Rock (NBC)
Justin Timberlake - Saturday Night Live (NBC)

I'll be honest with you; of the nominees I only saw Beau Bridge's performance on Desperate Housewives and while I liked the character and his story, quite frankly it totally failed to blow me away. One of the others has to be better, right?

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series
Edward Asner - CSI: NY (CBS)
Ernest Borgnine - ER (NBC)
Ted Danson - Damages (FX)
Michael J. Fox - Rescue Me (FX)
Jimmy Smits - Dexter (Showtime)

I wanted to comment on this category to to mention how blown away I was by Ed Asner's work in this particular episode of CSI: New York. The show doesn't get that much attention but his performance as an elderly man whose whole life since World War II has been an elaborate lie absolutely blew me away. He won't win – it will probably go to Michael J. Fox for playing against type in Rescue Me because the Emmy voters love him and his fight against Parkinsons Diseas – but I thought it was a great performance.

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series
Jennifer Aniston - 30 Rock (NBC)
Christine Baranski - The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Tina Fey - Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Gena Rowlands - Monk (USA)
Elaine Stritch - 30 Rock (NBC)
Betty White - My Name is Earl (NBC)

Tell me that we don't know that Tina Fey is going to win this one. She had the perfect character served up to her on a silver platter and she knocked it right out of the ballpark, sometimes just by using Sarah Palin's own words.. Which in a way is a shame, if only because it cuts out Christine Baranski's inspired performance as Sheldon's mother.

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series
Brenda Blethyn - Law & Order; SVU (NBC)
Carol Burnett - Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Ellen Burstyn - Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Sharon Lawrence - Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
CCH Pounder - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (HBO)

I've only seen all of Sharon Lawrence's performance in this category and just the tail end of Carol Burnett's part so it's not fair of me to comment. Still, the little bit I saw of Carol's role in this episode absolutely blew me away and reminded me once again of just how much range this lady has.

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program
Tom Bergeron - Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Phil Keoghan - The Amazing Race (CBS)
Heidi Klum - Project Runway (Bravo)
Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio - Top Chef (Bravo)
Jeff Probst - Survivor (CBS)
Ryan Seacrest - American Idol (Fox)

How do you get seven nominees in six nominations? Are Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio somehow joined bodily to each other? (I mean I'd like to be joined bodily with but that has nothing to do with hosting unless it was on Cinemax.) The only notable thing in this category this year is that the Emmys corrected last year's snub and nominated Phil Keoghan for his work on The Amazing Race. I for one am glad that he wasn't nominated last year so that he didn't have to participate in that hosting travesty last year.

The Primetime Emmy Awards will be held on September 20^th – I think, since they were moved at least once due to conflicts with something else on TV. Sadly this, together with the absolute determination to end the show on time at the expense of prepared material and even acceptance speeches in major categories, shows the regard with which the awards are held in the very medium they honour. At least this year they have one host, and an awesome one at that: Neil Patrick Harris who did such a spectacular job at the Tony Awards that people were actually talking about the Tony Awards after they ended.

On The Fifth Day Of Christmas

On the fifth day of Christmas (which has already passed) my true love – Television – gave to me ... five Emmy hosts.

What were they thinking?

I mean seriously: What were they THINKING?!

I'm getting this out late because I spent a cold and not overly clement Tuesday with my little nephew, which really meant watching cartoons on Teletoon here in Canada. This would normally spark a rant on the quality of the modern TV cartoon as compared with the stuff that I used to watch as a kid. The stuff I used to watch was better, and if he can say the same thing when he gets to be my age then the art form will be in seriously deep doo-doo. However I had already planned to talk about the Emmys and the decision to use the five reality show hosts nominees as hosts for the Emmys which in its own way shows that something is in seriously deep doo-doo.

I'm not entirely sure what the rationale was for choosing to spotlight the five nominees for "Outstanding Host for a Reality Show or Reality Competition" as hosts for Emmys. That the category was new is scarcely reason enough to make the choice. Of the five reality show hosts – Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, and Ryan Seacrest – only Howie Mandel is really used to working in comedy and before a live audience. Thanks to his work in game shows over the years Bergeron is probably almost as polished as Mandel. For the rest, their skills vary from marginal – Seacrest hosted the Emmys in 2007 and failed miserably – to non-existent in the case of Heidi Klum. Even so the experiment might have worked, or at least functioned adequately, if they hadn't insisted on having more than one of the hosts working at any one time. But – at least during the times when you actually saw the hosts which was increasingly rare as the show continued – the producers insisted on having two or more of the hosts working at a time.

Of course the business with the hosts was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to problems with the Emmy Awards. A certain amount of the problem might have been beyond the control of the producers. A significant number of the nominated shows, performers, writers and directors came from cable series and networks shows that quite frankly were artistic and critical successes but not necessarily seen by a large number of people even in the current climate of reduced audiences. The result would seem to be a reduced number of viewers turning in from the beginning.

