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Emmy Nomination Hell! 10 Plots and Subplots to Watch After Today's Big Announcements
Posted by Defamer Hollywood at 1:10 AM on July 18, 2008
The world awoke this morning to the chirping of little birds resembling Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris, perched at a podium in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, announcing nominations for the 60th Emmy Awards. While most rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, we sat bolt upright as usual and sprinted to the window, our furious note-taking chronicling a few snubs, surprises and plenty of the conventional wisdom we've come to expect from the annual ritual.
The Academy has the full, looong slate of nominees, naturally, but we've narrowed our interests down to 10 easy storylines for our own Emmy dramedy — conveniently outlined after the jump!
1. Mad Men joined Damages as the first basic-cable programs to earn a nomination for best dramatic series. Its 15 other nods led the pack among all nominated dramas, while 30 Rock led all shows with 17 noms.
2. For the last time (literally), the Academy has snubbed The Wire for a dramatic series nomination. Critics at the TCA press tour will be symbolically immolating themselves by lunchtime.
3. In other snubs, FX is wondering this morning who it has to blow to get Denis Leary, Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver back on the list after nominations in 2007. Hint: It might be a bribe-friendly exec at AMC, which scored a kind-of-stunning two dramatic actor nods this year.
4. Silverman, Emmy Darling (Part 1): "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" was nominated for Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics. Silverman's competition is Flight of the Conchords and MADtv. As such, it bears saying aloud: " 'I'm Fucking Matt Damon' is going to win an Emmy."
5. Sarah Silverman, Emmy Darling (Part 2): Denied an actress nod for her own show, she earned a guest actress nomination for her turn as Marci Maven on Monk.
6. Amy Poehler's supporting-actress nod for Saturday Night Live is the first for an SNL actress since Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin were each nominated in 1978. Radner won.
7. There's apparently a formula for earning a few dozen Emmy noms: Just make a loooong historical epic like HBO's John Adams, which pulled in 23 mentions including outstanding miniseries — as Variety notes, the third consecutive year a period miniseries has drawn the year's biggest haul. Awards-bait film stars like Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney — both nominated as well — can't hurt either.
8. Come to think of it, film actresses on cable dominated dramatic categories in general, with four Oscar winners (including Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter) and three Oscar nominees (Linney, Catherine Keener and Glenn Close) among the ten performers recognised. We presume Sally Field got Katherine Heigl's spot.
9. Speaking of whom, we're guessing ABC had higher hopes for Grey's Anatomy than two supporting-actress nominations and "Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special."
10. If we must split up the reality and reality-competition categories, surely the Academy can find a way to further separate things like A&E's grueling Intervention from trifles like Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. Really.
- The 60th Annual Emmy Award Nominations [Academy of TV Arts & Sciences]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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Wendy_Kroy
Posted 2:21 AM 18/7/08
I was bummed Pushing Daisies didn't get a series nod - I know the show's on the fence with the network, and a nomination could have secured them another season... I need dreamy Lee Pace to stay on TV as fantasy fodder for years to come. Also, it was a long shot, but it would have been nice for Battlestar Galactica to have gotten its props in its final season - The Wire isn't the only great drama to get passed over for the duration of its run.
Wendy_Kroy
CourageousCoward
Posted 1:49 AM 18/7/08
@Old No.7: with the speeches being on the same level, too!
CourageousCoward
Old No.7
Posted 1:45 AM 18/7/08
An Emmy Nomination is like the Special Olympics; even if you win you're still retarded.
Old No.7
WatTooSoon
Posted 1:43 AM 18/7/08
8. Part II Would be for a major motion picture star to produce the series, thus requiring him show up to your party.
WatTooSoon
CourageousCoward
Posted 1:42 AM 18/7/08
"If we must split up the reality and reality-competition categories, surely the Academy can find a way to further separate things..."
I would think awarding these categories at the non-televised "Technical Emmys" ceremony would be separation enough.
CourageousCoward
A Pimp Named DaveR
Posted 1:37 AM 18/7/08
Does anyone even care anymore? I mean, honest to God, the Emmys have become the equivalent of Awards Day at summer camp. Can someone let me know whether "Ugly Betty", "Two and a Half Men", or "Curb Your Enthusiasm" were nominated in the "Best Achievement in Holding Your Breath Underwater" category?
A Pimp Named DaveR
Tardy
Posted 2:37 AM 18/7/08
@Wendy_Kroy: Won't BSG get another chance at the 2009 Emmys? The latter half of season four isn't airing till January, right?
The Wire gets one writing nod. ONE. *Pardon me while pummel academy voters with my Veronica Mars DVDs.*
And, you know, I like Tony Shaloub, but he and Monk are so mediocre and unoriginal. If we can't have the Emmy version of term limits, it'd be cool if they just removed themselves from competition to give the new kids (Pushing Daisies!) a shot. Of course, if that happened then the academy would probably nominate Two and Half Men TWICE just to piss me off.
Tardy
derby
Posted 2:36 AM 18/7/08
Because I personally don't know anyone who watches Boston Legal, I am saddened that The Wire was not nominated for Best Drama - unlike Boston Legal. There are some well-deserved (and surprising) nominations, but overall it's another sad year for Emmy.
It's the curse of Jason Alexander. You don't give the guy who played George Costanza at least ONE EMMY, you suffer eternal damnation.
derby
Douglas Reinhardt
Posted 3:11 AM 18/7/08
Mad Men & Jon Hamm for the win.
