Sunday, July 17, 2011

63rd Emmy Award nominations analysis

Like I did with the Oscars, I'm going to take a look at the Emmys and go through each category. Since I obviously see more movies than I do television, I won't be saying who will win, but instead who I think should win as well as what should've been nominated. Here it goes...

DRAMA
-Boardwalk Empire
-Dexter
-Friday Night Lights
-Game of Thrones
-The Good Wife
-Mad Men
The only show here I don't watch is The Good Wife and although I am fan of its ensemble, I don't really think much of the show as far as its overall quality goes. The usual nomination for Mad Men was expected and it is nice to see Friday Night Lights get a nomination for its final season. I personally think the fifth season of Dexter was not the strongest, but it was still a damn fine drama with some great performances. HBO premiered two great new series- Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones. I think it will come down to either of those two or the usual win for Mad Men.
SHOULD WIN- Boardwalk Empire
SNUBBED- The Killing, Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead

COMEDY
-30 Rock
-The Big Bang Theory
-Glee
-Modern Family
-The Office
-Parks and Recreation
Not a fan of The Big Bang Theory and its humor. I just feel like the other nominees (except for Glee which I don't think of as being remotely interesting or funny) are all just superior examples of comedy on television. Nominations were expected for 30 Rock as well as another nod for another good year for Modern Family. Steve Carell's final season of The Office was also nominated, but it's Greg Daniels' other show Parks and Recreation that just gets better with each year.
SHOULD WIN- Parks and Recreation
SNUBBED- Community, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

MINSERIES OR TV MOVIE
-Cinema Verite
-Downtown Abbey
-The Kennedys
-Mildred Pierce
-The Pillars of the Earth
-Too Big to Fail
Not familiar with Downtown Abbey and although I wasn't overly crazy with Pillars of the Earth and The Kennedys, they still both deserve nominations. HBO has three nominations here for the films Cinema Verite and Too Big to Fail as well as the miniseries Mildred Pierce. I'm a huge fan of all three and all three are from visionary directors. I just think the fact that Mildred Pierce is obviously about an extra four hours longer than those other two is what gives it an edge.
SHOULD WIN- Mildred Pierce

DRAMA ACTOR
-Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
-Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights)
-Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
-Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
-Hugh Laurie (House)
-Timothy Olyphant (Justified)
I feel bad for Hugh Laurie. He always seems to get nominated for his "going-on-for-too-long" show where he puts in a lot of effort, but it seems he is always outmatched by his fellow nominees. It is nice to see Chandler get a nomination for his last year in the role, Michael C. Hall delivered us an even more tortured anti-hero than we were used to on Dexter, and Olyphant has created a rural version of Jack Bauer with Raylan Givens. This comes down to Buscemi and Hamm. Buscemi's show just premiered, but Hamm hasn't gotten a win yet and he was phenomenal this past year.
SHOULD WIN- Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
SNUBBED- Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), William H. Macy (Shameless)

DRAMA ACTRESS
-Kathy Bates (Harry's Law)
-Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights)
-Mireille Enos (The Killing)
-Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
-Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
-Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Bates is okay, but she is often out-shined by her guest stars in my opinion. Like with Chandler, it is nice to see Britton get a nomination. Margulies is quite good, despite my not being so crazy about The Good Wife. Not to say she is a bad actress, but nominating Hargitay is just getting old. This comes down to Enos and Moss. Despite The Killing having just premiered, Peggy is a much more emotional character than Sarah.
SHOULD WIN- Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
SNUBBED- January Jones (Mad Men), Emmy Rossum (Shameless), Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy)

COMEDY ACTOR
-Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
-Steve Carell (The Office)
-Louis C.K. (Louie)
-Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory)
-Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
-Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Like I said, I'm not that big of a fan of The Big Bang Theory so that rules out me wanting Galecki or Parsons to win. Baldwin is always fun to watch, but he has won before. I feel bad because I gave Louie a chance and I only liked the stand-up sequences, but perhaps I should give the show another shot (either way it's nice that Louis C.K. has been nominated). I also can't believe I'm saying this, but Matt LeBlanc's "second coming" on Episodes was just hilarious. I'd pick him or Baldwin, but Carell's swan song was just too sentimental for me to not want him to win.
SHOULD WIN- Steve Carell (The Office)
SNUBBED- Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation), Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down), Joel McHale (Community)