Still there were a great many things that the producers of the show did have control over. While the TV networks insist that the Emmys be broadcast live rather than taped and edited, they also insist that the show run to time. The producers know this – or rather should know this since they've been doing the show for years – but still insist on writing stand-alone comedy material like the initial presentation of the hosts or the "tribute" to Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. In Fact the Laugh-In tribute may very well have been the worst thing of the night artistically – the jokes were bad, the performers who showed up weren't as sharp as they were thirty years ago (Alan Sues in particular seemed sadly like he was either drunk for real or suffering quite ill) and the whole seemed to have absolutely no purpose. The producers also put jokes in the category introductions for the presenters, most of which actually work better than the stand-alone material. The problem is that as the show rolls on, material increasingly gets cut for time. And it's usually not the stand-alone stuff but the presenter material. By the end of this year's Emmys the hosts were never seen (as hosts that is, but I'll get into that in a moment) and the presenters barely had time to be announced, emerge and read the names. No jokes, in fact no preface at all to what they were about to do. I'm not even sure if they showed clips of the nominated shows.

Which brings us to one of the worst excesses of the 2008 Emmys, the presentation of the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality Show or Reality Competition. While the presenters for the Outstanding Drama category were reduced to walking to the nearest microphone, swiftly reading out the names of the nominees and getting out of the way of the thundering herd from Mad Men it took about ten minutes and a commercial break for them to present Jeff Probst with his Emmy in a sort of mock tribal council or some other reality elimination format. Beyond the fact that it was boring as hell and badly presented the worst part of it was the waste of time that could have been used for better material, not to mention for a better category. Even the Outstanding Reality Competition category, which by virtually any measurable standard is the more important category, got short shrift as a result. And for the life of me I don't know why they focused on this particular category.

So what does the Television Academy have to do to make the 2009 Emmys if not more successful at least more palatable? Well, first of all, cut the number of hosts down to one or at most two. Whoever does host the show should be big – Craig Ferguson, or maybe Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer. Second, cut the extraneous stuff to a minimum – the obituary reel, a tribute to some notable show or person and do that with clips – but beyond that just focus on presenting the awards. And when you're doing it, keep the jokes to a minimum, particularly in the "lesser" categories. Those are the ones where the presenter should come out and just announce the names of the nominees. And for heaven's sake, when you time the rehearsals remember that sometimes winners talk longer than the amount of time you allot for them, and that people actually laugh at jokes – even the one's your writers come up with. Take the jokes out in rehearsal so you don't have to cut more and more as the show goes on and the important categories come up. Just my opinion of course, but that might make the whole show a bit more watchable.

Emmy Liveblogging

About five minutes before the big show starts. I haven't been watching the "pre-game" show on KTLA. You'd think they'd do a better job, what with all the experience they've had. The big question for me - besides, you know who's going to win and all - is how are they going to handle the "five host" concept. Mandel likely the best and Bergeron should be good. Probst won't be bad and Heidi Klum is pretty so that makes up for the accent and everyhting else. But what's Ryan Seacrest's excuse. We know how bad he was last year.

More as things get going.

Well that went well. Oprah came out and introduced the show...seriously. Then she introduced the actual hosts and things started going downhill. The "Fab Five" came out all in tuxes (but no tie for Probst) and Probst, Seacrest, and Mandel did all the talking about how they had nothing to talk about while Bergeron and Klum looked ncreasingly annoyed. When the talkers left Bergeron and Klum started talking about them, ending the bit with Bergeron and William Shatner pulling LKlum`s tux of to reveal a better outfit. Oprah was funnier.

First award presented by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (who were funnier than the hosts) Supporting Actor in a Comedy to Jeremy Piven. Again.

Bergeron and Seacrest introduce Julia Louis Dreyfus from a set like the diner in Seinfeld which serves to introduce a clip from the masturbation episode (never watched Seinfeld). She was funnier than the hosts in her intro. Presented Supporting Actress in a Comedy to Jean Smart from Samantha Who? Well at least I though she had a shot at it.

Tom Bergeron and Heidi Klum talk about women on TV which leads to a clip from Desperate Housewives and the cast showing up in a mock-up of part of the set. They give the Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Comedy to Zeljko Ivanek from Damages. Good but surprising choice; have to see that some time. Next there's a very funny bit with Ricky Gervaise about how to give an awards speech followed by an even funnier bit with Gervaise trying to get his Emmy from last year back from Steve Carell. The award for Director Variety, Music or Comedy is a bit of a comedown after that. It goes to Oscars (and Emmy's) Director Louis J. Horvitz.

Conan O"Brien came out to present the award for Supporting Actress in a Drama to Dianne Weist...who wasn't there (thus saving time). This was followed by Jennifer Love Hewitt and Hayden Pannetierre (who weren't as funny as the hosts but they weren't trying to be funny) to give the award for Writing in Variety, Music or Comedy to the writers for the Colbert Report. Were is the memory among Hollywood writers? Dave's writers list (with Dr. Phil) was the funniest though. then Howie Mandel and Jeff Probst introduced...the accountants. They were trying to be funny - Mandel and Probst not the accountants - they failed. Steve Martin was funny in introducing Tommy Smothers who was awarded an honorary Emmy for writing the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Just saw the medley by what's his name (no really, what is his name - I missed his introduction). It was an achievement but I was less than impressed. Alec Baldwin came out without the benefit of any of the "Fab Five" to present the award for Actress in a Movie or Miniseries. It went ot Laura Linney for John Adams (as if there were any doubt) who thanked the "community organizers" who helped create the United States. Was that political?  ;-)

So we're about an hour and a half in and they're starting to cut the funny. Some of the surviving cast of Laugh-In were brought out to introduce the nominees for Variety, Music or Comedy series in the old "laugh wall." Boy did Alan Sues look out of it. Gary Owens on the other hand hasn't changed a bit. Award went to the Daily Show by the way. Next David Boreanaz and someone who I guess I'm supposed to know but don't came out to introduce the winners for Guest Actor and Actress in a Comedy to do the Comedy Director Award, but Tim Conway couldn't be there so Kathryn Joosten had to do it herself. She commented on how they cut her bit. Barry Sonnenfeld won for Pushing Daisies. Then David Boreanaz and whoever she was gave the award for Comedy Writing to Tina Fey for 30 Rock.

