CHICAGO – The 62nd-annual Emmy Award nominations took our advice and openly embraced several of the best new shows and performances of the last year. This resulted in what could be considered the best list of choices that the often-criticized group has yet produced. Of course, no one’s perfect.
Before we get to who missed out, it seems appropriate to acknowledge a few of the more inspired, unexpected choices (nominees like Bryan Cranston and Steve Carell are, of course, deserving, but also predictable) — Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton for “Friday Night Lights,” Matthew Fox’s first nomination for “Lost,” January Jones’ first nomination for “Mad Men,” Juliana Margulies for “The Good Wife,” Edie Falco for “Nurse Jackie,” and five-sixths of the adult cast of “Modern Family” (sorry Ed O’Neill).
Now that doesn’t mean that a few people weren’t totally screwed. Good choices for WINNERS weren’t even nominated. They missed some biggies. And it’s time to name names.
10. Courteney Cox for “Cougar Town”
We’re no huge fans of “Cougar Town,” but Courteney Cox had definitely become one of the stronger Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy candidates by the end of the improving first season and this ABC show could use some love (and probably a title change) if it hopes to find an audience in its sophomore outing. Cox is certainly more deserving than Julia Louis-Dreyfus of the tired-and-thankfully-canceled “The New Adventures of Old Christine” and probably an even better choice than Lea Michele or Amy Poehler (although we’re not complaining about honoring those two talented ladies). The reason we include Cox is that it feels like the Academy has something against Mrs. David Arquette and that’s just not cool. Impress your friends with this sad piece of trivia — Cox was the only lead cast member on “Friends” NOT to ever score an Emmy or Golden Globe nomination. Not even once. When the HFPA gave her a nod for “Cougar Town,” it felt like the Academy might follow suit. Maybe next year.
9. “Survivor”
The last two seasons of “Survivor” were among the series best and the last installment — “Heroes vs. Villains” — brought the show back to a pop culture status that it hadn’t enjoyed in years. As “Survivor” was proving that it has enough life in it to air successfully for at least another decade, some other reality TV icons were fading, most notably “Project Runway” and “American Idol,” neither of which are anywhere near their peak but both of which were chosen for Outstanding Reality Competition Program over “Survivor.” We get that “Dancing With the Stars” is inexplicably huge and “The Amazing Race” and “Top Chef” are arguably the two best reality shows on television, but it’s baffling that anyone thinks “AI” or “Runway” had better seasons than one of the best of “Survivor.” Heck, even “Big Brother” would have been a better choice.
8. Tate Donovan for “Damages”
“Damages” had a hit-and-miss season and the Academy wisely recognized that there were at least six better shows on television, excluding it from Best Outstanding Dramatic Series for the first time in its history. But they still spread the wealth a bit among the cast, nominating Glenn Close, Martin Short, Rose Byrne, and Ted Danson for individual acting awards. The sad thing is that one of the most consistent actors on the show has never been nominated and, SPOILER ALERT, now will never hear his name on Emmy morning. In many ways, the entire third season was about Tate Donovan’s character, a man who got personally caught up in the biggest case of his life and paid the price. Donovan didn’t give nearly as flashy a performance as those who were nominated but it was just as good and, in some cases, better.
7. “Treme”
Does anyone else have that deja vu feeling? For years, critics proclaimed “The Wire” the best thing in the history of television and the Academy treated it without about as much respect as “According to Jim.” Now, Creator David Simon is back with a show that’s earned nearly the same level of critical acclaim and the Academy ignored the writing, acting, and technical achievements of the show, citing it only two categories for Aginezka Holland’s direction of the premiere and Steve Earle’s theme song. Why was “Treme” as nominated as “Stargate Universe” (another dual nominee)? Part of the problem is probably due to the fact that the first season of this excellent drama straddles the line of Emmy eligibility. Emmys are given for TV years that run from June to May, so only just over half of the first season of “Treme” was eligible. But that should have been enough for one nomination in the writing categories or for one of the very strong supporting players like Khandi Alexander, Steve Zahn, or Melissa Leo to garner attention. HBO — next year, put the whole season in one Emmy eligibility season. David Simon shows need all the help they can get.
