Emmy Memo

Another year, another Emmy Awards.  The show was nothing special, but at least it didn't go overtime. There were a lot of good nominees this year, and some decent winners, but also some rather unfortunate picks.

I guess the big story was Homeland practically sweeping the drama awards--best show, actress, actor and writing. (It inexplicably lost direction to the weakest nominee, Boardwalk Empire.) I guess the Academy was ready for a change--this was the first time Mad Men ever lost.  Homeland is a good show (though I'd put it behind Game Of Thrones and Breaking Bad), and Claire Danes definitely deserved her Emmy, but Damian Lewis?  He shouldn't even have been nominated.  He broke Bryan Cranston's streak, and Jon Hamm has still not won this award.  After years of Brit Hugh Laurie not winning when he deserved to, why suddenly give it to Lewis?

Another surprise was Aaron Paul repeating for supporting actor.  All the nominees were worthy--best category, really--but if anyone from Breaking Bad was going to win, you'd think it'd be Giancarlo Esposito.

In comedy, the voters weren't willing to share the wealth, so Modern Family won its third Best Show Emmy in a row.  Not a huge surprise, and it was probably the best of the nominees.  A little more surprising, the Academy stuck to their favorites--Family 's Eric Stonestreet and Julie Bowen both won their second Emmy for supporting work.  It was possible to believe the voters would start spreading the Emmys around the cast, but it looks like Ed O'Neill, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sofia Vergara are never going to win.  As a sidenote, I think once you win an Emmy for playing a character, you shouldn't get nominated again for that character.  (I didn't agree with either win--Ty Burrell is still the best thing on the show while, and Mayim  Bialik does a lot with a thin character on Big Bang Theory.)

Jon Cryer was a surprise choice for Best Actor while Academy favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfuss in her first year on Veep took Best Actress.

I don't have much to say about the other genres, but really, it's getting ridiculous, giving Jon Stewart's show the variety award every year.   The same goes for The Amazing Race and reality. Miniseries and movie were combined, and the tiresome Game Change won a bunch of awards, as did the awful Hatfields & McCoys.

I've left the worst for last. Louis C.K.--who won elsewhere for his comedy special--took best writing for a comedy series. (His show, which maybe deserved an Emmy, wasn't even nominated.) Normally I wouldn't mind, but he was up against Community's "Remedial Chaos Theory," one of the best half-hours of TV I've seen in years. I realize the Emmy voters don't think much of the show, but I was hoping the brilliance of the episode would help them overcome their animus.