Douglas Reinhardt
NoWireHangers
Posted 3:07 AM 18/7/08
The Emmys are the worst. Unwatchable. God, was it last year that they put Semencrest in that Tudors get up while he spewed forth awkward "I'm-not-gay" jokes? And then Fox turned off Sally Field's mike and cut to a ceiling camera? They're not even unwatchable in the good, B-movie way. They're just bad. Bad bad bad.
NoWireHangers
Desk_hack
Posted 3:52 AM 18/7/08
@MsMuffinMcGuffin: I would love to.
Where. The. Fuck. is the Rescue Me love? Fuckers!!
Gah!
Desk_hack
Tiger_Tanaka
Posted 3:51 AM 18/7/08
They should switch the statuette award for a framed picture of bikini-clad Helen Mirren.
Tiger_Tanaka
Little Mintz Sunshine
Posted 3:44 AM 18/7/08
As happy as I am that Michael Emerson was nominated for LOST, I really think they needed to add a "Most Awesomist Biceps" award for that mercenary soldier guy.
Little Mintz Sunshine
jasonelias
Posted 3:30 AM 18/7/08
Strange Amy Poehler gets nominated this year of all years. Sounds like a push to help that sitcom. Nice to see Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson nominated. They didn't have a lot of "materials" themselves, but I see they haven't said a damn thing. Good for them.
@Douglas Reinhardt: I can't believe Nate from the Division is so popular now. It's really cool.
jasonelias
MsMuffinMcGuffin
Posted 3:27 AM 18/7/08
Anyone else want to smack Kristin for her cutesy routine? Ugh.
MsMuffinMcGuffin
derby
Posted 4:11 AM 18/7/08
@Desk_hack: Agreed. where is rescue me? where i ask? oh... boston legal is nominated again. now i know why. just embarrassing.
derby
Douglas Reinhardt
Posted 4:31 AM 18/7/08
@jasonelias: Jon Hamm has played other characters? You mean he didn't just fall from the heavens with the purpose of entertaining the masses as Don Draper?
Douglas Reinhardt
jimstoic
Posted 4:59 AM 18/7/08
If Emmys are lame, is more noms good or bad? I mean, does three noms move Kathy Griffin up to the C list or down to the E list?
jimstoic
TenTimesFiltered
Posted 6:51 AM 18/7/08
@MsMuffinMcGuffin: If by "smack" you mean "feverishly and repeatedly penetrate", then count me in.
TenTimesFiltered
katewrath
Posted 7:59 AM 18/7/08
@Wendy_Kroy: Pushing Daisies is in production for season 2. Whether it gets a full second season or picked up for a third is a question of ratings -- Emmys alone cannot save a show.
(CoughArrestedDevelopmentCough.)
I am so psyched for "Mad Men" and it's less-critically-acclaimed lil' brother "Breaking Bad," but tragically, I suspect Bryan Cranston and MAYBE Alan Taylor (Directing, MM) will be the only folks going home with statues. Frickin' Emmy voters... god, hurry up and die, you fossils.
katewrath
gangrenejean
Posted 7:57 AM 18/7/08
@Little Mintz Sunshine: Oh.My.Goodness.Yes. Biceps guy from Lost should also get the award for "Most Likely To Receive Gangrene Jean's Phone Number on a Cocktail Napkin."
gangrenejean
Wendy_Kroy
Posted 8:40 AM 18/7/08
@katewrath: Yeah, I know it was picked up for another season - but it was kind of helped out by the fact that the writers' strike meant there weren't as many other projects around that could have pushed it off the '09 schedule. It's a damn expensive show to film, and Barry Sonnenfeld - whose stewarded the pilot that got directing and writing noms - is only tangentially involved in it these days, supposedly because it cost too much to film the series the way he wanted it to be filmed. I'm just afraid Pushing Daisies is going to go the way of Deadwood - another well-written, well-acted, exceedingly original show that got prematurely axed because it was just too pricey to shoot.
Wendy_Kroy
NotReadyForPrimeTime
Posted 8:31 AM 18/7/08
@Wendy_Kroy:
I'm glad that somebody else likes Lee Pace. I have never seen Pushing Daisies, so I just watch the trailer for "The Fall" over and over.
NotReadyForPrimeTime
OldTowneTavern
Posted 9:47 AM 18/7/08
Thank goodness they've added that category for Best Host. Now the awards have gravitas.
OldTowneTavern
NotReadyForPrimeTime
Posted 11:01 AM 18/7/08
@OldTowneTavern:
AOL was predicting that Samantha Harris would get a nomination for whatever it is she does on Dances With the Stars.
I suppose they would have to invent a category that comprises asking inappropriate questions, awkward silences, mispronounced words and goofy facial expressions, including creepy, hyper-manic delight at seeing the contestants each week. Also, odd lurching movements, possibly caused by clapping so hard that she throws her entire body off balance.
She's really in her own category.
NotReadyForPrimeTime
jackvinyl
Posted 10:55 AM 18/7/08
no likey sarah silverman.
likey Flight of the Conchords.
scene.
jackvinyl
jasonelias
Posted 12:33 PM 18/7/08
@Douglas Reinhardt: It does seem like he just appeared but Hamm's had plenty of other roles. I knew him best as the goofy guy, like his stint on Providence.
jasonelias