2009 Emmy Nominations

[Patcat]

Oh, the 2009 Emmy nominations were announced today. Did you notice? I didn't. I completely forgot about them. And in spite of the fact some categories were expanded to six or seven nominees, I found nothing of real interest in any of the nominations. The truth is that I think the Emmies are only useful in so far as they can save a good show--like HILL STREET BLUES--from cancellation. I don't know most of the shows and performers that were nominated. And I'm apparently getting cranky in my old age, because I don't want to know most of the shows and performers who were nominated. I'm appalled to see FAMILY GUY got a nomination for Best Comedy Series. THE SIMPSONS--I'd argue that now, even when it's not at its best, it's a much better show than FAMILY GUY--never got a nomination for Best Comedy Series.

I read a report suggesting that the Emmies might soon be shuffled off to a cable network since they were beoming increasingly irrelevant to network television. I wonder if they're relevant to any part of television.

Patcat

[DonnaJo]

Agreed, Patcat. The same shows & the same people year in and year out. Mariska Hartiguay is again up for Best Actree in a Drama. Jeez.

Here's the list & link, if anyone's interested.

television.aol.com/emmys/nominee-winner

Emmy Nominees: 2009

BEST DRAMA SERIES
'Big Love'
'Breaking Bad'
'Damages'
'Dexter'
'House'
'Lost'
'Mad Men'

BEST COMEDY SERIES
'Entourage'
'Family Guy'
'Flight Of The Conchords'
'How I Met Your Mother'
'The Office'
'30 Rock'
'Weeds'

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES
Bryan Cranston, 'Breaking Bad'
Michael C. Hall, 'Dexter'
Hugh Laurie, 'House'
Gabriel Byrne, 'In Treatment'
Jon Hamm, 'Mad Men'
Simon Baker, 'The Mentalist'

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES
Sally Field, 'Brothers and Sisters'
Kyra Sedgwick, 'The Closer'
Glenn Close, 'Damages'
Mariska Hargitay, 'Law & Order: SVU'
Elisabeth Moss, 'Mad Men'
Holly Hunter, 'Saving Grace'

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES
Jim Parsons, 'The Big Bang Theory'
Jemaine Clement, 'Flight Of The Conchords'
Tony Shalhoub, 'Monk'
Steve Carell, 'The Office'
Alec Baldwin, '30 Rock'
Charlie Sheen, 'Two And A Half Men'

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 'The New Adventures Of Old Christine'
Christina Applegate, 'Samantha Who?'
Sarah Silverman, 'The Sarah Silverman Show'
Tina Fey, '30 Rock'
Toni Collette, 'United States Of Tara'
Mary-Louise Parker, 'Weeds'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA SERIES
William Shatner, 'Boston Legal'
Christian Clemenson, 'Boston Legal'
Aaron Paul, 'Breaking Bad'
William Hurt, 'Damages'
Michael Emerson, 'Lost'
John Slattery, 'Mad Men'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA SERIES
Rose Byrne, 'Damages'
Sandra Oh, 'Grey's Anatomy'
Chandra Wilson, 'Grey's Anatomy'
Dianne Wiest, 'In Treatment'
Hope Davis, 'In Treatment'
Cherry Jones, '24'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY SERIES
Kevin Dillon, 'Entourage'
Neil Patrick Harris, 'How I Met Your Mother'
Rainn Wilson, 'The Office'
Tracy Morgan, '30 Rock'
Jack McBrayer, '30 Rock'
Jon Cryer, 'Two And A Half Men'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIES
Kristin Chenoweth, 'Pushing Daisies'
Amy Poehler, 'Saturday Night Live'
Kristin Wiig, 'Saturday Night Live'
Jane Krakowski, '30 Rock'
Vanessa Williams, 'Ugly Betty'
Elizabeth Perkins, 'Weeds'

BEST VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL
'The Colbert Report'
'The Daily Show'
'The Late Show With David Letterman'
'Real Time With Bill Maher'
'Saturday Night Live'

BEST REALITY COMPETITION
'The Amazing Race'
'American Idol'
'Dancing With the Stars'
'Project Runway'
'Top Chef'

BEST REALITY SHOW HOST
Phil Keoghan, 'The Amazing Race'
Ryan Seacrest, 'American Idol'
Tom Bergeron, 'Dancing With The Stars' '
Heidi Klum, 'Project Runway'
Jeff Probst, 'Survivor'
Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio, 'Top Chef'