COMEDY ACTRESS
-Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
-Tina Fey (30 Rock)
-Laura Linney (The Big C)
-Melissa McCarthy (Mike and Molly)
-Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope)
-Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
The usual deserving nomination for Fey was not much of a surprise. I'm not crazy about Mike and Molly and Raising Hope as I've seen a few episodes of both and I always found myself liking the performances, but wanting more out of the plots (both actresses are great and I hear McCarthy is hilarious in the film Bridesmaids). Falco and Linney are phenomenal on their shows, but they are more quirky/dark comedies than actual laugh-out-loud episodes. Poehler's iconic performances are just what makes me laugh so hard week after week.
SHOULD WIN- Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
SNUBBED- Toni Collette (United States of Tara), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE ACTOR
-Idris Elba (Luther)
-Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood)
-William Hurt (Too Big to Fail)
-Greg Kinnear (The Kennedys)
-Barry Pepper (The Kennedys)
-Edgar Ramirez (Carlos)
Some outrageously good stuff to be found here. I even liked Fishburne's one-man show of Thurgood. Elba was like a modern Sherlock Holmes. Hurt was one of the many stand outs of his film. Kinnear and Pepper don't really deserve that much recognition for their portrayals of the chaotic Kennedys. The performance given by Ramirez in the three episodes of Carlos were just like spitfire. He captured the Jackal in a very unique way.
SHOULD WIN- Edgar Ramirez (Carlos)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE ACTRESS
-Taraji P. Henson (Taken from Me)
-Diane Lane (Cinema Verite)
-Elizabeth McGovern (Downtown Abbey)
-Jean Marsh (Upstairs Downstairs)
-Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)
This isn't much of a contest. I like Henson, but I haven't seen her film or the films/miniseries of McGovern and Marsh. If this was a weaker year, Lane would get the award for her heartbreaking turn in Cinema Verite. Yet they are all going up against one of the greatest actresses around and that is Kate Winslet.
SHOULD WIN- Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)

DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR
-Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age)
-Josh Charles (The Good Wife)
-Alan Cumming (The Good Wife)
-Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
-Walton Goggins (Justified)
-John Slattery (Mad Men)
Charles and Cumming are both good, but like I've been saying, I'm just not a fan of The Good Wife. Braugher is the stand out on his show, but the low viewership (it was just cancelled) doesn't bode well for him getting an actual win. Slattery gets his usual nomination. Goggins gets his first for his conflicted role of Boyd Crowder, but as corny as this will sound- its the littlest guy with the most heart and that is Tyrion on Game of Thrones played by the dwarf Peter Dinklage.
SHOULD WIN- Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
SNUBBED- Michael Cudlitz (Southland), John Noble (Fringe), Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire)

DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS
-Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
-Michelle Forbes (The Killing)
-Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
-Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire)
-Margo Martindale (Justified)
-Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
Also not much of a contest. Panjabi is good on her show (not a fan of Baranski's character), Hendricks' beauty deserves its own award (sorry, I'm crazy about the woman), and Forbes was also excellent as a member of the Larsen clan. Despite this being Boardwalk Empire's first season and despite MacDonald's excellent work, critics/fans/just about everybody was raving about the villainous Martindale on Justified. Probably the one nominee I'm pulling for the most to win.
SHOULD WIN- Margo Martindale (Justified)
SNUBBED- Khandi Alexander (Treme), Regina King (Southland)

COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
-Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
-Chris Colfer (Glee)
-Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men)
-Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)
-Ed O'Neill (Modern Family)
-Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
I always feel like Cryer is wasting his time on the semi-funny Two and a Half Men and like I said before, I just don't get the appeal of most of the performances on Glee (despite one I'll mention below). All of the Modern Family nominations are deserving, despite how I wish other shows would get the nominations. However, I feel like Burrell's timing and style were just perfect.
SHOULD WIN- Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
SNUBBED- Tracy Morgan (30 Rock), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Danny Pudi (Community), Rainn Wilson (The Office)

COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
-Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
-Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)
-Jane Lynch (Glee)
-Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
-Betty White (Hot in Cleveland)
-Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live)
Lynch and White are two great actresses that are on shows that I don't find funny or understand how they are on the air. Wiig is one of the only few things I like about most SNL episodes. Krakowski is always fun to watch. It comes down to the Modern Family gals for me. I'll go with the lady who when she just uses her accent, she gets a laugh out of me.
SHOULD WIN- Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
SNUBBED- Jenna Fischer (The Office), Gillian Jacobs (Community), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTOR
-Paul Giamatti (Too Big to Fail)
-Brian F. O'Byrne (Mildred Pierce)
-Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce)
-Tom Wilkinson (The Kennedys)
-James Woods (Too Big to Fail)
Really tough calls to be made in the Miniseries or TV Movie categories. All of these guys were phenomenal additions to the ensembles. I think the one who impressed me the most was Pearce as I'm always on the lookout for what he is doing next.
SHOULD WIN- Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTRESS
-Eileen Atkins (Upstairs Downstairs)
-Melissa Leo (Mildred Pierce)
-Maggie Smith (Downtown Abbey)
-Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce)
-Mare Winningham (Mildred Pierce)
Same thing as I said above- some really tough calls between some really great actresses (although I haven't seen Upstairs Downstairs or Downtown Abbey so it's really just between the female supporting cast of Mildred Pierce). Despite great performances all around, Wood held her own opposite Winslet.
SHOULD WIN- Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce)

DRAMA GUEST ACTOR
-Beau Bridges (Brothers and Sisters)
-Jeremy Davies (Justified)
-Bruce Dern (Big Love)
-Michael J. Fox (The Good Wife)
-Paul McCrane (Harry's Law)
-Robert Morse (Mad Men)
Not a fan of Brothers and Sisters. Like I said above, Harry's Law is a show where the guests really do the best jobs and that is true of McCrane. Dern and Morse were great on their shows as well. It comes down to being between the villainous Davies and the slick Fox. Here's the crazy thing, despite all I've been saying about The Good Wife- whenever Louis Canning showed up, I actually tuned in and unfortunately Davies was outdone by Olyphant, Goggins, and Martindale on his show. Surprise...
SHOULD WIN- Michael J. Fox (The Good Wife)

DRAMA GUEST ACTRESS
-Cara Buono (Mad Men)
-Joan Cusack (Shameless)
-Loretta Devine (Grey's Anatomy)
-Randee Heller (Mad Men)
-Mary McDonnell (The Closer)
-Julia Stiles (Dexter)
-Alfre Woodard (True Blood)
McDonnell is more annoying than Sedgwick's character is supposed to be on The Closer. I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy years ago. The ladies of Mad Men and Woodard from True Blood are deserving of a nomination. So I find myself bouncing between Cusack and Stiles. I think my hoping that Dexter would have a stronger season makes me look down on Stiles a little bit and Cusack was awesome on the debut season of Shameless.
SHOULD WIN- Joan Cusack (Shameless)

COMEDY GUEST ACTOR
-Will Arnett (30 Rock)
-Matt Damon (30 Rock)
-Idris Elba (The Big C)
-Zach Galifiankis (Saturday Night Live)
-Nathan Lane (Modern Family)
-Justin Timberlake (Saturday Night Live)
Some great choices. Elba was fantastic, Arnett, was fantastic, Lane was fantastic, Galifianakis was also fantastic on a show that hasn't been in a long time (oh, and Timberlake was good as well, but Timberlake has yet to do a bad SNL episode). I'm just being crazy here as Elba will probably win, but every time Damon shows up on 30 Rock I just have to watch it.
SHOULD WIN- Matt Damon (30 Rock)