The introduction of Academy president John Schaffner by Martin Sheen from a mock-up of the set of the Oval Office from The West Wing slows things up a bit...a lot. He said something but who remembers these things. Christian Slater and Christina Applegate (who promises to crush him in the ratings) to introduce the Outstanding TV Movie don't pick things up much. The Emmy goes to Recount. Not really caring as much as I would have if I'd had a chance to see any of the nominees.

They're really pushing them out now. After a brief introdcutionf by Jeff Probst on the "set" of Dragnet, William Petersen and Laurence Fishburne from CSI com on to introduce the Supporting Actor in a Movie or Miniseries winner, Tom Wilkinson from John Adams. He's not there. Next John Stewart and Stephen Colbert come out to give the awards for Directing in a Movie or Miniseries to Jay Rouch of Recount (a surprise to me) and for Writing in a Movie or Miniseries to Kirk Ellis of John Adams. Ellis's acceptance speech gets cut off without music by a bumper for  the commercial.

They keep promoting the Reality TV Host category like mad but don't give it out and move on to important stuff. Chrisitina Oh and Ptrick Dempsey introduced the award for Aupporting Actress, Movie or Miniseries which goes to Dame Eileen Atkins from Cranford - another Briti who isn't there. Then Kathy Griffith and Don Rickles come on and you just know that anything Rickles has to say is better than has been written for him, and you'd be right. What's amazing is that Griffin has to prompt people to give him a standing ovation! The give out the Reality-Competition award to the only show that has ever won it - The Amaizing Race Then Sally Field come on to give the Outstanding Miniseries award to her son Tom Hanks for John Adams. Oops, gotta get back.

Glad I did get back becasue the Emmy of rOutstanding Individual Performance Variety or Musical went to Don Rickles who was funnier in an off the cuff acceptance speech than any of the now nearly absent hosts have been. Oh yeah, Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chinoweth introduced the award. Then Kate Walsh and Wayne Brady introduced the winners in the Guest Actor and Actress in a Drama Series, Glynn Turman and Cynthia Nixon, who gave the award for Director in a Drama to Greg Yataine of House. Walsh and Brady gave the award for Writing in a Drama to Matthew Weiner of Mad Men. Still no Reality Host category.

They're really pushing them out now. No hosts, no jokesbarely time to introduce the presenters. Winners were: 

• Paul Giamatti for Lead Actor in a Movie or Miniseries - John Adams
  
• Alec Baldwin Lead Actor Comedy - 30 Rock
• Glenn Close Lead Actress Drama - Damages

That was brusque but so were they because they had to get to the all important Memoriam Reel. No real applause for anyone mentioned on that, as if they were told not to for fear of wasting time.

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Kiefer sutherland says they're running out of time and quickly announces that Brian Cranston won the award for Lead Actor in a Drama for Breaking Bad. Then Craig Ferguson and Brooke Shields get to do one joke before giving the Lead Actress in a Comedy Emmy to Tina Fey for 30 Rock. But then out comes Jimmy Kimmel, and takes more time than the others combined to not give the Reality Host award out - the winner will be announced after the next commercial...

...The winner - after another bit of time wasting by Kimmel et al was Jeff Probst from Survivor.

Then it was back to pumping out the last two awards like sausages. There was a brief clip of the Marty Tyler Moore Show to introduce Mary Tyler Moore who then introduced Betty White who has been in TV as long sa the Television Academy. They presented the Outstanding Comedy Series award to 30 Rock. Tina Fey was truly humbled to accept her third Emmy tonight from Mary and Betty. Then it was Tom Selleck's turn In less time than it took Jimmy Kimmel to give Probst his award, Tom told us thta he was giving out the Outstanding Drama Award, named the nominees and the winner. Which was Mad Men. Matthew Weiner accepted and the band even played during his speech. All that was left was for Jeff Probst (who by winning got to host the rest of the show) to say good night.

Summary

First there is a formatting change I have to make in this just a minute...

Okay, there you go. This happens every year. They start off with lots of introductory bits and jokes for the hosts and then somewhere about half-way through someone in the control truck looks at the clock and decides that they absolutely positively cannot run one minute over (or what - the locals will cut off the show?) and suddenly jokes get cut and introductions get docked. But somehow there is always some lame bit of business that manages to stay in to the bitter end. Does no one in charge of this thing own a stop watch and use it?