BEST MINISERIES
'Generation Kill'
'Little Dorritt'

BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Kevin Kline, 'Cyrano de Bergerac'
Brendan Gleeson, 'Into The Storm'
Sir Ian McKellen, 'King Lear'
Kevin Bacon, 'Taking Chance'
Kiefer Sutherland, '24: Redemption'
Kenneth Branagh, 'Wallander: One Step Behind'

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Chandra Wilson, 'Accidental Friendship'
Shirley MacLaine, 'Coco Chanel'
Drew Barrymore, 'Grey Gardens'
Jessica Lange, 'Grey Gardens'
Sigourney Weaver, 'Prayers For Bobby'

BEST GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Edward Asner, 'CSI: NY'
Ted Danson, 'Damages'
Jimmy Smits, 'Dexter'
Ernest Borgnine, 'ER'
Michael J. Fox, 'Rescue Me'

BEST GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sharon Lawrence, 'Grey's Anatomy'
Ellen Burstyn, 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'
Brenda Blethyn, 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'
Carol Burnett, 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'
CCH Pounder, 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'

BEST GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Beau Bridges, 'Desperate Housewives'
Justin Timberlake, 'Saturday Night Live'
Steve Martin, '30 Rock'
Jon Hamm, '30 Rock'
Alan Alda, '30 Rock'

BEST GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Christine Baranski, 'The Big Bang Theory'
Gena Rowlands, 'Monk'
Betty White, 'My Name Is Earl'
Tina Fey, 'Saturday Night Live'
Jennifer Aniston, '30 Rock'
Elaine Stritch, '30 Rock'

[Patcat]

Look, Simon Baker is an attractive guy who seems to be a nice guy. But what is he doing on that list of heavyweights? Of course, those other guys have better scripts to work with. And some of these people got nominated because of their names, although I admit it's nice to see the process remembers people who made television history.

Network dramas didn't do so well, did they?

Patcat

[SarahIvy]

And now a post wherein Sarah gives away just how overly invested she is in her television shows

I have a love/hate relationship with the Emmy's.

On the love side: I love me some dresses...namely I love sitting on my couch with a cocktail (or three) and some popcorn and being a Judger of how everyone looks. I do enjoy when something actually worthy wins, it's like a little glimmer of hope that some viewer somewhere might accidentally watch something of actual quality because it's been deemed valid by the masses (which is a load of crap, but oh well, it's how the world works).

On the hate side: I just flat out put no stock in award shows, any of them. They're really nothing but lame popularity contests that have little bearing on actual art or quality.

But, my love/hate aside, there's some really fantastic stuff nominated this year.

Personally, I think Mad Men is flat out officially The Best Thing on television anywhere the past two years. I started a thread here eons ago with no response, but I'm secretly hoping at least a couple of you are watching it It's incredible in it's consistent level of amazingly detailed high quality from the sets/costumes to the writing to the actors. I'll be rooting for them in every category they're nominated in.

(Just to illustrate my unhealthy love for this show, my baby is due August 11th....and I'm very concerned over how to make sure I don't miss the Mad Men premiere on the 16th )

Now someone else here must enjoy Dexter? It seems like it would be right up the alley of plenty of folks here. I have yet to see Season 3 because we don't have premium channels so we're always one season behind on DVD, but the first two seasons we ate up like dark and disturbingly delicious candy.

I'm also stoked to see Flight of the Conchords in the best comedy category, hooray! One of the funniest shows ever, I love me some Bret and Jemaine (just saw them live in May and just thinking about it gives me the giggles).

[Irene]

Jul 16, 2009 19:32:51 GMT -5 SarahIvy said:

And now a post wherein Sarah gives away just how overly invested she is in her television shows

I have a love/hate relationship with the Emmy's.

On the love side...how the world works).

On the hate side: I just flat out ...actual art or quality.

But, my love/hate aside, there's some really fantastic stuff nominated this year.

Personally, I think Mad Men is flat out officially The Best Thing on television anywhere

[/size][/color] the past two years...I'll be rooting for them in every category they're nominated in.

Now someone else here must enjoy Dexter?

I'm also stoked to see Flight of the Conchords in the best comedy category...[/quote]

Are you my long-lost soul-mate?

