Friday, July 20, 2012

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS: 2012 Emmy Nominations

Today I thought I would share some of my initial reactions and thoughts to yesterday morning's Emmy Nominations for 2012. So let's get to it:


BEST DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Mad Men
Though I'm surprised that CBS' The Good Wife got eked out of the running, it is in no way a shocker that Cable is dominating this category. So PBS will serve as this category's lone Broadcast network vying for the top prize this year.

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls, Modern Family, 30 Rock, Veep
The biggest shocker here is that NBC's Parks & Recreation, which had one of the funniest seasons of any sitcom this year, was nudged off the list by HBO's triumvirate of Spring hits: returning fave Curb Your Enthusiasm and new critical favorites Girls and Veep. The other three nominees (Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory and 30 Rock) were predicted on every pundits' list.

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law; Glenn Close, Damages; Claire Danes, Homeland; Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey; Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Mostly the usual suspects ended up here. Kathy Bates is kind of a surprise as her series was cancelled by NBC back in May (which is never really a good thing in Emmy's eyes!). As far as snubs go, Sons of Anarchy's Katey Sagal and Revenge's Madeleine Stowe had a lot of fan love behind them, but Emmys tend to ignore what the fans want. As expected, this race will end up as a showdown between Golden Globe winner Claire Danes and last year's Emmy champ Julianna Margulies.

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey; Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; John Hamm, Mad Men; Damian Lewis, Homeland
It looks like Hugh Laurie has been replaced by Hugh Bonneville. Bonneville was definitely in the running for his steely reserved role on PBS' lauded series. And Laurie was a long shot for his swan song season of the FOX medical drama. As for the other nominees, they were pretty much as predicted. But why don't we save everyone the trouble and give Bryan Cranston his fourth Emmy Award now?

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl; Lena Dunham, Girls; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly; Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
Seven nominees!?!?! And all seven ladies extremely deserving on their respective shows. Poehler, Louis-Dreyfus and Fey were pretty much locks for nominations. Deschanel and Dunham have their respective networks campaigning vigorously for them. And previous winners Falco and McCarthy want to ensure their wins were not flukes. In the snub list (though many of them shouldn't be surprised!) include: Laura Dern, Laura Linney, Martha Plimpton, Lea Michele, Mary Louise Parker, Kat Dennings, Kaley Cuoco and Felicity Huffman.

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Don Cheadle, House of Lies; Louis C.K., Louie; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
No surprise that Baldwin, David and Parsons got nominated. As for Louis C.K., though his series got snubbed in the Comedy Series category, he was a favorite for a nod this year (having been nominated last year!). Though House of Lies was not beloved by the critics, Cheadle's performance was. The big shocker here is that Jon Cryer, now submitting himself in the Lead Actor category, got a nod despite his once #1 show's sagging ratings (seriously, Emmy voters still watch Two and a Half Men?!?!).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey; Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men; Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Dame Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
This is the Dame's category! Maggie Smith, who won Supporting Actress in a Miniseries last year for the show's first season, is the presumed frontrunner in this category. Previous winner Archie Panjabi and previous nominees Christine Baranski and Christina Hendricks were definite locks for a nod each. The two surprises in this category are Smith's co-star Joanne Froggatt (for her strong portrayal of the head housemaid) and Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn, who critics have loved for years but has never received Emmy love until now. Unfortunately, that left out the likes of Boardwalk Empire's phenomenal Kelly MacDonald and Smash's Anjelica Huston for nominations that in any other year they might have received.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey; Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad; Jared Harris, Mad Men; Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
No shocker that previous winners Aaron Paul and Peter Dinklage scored nods for their work again. And Giancarlo Esposito got some of the best reviews of any actor on TV last year for Breaking Bad's fourth season, so he was a lock. The surprises here are for Jared Harris' nod for his shocking season on Mad Men (in place of his usually more loved co-star John Slattery!) and Downton Abbey's double nods for British character actors Jim Carter and Brendan Coyle. It seems like Breaking Bad and Downton Abbey are the Dramas that will give Mad Men a run for their money this year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory; Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
With Jane Lynch, Betty White and Jane Krakowski falling off the radar in this category, slots became wide open this year. Kathryn Joosten's death in May ensured her the "venerable veteran" spot in this category over the likes of White and Cloris Leachman. But the greatest surprises were the nods for critical favorites Mayim Bialik and Merritt Wever (of The Big Bang Theory and Nurse Jackie, respectively). They have gotten praise from critics for the past few years but hadn't received well-deserved Emmy nods until now. Modern Family's Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen were both definite nods this year (the latter having won this award last year). And Kristen Wiig's final year on SNL was full of laughs and praise for her work, so she was a lock as well.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Max Greenfield, New Girl; Bill Hader,
Saturday Night Live; Ed O'Neill, Modern Family; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Should one show dominate an entire category? While the men of Modern Family are very deserving, with all four of them submitted in this category (and the seemingly enduring love Emmy seems to have for the show) means that equally deserving men from other shows get snubbed (see Neil Patrick Harris, Nick Offerman, Danny Pudi, Chris Colfer, Simon Helberg or many many more!). The other two spots however went to surprising (yet welcomed) choices. New Girl's Max Greenfield has made his character a popular favorite with critics and Bill Hader has become an integral member of the SNL cast. Maybe one of these two could defeat the Modern Family juggernaut (but that's a very unlikely maybe!).


Tonight's post is dedicated to the Victims of the shooting in Aurora, Colorado and their families. Let us keep them in our thoughts as we remember that all they wanted to do was enjoy a much-anticipated movie and were subjected to a horrific tragedy. Do not let the act of one madman spoil the things we sometimes take for granted in this world including enjoying the simple pleasures of life (like a Film or a TV Show).

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