At least the hosting this year wasn't as bad as last year. Of course that was primarily because for about half the show the only person really hosting was the unseen announcer who told us who was coming out to present an award and then who had won the award. Maybe they should just let him or her host the show next year and save actors/comedians/reality hosts the humiliation of being bad and being cut.

As for what we actually saw, even if you don't go with the announcer as host, five people trying to do schtick (and failing) is too many. One person is all you need if it's the right person. Ricky Gervaise was great. Rickles was too old but funny. Stewart and Colbert were terrific. Kimmel was ... well okay there are some duds out there. Using mock-up of sets was a great concept; too bad it was for the most part one of the first things cut for time. But really, what would be wrong with cutting a lot of the bits in rehearsal and then giving us the pithiest material - you know, the stuff that works. In return the network could give the show a rubber clock allowing for a little overrun. Because let me tell you, there are times when three hours seems like an eternity and other times when three and a half hours fly by too fast. This year's Emmys were the former rather than the latter.

Pre-Emmy Predictions

What I'm doing here is putting together the results of the polls that I've been running this summer, and my own opinions. There are also going to be some categories that we haven't covered in the polls because I didn't have time. Finally, while I haven't seen any of the "long-form" material (Made For TV Movies and Mini-Series) because those forms are virtually dead on broadcast TV and usually on the premium services that I choose not to pay for up here in the Great White North, I do have a couple of thoughts on what "should" win.

Let's start with the comedies:

Outstanding Comedy Series

Survey says 30 Rock. I happen to agree. In my view, the only show on the list that even comes close is The Office. And this is coming from someone whose dislike of the sitcom form quite strong. Although, as I have confessed before, I haven't watched any of the shows on the nomination list so I am hardly the best judge. Still, what sets this show – and all but one of the other nominees – apart is that they break thoroughly with the traditional sitcom mould. Or perhaps I should say the traditional sitcom mould as in the stuff that makes houses unlivable.

Actor in a Comedy

You said Alec Baldwin. I said Alec Baldwin. The Emmy voters are likely to say Alec Baldwin, if only because last year's winner Ricky Gervais isn't nominated this year. His biggest competition, and the only actor I really think is likely to have a shot at winning this is Steve Carell of The Office. My reasoning is that Shaloub has been around and has won for a long time, and the Academy has far less respect for Charlie Sheen than it did for his father, and absolutely no respect for his show. As for Lee Pace, he and his show Pushing Daisies are new and innovative, while Baldwin and Carell are proven quantities. His turn may well come but not this time around.

Actress in a Comedy

You gave your votes – both of them – to Tina Fey, and for the most part I'll agree with that because I think that the lady is absolutely brilliant. However someone I have a lot of respect for – that would be Dianne Kristine of the TV, Eh? and Unified Theory Of Nothing Much blogs – prefers Christina Applegate for her work on Samantha Who? and someone else I respect a lot – Alan Sepinwall in his Emmy column – thinks she's a dark horse candidate who make rack up some sympathy votes because of her recent bout with cancer. The poll I can't trust (2 votes?!) so I'll stick with my gut and say Tina Fey.

Supporting Actress in a Comedy

I won't go through the nominees in this one. It probably comes down to two – well maybe three. My personal favourite is Kristin Chenoweth I love and adore this pocket dynamo who sings, dances, does comedy and as she proved on The West Wing, ain't half bad as a dramatic actress either. And if Aaron Sorkin does her bad again, I'd like her to know I'm available. Still there's a bit of me that worries that Amy Poehler, who I think is one of the first nominees from Saturday Night Live to be nominated individually in a comedy category in a long time (if ever) and because of that might have something close to a lock on the category. And Jean Smart in Samantha Who? probably has a shot, just because she's Jean Smart. But I'll say that the Emmy will go to Kristin and hope I'm not proven wrong.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy

In my view it comes down to Neil Patrick Harris or Rainn Wilson. I think it should be Harris because, well let's face it the character of Barney is legen – wait for it – dary, but there are aguments in favour of Wilson for his portrayal of Dwight Schrute and I think the Emmy voters are more in love with The Office than they are with any of the comedies on CBS. My heart says Harris but it will probably be Wilson

Outstanding Drama Series

Survey couldn't make up its damned mind and said either House or Mad Men. I love both shows but give my personal nod to Mad Men because it was more consistently good than House was by just a little bit.

Actor in a Drama

The category with the most votes, eighteen. You guys gave the nod to Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment with Hugh Laurie and Michael C. Hall a close second and no votes for John Hamm. Which is funny because I think John Hamm is going to win for his portrayal of the conflicted advertising executive with a very deep very dark secret, "Don Draper" (except the real Don Draper was blown to bits on a Korean hillside). Byrne is a tremendous actor and some day the Emmy voters are going to wake up and give Hugh Laurie the award he's deserved since House started but this time around it's going to be Hamm.

Actress in a Drama

You guys gave it to Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order: SVU. Again I think you're wrong (one does not insult one's audience by calling them nuts). You ignored two Oscar winners and a multiple Oscar nominee and the woman with the world's greatest Kevin Bacon number. This one is going to go to Glenn Close if for no other reason than she is Glenn Close and even though Hunter and Field each have more Oscars by some oversight, Glenn Close is the best actress of the lot.

