Emmy Enemy

The Emmy nominations came out last week and I'm still recovering. For years I thought they were poorly picked and finally last year they had some stuff worth rooting for. So what do they do this year but reverse all the good choices.

This is probably due to their new methodology. TV Academy members still voted, but then a select committee chose the nominees from the top ten or fifteen vote-getters. This guaranteed a lot of eccentric--and bad--choices.

It's the omissions that are the hardest to understand. For instance, last year's winners for best comedy and best drama, Desperate Housewives and Lost, weren't even nominated. I haven't watched the former, though I hear it's gone dowhill, but Lost is still the most intriguing series on TV. For that matter, none of the regulars on the show got acting nominations. In fact, the only acting nod they got was for guest actor Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond--if anyone, it should have gone to Michael Emerson as Henry Gale.

Then there's House. It's up for best dramatic series, but its star, the wonderful Hugh Laurie, got no nomination. How could this happen? House is no ensemble show--it's all about House.

James Gandolfini didn't make the cut. The Sopranos might have had a weak season, but he's always worth considering. Edie Falco, who matches Gandolfini beat for beat, was also ignored. On the other hand, Martin Sheen, who hardly figured in West Wing this year, and Allison Janney, who had a weaker season than usual, are yet again up for Emmys. (Sheen even has a second nomination for a guest shot in his son's show Two And A Half Men.)

For best comedy series, not only is Desperate Housewives missing, but so is Entourage and the charming new series My Name Is Earl. Jason Lee, who's found the perfect role as Earl, isn't nominated either. (At least Jaime Pressly got a supporting nod for the show.)

Another odditiy--Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer co-star in Two And A Half Men, but Sheen gets a best actor nomination while Cryer is relegated to supporting actor. This is a modern Odd Couple, they should be in the same category.

Let's not even go into the writing nominations.

I don't think I'll watch the Emmys this year.

Columbus Guy says: It's great that Pressly got a nod. She deserves it. Her performance as a drunk was worthy of Lucy, just side-splitting, and she's consistently laugh out loud.