After perusing last week’s Emmy nominations, it’s hard not to
take out a knife and fork and just start carving away. Let’s face
it, there’s a lot not to like about this year’s list, but first,
the good.
After perusing last week’s Emmy nominations, it’s hard not to take out a knife and fork and just start carving away. Let’s face it, there’s a lot not to like about this year’s list, but first, the good.
Kudos to Emmy voters for offering nods to Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), House (FOX) and 24 (FOX). Each series came off a very strong year creatively.
While Grey’s walked off with most noms – 12 in all, and, I think, about four too many – the biggest surprises on the Best Drama Series list were The Sopranos (HBO) and The West Wing (NBC). A good move on the latter.
Frankly, I found nothing wrong with the last, and final, season of Wing. True, it struggled to find its pacing after the exit of its creative force Aaron Sorkin several seasons back, but it did go out in style. (Watch for Sorkin and West Wing-er Thomas Schlamme’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on NBC this fall – think West Wing behind the scenes of comedy show.)
I would have been fine not seeing The Sopranos make the drama series list, opting for – ahem – Lost, which took home top honors last year and was snubbed in virtually all categories this go around. Fans may want to blame that harsh oversight on the new voting procedures initiated this season, which found Emmy members using special panels to pick the nominees from lists of 10 to 15 finalists.
That voting change affected a great deal of other potential noms. For starters, Desperate Housewives’ Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman, who proved to be the strongest tent poles in the show’s off-kilter sophomore season.
How Alfre Woodard garnered a supporting nom for her role on the show remains a mystery. This otherwise fine actress was given little to do last season and her storyline simply did not fit into the Housewives mix. If anything, it divided its core characters, finding them displaced and without a common cause to fight for.
More good: Denis Leary’s nod for Best Actor of FX’s scintillating and wonderfully written Rescue Me, and Kiefer Sutherland for 24 (FOX) – he comes off one of the series’ most powerful season yet.
Geena Davis’s nomination for Commander in Chief (ABC) was nice to see. It would have been much nicer if ABC – and the show’s creative team – hadn’t stumbled, forcing the show to meet the ax. Thank goodness that the gifted Kyra Sedgwick garnered attention from voters for her role as smart-talking police chief Brenda Lee Johnson on TNT’s fine drama The Closer. (She’s got my vote – if I were voting.)
Surprises: Stockard Channing for Out of Practice (CBS) and Debra Messing, Will & Grace, (NBC). Channing was a delight in the now-canned Practice, which showed promise and, I think, could have become quite a heart-warming comedy if the network – and viewers – hadn’t given up on it. Messing’s final season of Will & Grace was nothing to write home about, but she is one of the best physical comediennes to hit TV in quite some time. It will be interesting to see if voters offer anything to the award-winning Will & Grace this year – Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally also received noms.
Frankly, it’s the Best Supporting Actress category in a Drama Series that should generate the most buzz this year: Candice Bergen, Boston Legal, (ABC); Sandra Oh, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC); Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC); Blythe Danner, Huff (Showtime); and Jean Smart, 24 (FOX). (Am I the only one who believes 24 is the only real drama series on that list? The others feel like dramedies.) Danner won last year.
If voters vote right – and smart – they’ll realize that Jean Smart’s portrayal of the beleaguered First Lady on 24 last year was downright commanding.
Biggest Emmy oversights: In addition to Lost, My Name is Earl (NBC), Entourage (Showtime) and – yes, it’s true – Battlestar Galactica (Sci-fi), which has proven itself to be one of the most smartly written if not addictively intense drama series on cable today. On the acting front: Jorge Garcia (Lost), Ricky Gervais (Extras), Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Hugh Laurie (House), Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) and Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy).
The 58th Primetime Emmy Awards airs at 8pm Sunday, Aug. 27 on NBC.
Greg Archer is an entertainment writer based on the Central Coast. He writes about the TV, film and being human. E-mail him at ga*****@**********rs.com or visit www.greg-archer.com.