Supporting Actor in a Drama

A great category that's wide open. Any one of them can win and with one exception I wouldn't be unhappy (I'm talking about you Shatner). As much as I liked John Slattery's performance as the silver fox with a king size libido and a heart condition to match Roger Sterling, I think it comes down to Michael Emerson as the duplicitous Ben in Lost and Ted Danson as the duplicitous Arthur Frobisher in Damages. I think I'll go with Danson mainly because this role represents such a huge switch from the roles that Emmy voters are used to seeing him in.

Supporting Actress in a Drama

Another great, wide open category with impressive performances from everybody who is nominated. I can't even dismiss Boston Legal because I've had the hots for Candice Bergen since The Wind And The Lion and even before. I think it comes down to Rachel Griffiths and Dianne Weist and while I love Griffiths, I think Weist is probably the bigger name and eventual winner.

Reality-Competition Series

You said American Idol and I said "Ha!", "Piffle", and "Don't make me laugh." I say it is going to be The Amazing Race because the Emmys have shown no love for American Idol in the past and I don't think they're going to show any this time either. If any show is going to knock The Amazing Race off its pedestal this year, it could be Dancing With The Stars (rather than Alan Sepinwall's pick of Project Runway) because most of the people in the room would secretly like to be on it.

Reality or Reality-Competition Host

The winner should be Phil Keoghan but he wasn't nominated. Of those nominated, Jeff Probst is probably the most deserving if only because he defined the role of host in one of these shows. But as Alan Sepinwall points out, Ryan Seacrest, who isn't even the most important permanent member of his own show – Simon Cowell is and even Paula and Randy are more important than him – inexplicably has a lot of friends in the room. I still say Probst.

Variety Music or Comedy Series

The Late Show With David Letterman for no other reason than he was with the writers during the strike when others weren't.

The Various Movie/Mini-Series Categories

I'm no expert on these categories so I'll just say this – expect to hear the words John Adams a lot. Certainly there'll be Emmys for the mini-series, Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.

I'll be live-blogging when the ceremonies start. This means, watching the show, taking notes, shovelling down a few bites of dinner down my gullet while I'm doing it, running to the computer to edit the awards entry while hopefully avoiding running over the dog during the commercials, and getting back to my reviewing position before the commercial ends. If nothing else I'll get some exercise.

Update! 

Here's the tally of how the poll did and how I did versus reality.

Poll: 3.5/7 - You got the Comedy categories right and the Drama and Reality-Competition category wrong except for a half point for Mad Men (because you had it tied).

Me: 8/13 - I picked more categories but even in the categories where I polled I got more right. I added Drama, Dramatic Actress and Supporting Actress as well as Reality-Competition and Reality Host. I missed the Comedy supporting categories and dramatic Supporting Actor. Only one person who voted one got the Dramatic Actor right.

Poll Results -What Show Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Drama Series?

I totally blew it when it came to my efforts to get a couple of shows reviewed and a new "PTC" article out. I fell ill Monday night and really didn't feel up to much until Thursday, then had a couple of other things crop up unexpectedly on Friday and Saturday. Almost a whole work week shot. Next week had better be better.

I wanted to leave this one to as close to Sunday as I could. For one thing I didn't give it as much lead time as I should have, which is another way of saying that I miscalculated the dates that all 

of the category polls should have run. For another thing I was hoping that we'd get one final vote. Yeah, you got it, we had a tie. At least it's the right tie.

Down to the results. Ten votes were cast, which was better than in most of the other categories. In a tie for fifth place with no votes are Boston Legal and Damages. In a tie for third place with one vote (10%) each are Lost and Dexter. In a tie for first place with four votes each (40%) are House and Mad Men.

For all that this isn't a scientific poll – the sample is too small and the people who have taken the poll are self-selected rather than reflecting an accurate picture of the viewing audience – I think that the result is a strong one. There are some parts of the result that I quibble with. For one thing, though I haven't seen it I think that Damages was probably a far better drama during the previous season than Boston Legal was. I'm rather unsure about Lost and Dexter too. I gave up on Lost and didn't go back, and the second season of Dexter isn't yet available on a cable channel that I have access to. There are however some things that I do know. I know that, unlike most of the other categories, the Outstanding Drama Series category (like the Outstanding Comedy award) is based on the overall performance of a series rather than a single superlative episode. I also know that in Mad Men and House the Academy has selected nominated two series that have rarely have put a foot wrong in terms of producing a string of outstanding episodes. I know that these two series get me involved in the stories they're telling. If I had voted, I think my vote would have gone to Mad Men, not simply because the show is newer than House but because I was a little more interested in the conflicts and secrets of the world of Don Draper and the people at Striling-Cooper than I was in the initial part of this season's House. The pseudo-reality show aspects of House finding his new associates (like any true reality show) didn't really become involving until the group was whittled down to a handful of likely candidates. Once he had them (and Wilson had Amber/"Cut Throat Bitch" who served as a far more entertaining antagonist for House than either Vogler or Tritter) things really picked up leading to a finale that was two of the best hours of TV of the season. The thing is though that while House had a few weak episodes, I would be hard pressed to find a point where Mad Men took a wrong step. But even for me it was close, so this tie in the poll isn't disappointing in the least.

Later today I'll have a summary of the poll results and my own opinions on a few other categories we didn't get into. Then I will – yet again – attempt to "liveblog" the Emmys. I think I've got my technique down now.