Madmen. Nothing more need be said.

Dexter. Back at ya.

Flight/Conchords. Haven't seen it. But if you like it, I will give it a shot.

My turn:

In Treatment?

Jul 16, 2009 19:32:51 GMT -5 SarahIvy said:

(Just to illustrate my unhealthy love for this show, my baby is due August 11th....and I'm very concerned over how to make sure I don't miss the Mad Men premiere on the 16th )

I get your concern. This is serious. Is there some drug you can take? A procedure maybe?

[outerbankschick]

DVR?

[Patcat]

A friend and I were talking about the Emmies last night. We both gave BREAKING BAD and MAD MEN chances, but finally decided that while both shows were very well done, we simply didn't want to spend time with the people in both shows. We both became very disenchanted with HOUSE a couple of seasons ago, and that again was the reason. We admired the show, but didn't want to spend any more time with House (Both my friend and I do keep trying to return to the show, though.)

I saw the first season of DEXTER, and enjoyed it a great deal. Brilliant black comedy. But it turned increasingly ludicrous (and when your premise is that your hero is a serial killer who kills bad guys, you gotta go a long way to be more ludicrous.)

I'm probably getting old and cranky, but I look at many of these series and see gore and outrageous stories not for any dramatic development but for sensationalism. I see people I don't want to spend an hour with. There's no subtlety or elegance.

I like spending time with Nichols and Wheeler. I've always liked spending time with Goren and Eames, even when they've been at their worst, because I like them very much when they're at their best.

Sorry I've spouted on for so long.

Patcat

[caitlen]

Is there some drug you can take? A procedure maybe?


There is always hope ;D

[SarahIvy]

Irene, we're like kindred tv spirits!

I keep hearing good things about In Treatment, I should really check it out.

Patcat, I have similar feelings about Breaking Bad....when it began I tried it and thought it was *very* well done. But I just couldn't stand watching it, purely because at the end of each episode I just felt so awful. I can watch pretty dark subject matter, but that show and the characters were just too much for me, I didn't want to go on that ride.

I need someone to root for!

Oddly, I really enjoy and root for many of the characters on Mad Men. Perhaps it's due to the time period when it's set (which I find of particular interest), but I find their struggles fascinating, even when they disgust me I guess for me they have enough of a balance that I can still connect with them.

House...yeah. We still watch, but I'm pretty over House himself, his behaviour has been so ugly on so many levels and like you, I often just don't feel like spending time with him....or what I find to be entirely gratuitous medical gore. Blech.

(Actually, if I'm going to be honest here, part of my problem with the last couple of seasons of LOCI is that for me, Goren had become someone I just wouldn't want to be around at ALL. He does seem to be on an upswing though, so there's that.)

[Techguy]

Jul 16, 2009 9:43:01 GMT -5 Patcat said:

Oh, the 2009 Emmy nominations were announced today. Did you notice? I didn't.

I read a report suggesting that the Emmies might soon be shuffled off to a cable network since they were beoming increasingly irrelevant to network television. I wonder if they're relevant to any part of television.

I didn't notice, I just didn't care. The Emmys aren't becoming increasingly irrelevant; they have been irrelevant for a long while. Time to take this brain dead entity off life support.

[Metella]

It always seems like a small group mutually patting themselves on the back with quality or whatever being unimportant ..... so that whoever/whatever is nominated means nothing to me as a viewer. they have imploded to a little clique that is only important to themselves.

Word on the dresses though - they are fun to watch - but not for as long as I have to sit there and listen to droning on - I catch the dresses the day after.

[caitlen]

They can nominate themselves now ;D

[outerbankschick]

If I want to see stars in fancy dresses, I'll pick up a copy of People.

[Sirenna]

Totally agree on how lame and pointless an indicator of creative talent awards shows are. Even the dresses are about who can be most-middle-of-the-road-tonight - like take a chance all you overpaid, unworked fools slash actors!

I also love, love, love Mad Men. (I also started a thread on TV Shows that garnered zero interest, LOL) The writing, costumes, and acting are all so fresh and layered. The entire canon (season 1 and 2) is online at CTV.ca online programming and I must have re-watched at each episode at least three times.

There's something so retro yet strikingly modern about the whole premise and I'd like to spend time with these characters too - except for Betty Draperwho I would just like to smack upside the head and then quickly run away.