What I Watched Before Breaking Bad

So, the Emmys. I won't review the show itself, which had some highs and plenty of lows as entertainment.  As for the awards, same thing. Let's go over some of the major ones:

Supporting Actor in a Drama--Bobby Cannavale for Boardwalk Empire.  Worst choice of the night.  A good actor stuck in a cliched role in a dull series beats five actors all doing (much) better work--Aaron Paul, Jonathan Banks, Jim Carter, Peter Dinklage, Mandy Patinkin.

Supporting Actress in a Drama--Anna Gunn for Breaking Bad. Always nice to see a BB win, even if she deserved an Emmy less than others in the show who didn't get it.  She wrote a piece about all the hate she got for this role, so maybe there was a sympathy vote.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy--Tony Hale for Veep.  Well-deserved, but a surprise--is the era of Modern Family over?

Supporting Actress in a Comedy--Merritt Wever for Nurse Jackie.  She's the best thing is a weak show, though I'm surprised Modern Family didn't take this one.  Actually there are seven women in the category and except for Jane Lynch they all made sense.

Writing in a Drama--Henry Bromell for Homeland.  Not a single Mad Men nomination, so times have changed.  Not sure if he deserved this one, but he did die of a heart attack this year which gave him the sentimental vote.

Writing in a Comedy--Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield for 30 Rock.  Why not?  Let's send them off with an Emmy. (Though I'm still smarting from Community's "Remedial Chaos Theory" not winning last year.)

Actor in a Drama--Jeff Daniels for The Newsroom.  This was absurd.  He's a fine actor who does as good a job as he can with the ridiculous things he's required to say, but Daniels over Bryan Cranston and Jon Hamm (who's never won)?  Is the TV Academy on the take?

Actress in a Drama--Claire Danes for Homeland. She's won before, but deserves to keep on winning for this role.  No surprise here.

Actor in a Miniseries or Movie--Michael Douglas for Behind The Candelabra.  The boring, obvious, wrong choice.

Actress in a Miniseries or Movie-- Laura Linney in The Big C: Hereafter.  Another case of a good actor stuck in a bad piece.

Actor in a Comedy--Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory.   I could see maybe Alec Baldwin or Louis C. K., but it's hard to complain with Parsons, who's been the best thing in the series from the start.

Actress in a Comedy--Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep.  The Academy loves Julia and she's doing a fine job in Veep, and she certainly deserved it more than any highly touted woman with the initials L.D., but I'd think Tina Fey or Amy Poehler deserve it a bit more.

Best Reality Series--The Voice. Who cares, except that finally The Amazing Race didn't win (like it did through all those years American Idol should have gotten the Emmy).

Variety Series--The Colbert Report.  Beating The Daily Show, which had the biggest streak of wins in TV history.  I don't think The Daily Show should have won all those times, but I don't think The Colbert Report should have won this time. (And since when are all these talky shows "variety"?)

Drama Series--Breaking Bad. Finally.  Last year Homeland broke Mad Men's streak, but it should have been BB.  This is the best category at the Emmys so no one should feel too bad about losing. Maybe next time it'll be Game Of Thrones.

Comedy Series--Modern Family.  A lot of people thought the era of MF was finally over, but I guess not yet.  Four in a row.  Can't say it doesn't deserve it, even if the bloom is off the rose.

Miniseries or Movie--Behind The Candelabra.  What else?