COMEDY GUEST ACTRESS
-Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock)
-Kristen Chenoweth (Glee)
-Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live)
-Dot Jones (Glee)
-Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope)
-Gwyneth Paltrow (Glee)
Banks and Fey are always good when they show up on those respective shows. Leachman might win as she was just my favorite thing about Raising Hope other than Garrett Dillahunt, but I'm about to be a hypocrite. Like with The Good Wife, whenever a good guest actor or actress shows up, I tune into (or at least watch clips) of a show that I despise like Glee. Didn't see the episode with Dot Jones and I think Chenoweth (who I normally like) is just about as annoying as the younger cast members when she is on that show... so I went with the enchanting performance of Paltrow. How it pains me to give that show any sort of mention...
SHOULD WIN- Gwyneth Paltrow (Glee)

DRAMA WRITING
-David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones)
-Maria Jacquemetton and Andre Jacquemetton (Mad Men)
-Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights)
-Veena Sud (The Killing)
-Matthew Weiner (Mad Men)
Katims deserves a nomination for the emotional episode he wrote for FNL and Sud's pilot script for The Killing is a great way to set up any series for that matter. Benioff and Weiss absolutely wowed everyone with the ending of the episode they are nominated for. Yet the writing on Mad Men just continued to evolve past excellent and into perfection. I've said this about the episode that Weiner is nominated for- it was better than most movies I saw in 2010 and that says a lot to me at the very least.
SHOULD WIN- Matthew Weiner (Mad Men)

COMEDY WRITING
-Louis C.K. (Louie)
-David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik (Episodes)
-Greg Daniels (The Office)
-Matt Hubbard (30 Rock)
-Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman (Modern Family)
All of these guys deserve the nominations (although I haven't watched Louie that much, but he is fucking Louis C.K.) but Daniels' episode of The Office that showed us the last we'd see of Michael Scott was quite a funny and emotional trip.
SHOULD WIN- Greg Daniels (The Office)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE WRITING
-Julian Fellowes (Downtown Abbey)
-Peter Gould (Too Big to Fail)
-Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond (Mildred Pierce)
-Steven Moffat (Sherlock)
-Heidi Thomas (Upstairs Downstairs)
Like I've been saying, I haven't seen Upstairs Downstairs or Downtown Abbey (and I'm a huge fan of Gosford Park that was also written by Fellowes). Moffat's Sherlock is good, but I don't think Emmy voters will give the show much of a chance against Too Big to Fail and Mildred Pierce (and those two would be my top choices anyway).
SHOULD WIN- Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond (Mildred Pierce).

DRAMA DIRECTING
-Patty Jenkins (The Killing)
-Neil Jordan (The Borgias)
-Jeremy Podeswa (Boardwalk Empire)
-Martin Scorsese (Boardwalk Empire)
-Tim Van Patten (Game of Thrones)
Some great choices. Jenkins and Van Patten did a great job with their pilots, but it comes between two favorite directors of mine- Jordan and Scorsese. I liked The Borgias, but Scorsese's episode of Boardwalk Empire just really set everything up in a way that I'm not used to being shown on television. I'm not even being biased here, it was quite good.
SHOULD WIN- Martin Scorsese (Boardwalk Empire)

COMEDY DIRECTING
-Pamela Fryman (How I Met Your Mother)
-Steve Levitan (Modern Family)
-Gail Mancuso (Modern Family)
-Beth McCarthy (30 Rock)
-Michael Alan Spiller (Modern Family)
I should really give How I Met Your Mother another shot as there were a few episodes back during season four that didn't sit well with me so I dropped watching the series. The Modern Family directors did great jobs on their episodes (especially Spiller for the Halloween episode), but McCarthy's job on 30 Rock's live episode was just a great example of originality.
SHOULD WIN- Beth McCarthy (30 Rock)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE DIRECTING
-Olivier Assayas (Carlos)
-Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (Cinema Verite)
-Curtis Hanson (Too Big to Fail)
-Todd Haynes (Mildred Pierce)
-Brian Percival (Downtown Abbey)
Some great directors and probably the toughest decision because of my familiarity with these guys from their film backgrounds- Assayas (Summer Hours), Berman and Pulcini (American Splendor), Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8-Mile), and Haynes (Far from Heaven, I'm Not There). That being said, Mildred Pierce is the longest of the bunch, thus giving Haynes more time to work his magic.
SHOULD WIN- Todd Haynes (Mildred Pierce)

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