New Poll – What Show Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Drama Series?

The Nominees are:

• Boston Legal
  
• Mad Men
  
• Dexter
  
• House
  
• Lost
  
• Damages
  

With one exception – and I'll grudgingly admit that even that's debatable – a worthy list of nominees. I have a personal favourite which I'll reveal when the voting is over, but as I say a worthy list. Please (please, please) vote and if you feel so moved comment on the shows. Poll period ends on September 21^st. Yeah, I miscalculated the dates and thought I had another week.

Poll Results - What Show Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Comedy Series?

I realise that in a year that features polling for both a US Presidential and a Canadian parliamentary election this isn't the most important poll that you're going to be confronted with, but still only four respondents is hardly what I was expecting. Still It's what I've got so I'll make the best of it.

As I said, I had four voters this time around and here are the results. With no votes, in a tie for fourth place, are The Office and Entourage. With one vote each (25%) are Two And A Half Men and Curb Your Enthusiasm. And the winner, with two votes (50%) is 30 Rock.

I don't really think that I can disagree with this result. As I've often said, I don't watch many sitcoms. In fact in the past year I know I haven't watched a complete episode of any of the nominated shows. So what you're going to get now is less a critique of the nominations and more a diatribe about a couple of aspects on the current state of the sitcom business.

Even thought I don't watch most of these shows I do know that Two And A Half Men is the top rated comedy on any North American network – and probably gets less respect than most of the comedies out there. Okay, it gets more respect than Carpoolers and Cavemen, and looks like Shakespeare when compared to Do Not Disturb (but something on the lines of Taming Of The Shrew rather than Twelfth Night). Certainly it gets far less respect than either The Office or 30 Rock, despite the fact that both – but 30 Rock in particular – get substantially lower ratings than it does, meaning that far fewer people are watching. All this despite being vilified by the Parents Television Council. And Two And A Half Men shows no signs of getting tired... though honestly who would know.

Okay, that was a gratuitous shot at a lot of things, like the poor quality of sitcoms in general, like the fact that when you do get top quality intelligent material it doesn't draw an audience, like 30 Rock and to a lesser extent The Office, and I suppose the fact that network executives seem not to be listening to their most important constituency namely the people who watch their networks. I mean let's face it, 30 Rock is a great show, one which deserves to win the Emmy that it's almost certainly going to collect later this month but the show averaged 6.4 million viewers last season and ranked 94^th in the season ratings. Compare that with Two And A Half Men which averaged 13.6 million viewers last year and finished 16^th in the ratings, or a show that wasn't nominated, How I Met Your Mother which averaged 8.2 million and finished 60^th in the ratings finishing ahead of The Office which had
8.1 million viewers and finished 77^th. Some people worried that How I Met Your Mother was at risk of being cancelled, while there seemed to have been little worry about 30 Rock, and The Office is touted as a huge hit by NBC. Either the networks are wrong, the public is wrong, or there is a different standard being applied (I think it's the latter – The Office in particular has a strong appeal to affluent audiences).

But yeah, I do think that 30 Rock will win the Emmy and deserves it. It is funny in an urbane, intellectual way and – probably more important to Emmy voters than ratings are – has a certain prestige factor going for it that a show like Two And A Half Men doesn't possess. In this field (to use the current political catchphrase – this is not meant as an insult to Governor Palin) Two And A Half Men is the pig in lipstick. Then again while I'm sure that everyone attached to the series would dearly love to win an Emmy, I'm sure they're content with laughing all the way to the bank.

New poll – the last in the Emmy series – will be up in a few minutes. At least the Drama category is one that I know a little something about.

New Poll – What Show Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Comedy Series?

The Nominees:

• 30 Rock
  
• The Office
  
• Entourage
  
• Two and a Half Men
  
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
  

A mixed bag here. A couple of well respected but not necessarily well rated comedies from NBC; an extremely highly rated show from CBS that gets no respect even though it probably deserves at least a little; two cable series that get tons of respect but can quite rightly be described as "inside baseball." Is it a huge surprise that three of the five nominees deal in some way shape or form with the Television industry?

As usual, vote for who you want to win not who you think will win. This poll will run two weeks.

Poll Results - What Show Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Reality Competition Series?

This category showed a big drop-off form the Outstanding Actor in a Drama category in terms of number of votes cast. I suppose I should probably blame that on my singular lack of posting during the polling period. There are reasons for that – I wasn't feeling that great and I have been dealing with a serious bit of Writer's Block – but it's also the case that this category rarely draws a lot of voters.

So let's get down to the nitty gritty. There were four votes cast. With no votes we have Dancing With The Stars and Project Runway. Tied for second place, with one vote each (25%) are The Amazing Race, and Top Chef. And the winner with two votes (50%) is American Idol.