6. Ginnifer Goodwin for “Big Love”
“Big Love” peaked with its third season, which scored nominations in multiple categories, including Outstanding Dramatic Series. Season four was something of a disaster as scheduling conflicts forced the writers to cram an entire season into a truncated episode count. It made for an almost laughable pace in which every scene was a revelation or a conflict. Through all of that, Ginnifer Goodwin had her best season to date. She completely sold the arc of a young woman spreading her wings for the first time as her character became one of the most financially successful of her unusual clan. And the honesty with which she performed a very subtle arc involving affection she felt for what is essentially her stepson was remarkable. To be honest, without Goodwin, this season would have been sometimes unbearable. She was the bright light that made it merely forgettable.
5. Regina King of “Southland”
“Southland” is slowly building a following after its unceremonious dumping from NBC and subsequent pick-up by TNT. This is one of the richest ensembles on television and Regina King gives one of the tube’s most consistent performances. She anchors some of the more complex plotlines of the program in believable human emotions. As Detective Lydia Adams, King displays a perfect combination of human vulnerability and the veins of steel required to be an L.A. cop. Much was made about the fact that the Academy nominated “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” instead of the one with Jay Leno as it displayed something of a cold shoulder to the man who created such drama in the late night TV wars. It would have been even more of a middle finger to the peacock network to nominate the deserving King for Lead or Supporting Actress from a show that NBC dumped to make room for the Leno debacle. I suggested last year — thinking that the show would be on NBC for a whole season — that Mariska Hargitay better make room for King. The tumultuous second season made that less likely but if the show continues to rise on TNT in 2010-11, someone is going to have to get out of the way.
4. Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic for “Castle”
Fillion and Katic have the most entertaining chemistry on television, reminding viewers of the right age of Dave and Maddie from “Moonlighting” or whatever other great will-they-or-won’t-they pair from TV history. They simply get better at what they do with every episode and the fact is that what they do isn’t nearly as easy as it looks. What they’re accomplishing is often written off as fluff entertainment but keeping viewers interested in both the case-of-the-week and the arc of the characters solving it takes more acting skill than the Academy was apparently willing to recognize this year. It took four seasons for them to realize that Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, another great TV team, deserved to have their inaugural nominations at the same time. Perhaps it will take a couple more for Nate and Stana.
3. “Community”
The Academy wisely recognized a wave of new shows this year — “The Good Wife,” “Glee,” “Modern Family,” “Nurse Jackie.” You’d think that one of the smartest comedies on television with one of the strongest ensembles would have netted a single, lonely nomination, but “Community” was left completely off the list. Even “Rules of Engagement” got ONE nomination (Art Direction). And “Community” deserved consideration “above the line” in major acting categories. The season started a little shakily but McHale and his ensemble were simply spectacular by the end of the year. Anyone would have been nice, but we would have found a spot for McHale (over Matthew Morrison), Pudi (over Jon Cryer), and Brie (over Jane Krakowski). Sometimes it takes a year or two for a show to catch fire with the Academy. If “Community” continues its upward trajectory in quality, expect at least two of these three to be nominated next summer.
2. Anna Paquin and Alexander Skarsgard for “True Blood”
It’s another year with no acting nominations for “True Blood,” which wouldn’t be quite as surprising if the show hadn’t been nominated for Outstanding Dramatic Series. It’s one of the six best dramas on television, but not a SINGLE cast member are among the best? Does that make sense? The fact is that the second season of “True Blood” would not have been Best Drama-worthy without the performances from Anna Paquin and Alexander Skarsgard and they deserved nominations recognizing that. Their snubbing makes it seem pretty likely that “Blood” was the sixth nominee, one that barely snuck in to fill out the category. Don’t expect that the show has any chance of actually winning.
1. “Justified”
It’s shameful that the Academy didn’t nominate FX’s great “Justified” in more categories and there’s no greater shame than their complete dismissal of the career-best work by Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens. Distilling his work on “Deadwood” into a modern-day cowboy, Olyphant is brilliant in every scene of the first season of this great show, one of the most critically acclaimed of 2010. It feels like “Justified” doesn’t fit into a box like other nomination-friendly shows and the Academy probably undervalued the program due to a lack of melodrama. Hard-to-classify programs like “Glee” and “The Good Wife” were embraced but Olyphant didn’t get his invite to the party. It better happen next year or Raylan might have to kick some ass.
[24] | By BRIAN TALLERICO [25] |
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