The Emmys

Tonight are the Emmy Awards, and for the first time in years I'm actually interested. There are enough new nominees to have me tuning in.

I won't bother to make any predictions, since there are too many shows and performances I didn't see, plus a lot of categories I have no strong feeling about. But I will tell you who I'm rooting for.

Animated Program. Year after year in the 90s, The Simpsons was the best show on TV, but I think now Family Guy is the one to go with. South Park isn't bad either.

Lead Actor in a Drama. No Martin Sheen or James Gandolfini this year, so the field is wide open. It'd be great to see Hugh Laurie win for House. Unlike ER or Grey's Anatomy, House isn't an ensemble piece, it's Laurie's show. I said I wouldn't make predictions, but I think he's done a memorable enough job to be the favorite. (And those who know him from British comedy can also appreciatee how different he is in House.)

Lead Actress in a Comedy. This seems to be the year of Desperate Housewives, though with three nominees they might cancel each other out. (Word is Teri Hatcher's the favorite). Even though it's the last chance to vote for Patricia Heaton on Everybody Loves Raymond, it would be nice to see Jane Kaczmarek finally recognized for the excellent job she does on Malcolm In The Middle.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy. It's hard to go against Jeffrey Tambor, who always does great work, but I'm rooting for Jeremy Piven, so memorable as Ari the agent in Entourage.

Suport Actor in a Drama. A bunch of fun actors here, including William Shatner, Oliver Platt and Alan Alda (who's already won a ton of these). But I'm rooting heavily for Lost to win. In this case, they have two nominees. (When an ensemble show is the hot new thing, it usually gets multiple supporting emmy nominees--Hill Stree Blues and L.A. Law used to own this category.) They could have as easily nominated Jorge Garcia and Josh Holloway for their memorable work as Hurley and Sawyer, but they chose Naveen Andrews as Sayid and Terry O'Quinn as Locke. Though Andrews is great (and he's putting on an accent as much as Hugh Laurie is, though a lot of voters might not know that) it's an easy choice for me--O'Quinn as Locke is perhaps the most interesting character on television. I just hope he and Andrews don't cancel each other out.

(Note I'm not rooting for anyone in the miniseries or made-for-TV-movie categories. That's because the few that I did watch, such as The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers and Empire Falls, were disappointments.)

(Another note. Cloris Leachman, who is not unknown to the Emmys, is nominated as a Guest Actress in both a comedy and a drama. She deserves to win for the comedy--Malcolm In The Middle--but not the drama--Joan Of Arcadia.)

Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (sure are a lotta categories in the Emmys). The surprise here is my top two choices, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, are not nominated. While Jon Stewart regularly does a decent job, I lean toward Hugh Jackman's one big night at the Tonys.

Comedy Series. Of the five choices, this is easy. I don't care if no one watches it, let's give another Emmy to Arrested Development.

Drama Series. Lost.

Variety, Music or Comedy Series. Here we have Letterman and O'Brien, but not Leno. Still, a very competitive category. I got nothing against Bill Maher, Jon Stewart or Ali G, but to me both Letterman and O'Brien are the standard against which we measure others. Letterman might be getting a bit tired, lately, and O'Brien is always trying new things, but I think I still give it to Letterman. (I'm not sure if O'Brien's show has ever won this award--if not, it certainly deserves it sooner or later.)

Nonfiction Special: All the nominees are well-chosen, but I liked the Cary Grant special and the show on the first five years of SNL best.

Nonfiction Series: While far from perfect (mostly because it should have been longer), I'm rooting for the PBS series on the American musical.

Reality Program. Penn and Teller's unprintable show. I'd like to see if they announce these nominees on the Emmys. Previously I would have chosen Project Greenlight, but the third year was weak.

Reality Competition Program. There's American Idol and there's everything else.

Writing for a Comedy Series. Any of the three nominations for Arrested Development, though it'll be hard for any single episode to stop the onslaught of the last Everybody Loves Raymond.

Writing for a Drama Series. This is the toughest choice. While the Lost pilot was pretty good, it's the episode "Walkabout" that made everyone realize the show is something special. On the other hand, House was reliably good, but then it had a "special" episode--"Three Stories"--that actually was special. I'd be happy if either won, but I guess I lean slightly toward Lost in general, so I'll give it to "Walkabout."

Writing for Variety, Music or Comedy Program. I gave the edge in show to Letterman, let's give the edge in writing to Conan.