Now let's state for the record that this is not how it's going to go down in reality. The most likely winner in this category – as it has been since the category started is The Amazing Race although I will grant you that it may face a bit of a challenge this year from Dancing With The Stars. It was always my contention that The Amazing Race is the one reality-competition series that members of ATAS could vote for without feeling guilty because it was the one that was least insular. It seems classy, showing Americans the world. If Dancing With The Stars stands any sort of chance it is because it is a show that a lot of the actor members of the Academy would really like to participate in if only they had the time to do it. The show is sometimes criticized for getting "Z-List" celebrities, but the fact is that what they get are the people who are able to take weeks off their schedule to train to dance. That's more likely to be Marie Osmond than it is Marg Helgenberger. As for the rest of the shows, I find it odd that the same show was nominated twice. Because that's what Top Chef and Project Runway (and the other Bravo reality competition shows) are. They follow exactly the same format – a quick challenge to give someone immunity or some other advantage – followed by a major creative competition judges by a panel of judges including one guest judge, after which one participant is judged "the winner" and three others are selected for possible elimination. Strip away the details – replace food with fashion or hair or whatever – and they're all the same show. And what's more that show is Survivor except without the day to day struggle for food and fire. In truth I'd rather the Chinese edition of Survivor had been nominated than one of these shows. Finally we're left with American Idol, a show which still dominates the competition on the nights that it's on in terms of ratings. The problem for the show at least is that those ratings are declining to the point where they're doing some revamping for the coming season by adding a fourth judge. And if past performance at the Emmys is any indication it doesn't do well with Emmy voters. It certainly doesn't do well with me as a viewer.

Now if someone could explain to me why Phil Keoghan wasn't nominated for Outstanding Reality Host I'd be most grateful. I mean Tome Bergeron doesn't dance, and as for Jeff Probst, he kicks back at the crew camp drinking beer and watching satellite TV while those people on the show are getting bitten by malarial mosquitoes and gashing open parts of their bodies I don't even want to think about. Meanwhile Keoghan is racing around the world with the competitors on the show and he has to finish first every damned time.

New poll up shortly.

New Poll – What Show Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Reality Competition Series?

The Nominees:

• Amazing Race
  
• American Idol
  
• Dancing with the Stars
  
• Top Chef
  
• Project Runway
  

I think it's pretty much well known that I have a particular favourite in this category, but I won't mention it lest it influence you.

Remember, I'd like you to vote for who should win, not who you think will win, and don't be influenced by my opinions. I'm giving you two weeks to vote on this one.

Poll Results – Who Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Actor In A Drama?

The most votes cast yet in this Emmy cycle and a very interesting result. No one ran away with the title but there were definite front runners. One of them was not the actor considered by much of mainstream media to be most likely winner.

Okay, enough teasing of the result, here are the actual tallies. In sixth place, with no votes, is Jon Hamm from Mad Men. In a tie for fourth place with one vote (6%) each are Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad and James Spader from Boston Legal. In a tie for second place with five votes (28%) are Michael C. Hall for the lead role in Dexter and Hugh Laurie for the title role in House. But the winner, with six votes (33%) is Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment.

When I wrote the introduction to the original solicitation of votes I wrote "In my mind there are five great performances here (I'll give you three guesses which one I think doesn't belong; first two don't count)." The one was James Spader. I honestly don't think that his part on Boston Legal is anywhere near as strong as any of the other parts. Bryan Cranston has a truly meaty role as the dying high school teacher who turns to making Crystal Meth as a way of providing a nest egg for his family. Hugh Laurie is masterful as House. He is not, as my brother describes the character, "a doctor with a God complex," but rather a character whose brash exterior masks his internal self-doubts. I'm not sure what can be said about Michael C. Hall's performance as Dexter except to describe it as riveting. I don't kno what to say about Gabriel Byrne in In Treatment simply because I've never seen it, however Byrne has a long standing reputation as one of the best actors around. In fact, for me the only surprise in this one is that Jon Hamm, who plays the repressed ad agency executive Don Draper in Mad Men didn't get a vote. His portrayal of someone seeking a way to ameliorate the quiet desperation of his life is riveting.

New poll up in a few minutes.

New Poll - Who Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Actor In A Drama?

The Nominees:

• Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment)
  
• Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
  
• Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
  
• Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
  
• James Spader (Boston Legal)
  
• Hugh Laurie (House)
  

A six horse race – something I'd like to see more of from the Emmys because there are too many programming sources to make an Oscar like restriction to five entries per category – and this category is the one where we really see the sudden dominance of cable. In my mind there are five great performances here (I'll give you three guesses which one I think doesn't belong; first two don't count) and while I have my favourites I can any one of those five winning. I just wouldn't like it to be the sixth one.

Remember, I'd like you to vote for who should win, not who you think will win, and don't be influenced by my opinions.

Poll Result - Who Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Actress In A Drama?

I'm a little late on this one. I essentially forgot all about writing this poll on Friday, because there were a bunch of other things that came up not restricted to trying to keep up with the Olympics (and that's more complicated than you can possibly imagine). I wanted to compare the coverage by CBC and NBC but I only managed to catch the NBC coverage. I'll get something out eventually though I'm not sure when. But suffice it to say that Friday was essentially a mess. In terms of getting things done.

And so to the poll results. We had eight votes cast – one today I think. Tied with no votes are Glenn Close and Holly Hunter. In third place with one vote (12.5%) is Kyra Sedgwick from The Closer. In second place, with two votes (25%) is Sally Field of Brothers and Sisters. The winner is Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit with five votes (62.5%).

