Emmys: Oddities and observations
Now that I've had some time to think about it, I'd say this year's crop of Emmy nominees fall into a few broad categories.
IT'S ABOUT TIME:
David Morse. Morse (pictured left) broke your heart every week during the 1982-1988 run of NBC's "St. Elsewhere." But was he nominated? Nooooo. It took a guest shot role on another hospital drama, Fox's "House," to win this underrated actor some Emmy appreciation.
Rainn Wilson. How could he have been overlooked last year? Just the sight of him in his Dwight Schrute persona (pictured right) makes me laugh.
Mary-Louise Parker. Emmy voters felt so bad for snubbing her last year for "Weeds" that they gave her two noms, this year, one for "Weeds," one for the Oxygen movie "The Robber Bride."
This category can also encompass the new names and faces Emmy voters let into the tent this year, including "30 Rock"; "Ugly Betty" and America Ferrera; "Heroes" and Masi Oka; Neil Patrick Harris of "How I Met Your Mother."
WHAT'ER YOU THINKING?:
With all due respect to everyone who undoubtedly works hard, some of the nominees seem a little generous (I know it's all subjective...)
Patricia Arquette for "Medium"?
Minnie Driver for "The Riches"?
T.R. Knight and Katherine Heigl for "Grey's Anatomy"?
William Shatner for "Boston Legal"???
This line of thinking is quickly followed by the laments of
WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE TO DO?
I'm not a rabid "Friday Night Lights" viewer but what I saw of Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton's perfs in that show seemed like Emmy bait to me -- at least a nomination.
What about Tichina Arnold and Terry Crews (pictured left) of "Everybody Loves Chris"?
What about a final season farewell to an overlooked trouper: Leah Remini of "The King of Queens"?
Kathryn Morris of "Cold Case"? Poppy Montgomery of "Without a Trace"? Just because it's a CBS procedural doesn't mean it should be dismissed (just ask Gary Sinise).
Granted, it was the weakest season of "Gilmore Girls," but...Lauren Graham, anyone?
How about Ana Ortiz of "Ugly Betty"? (pictured right) She makes me laugh.
Jason Gray-Stanford, Terry Levine and Traylor Howard (pictured left) of "Monk"? All three had some nice moments this past season, and are off to a good start this year.
Finally, what does a man have to do to get voters attention, die? Didn't work for "Lost's" Dominic Monaghan, did it? Maybe it would've helped if he'd done a Tony Bennett number. Emmy voters went ga-ga for "Tony Bennett: An American Classic," giving it almost as many noms (eight) as it showered, as always, on the Academy Awards telecast.
And not that these folks aren't talented but...
THERE MUST BE AN EMMY BYLAW
that mandates that some people get nominated every time the even think about working in TV:
Thomas Schlamme
Holland Taylor
Ed Asner
William H. Macy
Elaine Stritch
Judy Davis
Laurie Metcalf
Conchata Ferrell and Felicity Huffman will probably join this club by next year.
AND FINALLY....
One thing that jumped out at me is what sad times these are for multi-camera shows, as evidenced by the paucity of nominees in the multi-cam craft categories. Art direction for a multi-cam show only mustered two nominees, one of them a long-goner, CBS' "The Class," the other being "How I Met Your Mother." Cinematography for multi-cam series brought in three bids, "According to Jim," "Rules of Engagement" and "Two and a Half Men." The multi-cam editing field was dominated by reality, with "How I Met" and "Two and a Half Men" (see a pattern here?) cutting against "American Idol," "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Daily Show."
Cynthia Littleton is deputy editor, news development at Variety and a veteran television reporter.
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My thoughts exactly re Elaine Stritch. I'm a huge fan of 30 Rock and was afraid (all season) that it wouldn't get the Emmy noms it deserved... until I realized who was playing Jack's mother. Hiring her was pure Emmy bait--she was horribly cast and the character was a thinly veiled reproduction of Jessica Walter on Arrested Development--but I can't complain. If the Emmy voters were going to overlook the amazing guest performances by Conan O'Brien, LL Cool J, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell and Keith Powell this season, kudos to the 30 Rock producers for getting someone who was guaranteed a nod. 3rd Rock from the Sun pulled the same strategy with Stritch for years and years, after all.
Posted by: n/a | July 20, 2007 at 10:52 AM