Okay, I guess I don't get this one. I mean maybe it's because I don't watch SVU, but I guess I find it really difficult to see here performance equated with what Glenn Close and Holly Hunter have been doing. I mean I've seen Hunter's work at least, and in Grace Hanadarko she has created a dark, tormented and self-destructive character who is compelling at the same time that she is vaguely REPULSIVE. You probably wouldn't want to spend much time with Grace in the real world unless you were getting in her pants (which seem to have an "all-access pass" provision) but at the same time she seems compelling to watch, at least for me. In her own way the character is as compelling as Dennis Leary's Tommy Gavin in Rescue Me. I haven't seen Glenn Close or Sally Field for that matter, and the episodes of Kyra Sedgwick's The Closer that I've seen are older, but I have to say that I have difficulty seeing Hargitay as anything but the least in this category, but to paraphrase someon (the L'il Abner comic strip?) "you has spoken" and Hargitay it is.

New poll up in the morning.

New Poll - Who Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Actress In A Drama?

The Nominees:

• Glenn Close (Damages)
  
• Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters)
  
• Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order: SVU)
  
• Holly Hunter (Saving Grace)
  
• Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
  

And can I just say "wow, what a field!" And did you notice, not one actress under the age of 40 not to mention a total of ten Oscar nominations which yielded three Oscar wins. Not to mention a host of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and wins. And that's just for Close, Field and Hunter!

Remember, I'd like you to vote for who should win, not who you think will win.

Poll Results - Who Do You Think Should Win The Emmy For Outstanding Actor In A Comedy?

Did you notice that I changed the title of this from what the question I put up on the poll was? This better reflects what I wanted from you. And indeed it seems to have been a bit of an issue for the one person who offered up a comment, my dear blogging friend Linda who said "As for the new poll: it would be more my voting for who I would want to win. (I can't vote for who I think WILL win; I don't even like the guy.)" I'm not sure this makes the poll result more or less valid, but to make it clear what I want is to know who you think SHOULD win not who you think will win. Then again with just six voters I'm not sure that validity actually comes into the equation. But am I bitter? No, actually I'm really not. Given my level of posting recently I can't really expect a lot of people to drop around to hang on my every word. I don't really have a reason to be bitter...over this. There are plenty of other things from me to be bitter over but that's a whole other story that I'm not going to tell.

Okay, here are the results. As I've said there were six voters. Tied for fourth place with no votes are Lee Pace from Pushing Daisies and Charlie Sheen from Two And A Half Men. In third place with one vote (17%) is Steve Carell from The Office. In second place with two votes (33% is Tony Shaloub from Monk. But the winner, with three votes (50%) is Alec Baldwin from 30 Rock.

Right now, this is a category where I don't really see most of the shows – well okay any of the shows – except in moments of boredom when I'm flipping through channels. Sitcoms aren't my thing. I've seen parts of some old episodes of Two And A Half Men and like the Odd Couple style relationship between Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer even if it is an inferior copy of the brilliant original. In fact I might even go so far as to suggest that the reason why the show gets such good ratings – something that is incomprehensible to many and is probably why it gets Emmy nominations but never won the award – is because it is familiar. Pushing Daisies is an undiscovered country for me. Last season I was pretty much locked on CBS on Wednesday nights pre-strike and ABC wasn't good enough to either produce new episodes after the strike or to repeat the show. I know it's a show I should watch if only because it features one of the great objects of my affection, the dynamic Kristin Chenoweth. But I didn't get a chance, and maybe it's really not a show you can pick up in mid-stream.

Moving on to Steve Carell and The Office it's a show that I haven't see much but which I know in my heart is good. Carell's performance as the terminally oblivious Michael Scott, who think that he's a good boss and that the people who work under him actually like him and his team building exercises, is beautifully realised. Or you know, so people tell me. As for Tony Shaloub in Monk, well that's a show that I haven't seen since ABC aired some first season episodes years ago. Yeah I missed the handful of episodes that NBC aired earlier this year as an aftermath of the strike. It's not available here or at least not on any channel that I'm able to get (but that leads to a whole discussion of how broadcast rights are handled in this country which is a topic for another time). As a result I don't think I get why Shaloub is constantly on the list for this award. I mean I enjoyed the episodes that I did see enough so that I hoped that episodes beyond the first season would somehow find their way to something that I could get, but I'm not entirely sure that this really qualifies as a comedy. Sure there are funny moments but there were funny moments in Columbo (a show that Monk is occasionally compared to) and all of Peter Falk's nominations and wins for that show were in the Drama category.

But the big thing about Shaloub is that in my opinion at least I don't think that he rises to the level of the man that the poll results – and I – think should win this category, Alec Baldwin as NBC executive Jack Donaghy in 30 Rock (I'm also betting that this is who Linda was talking about in her comment). Granted, Baldwin plays Jack as someone with an outsized combination of ego, bombast and self-importance, but let's admit that these are exactly the qualities that you'd expect someone in his position to have. In fact I have a suspicion that the Donaghy character is a not particularly subtle caricature of Jeff Zucker, or at least what people think Jeff Zucker is like. It's an outsized unrealistic character (at least it is to those who aren't in the entertainment business if some of the stories that Ken Levine tells are even half true) but Baldwin is strong enough to pull it off. I think he's going to win.

New poll up in a few minutes.