March 3, 2011 - 5:38pm
A look at 2010's Emmy nominations
BY CAROLYN KLARECKI
Primetime Emmy nominations were announced earlier today with the few surprises typical of these “popularity contests.” Now, I could overanalyze and dissect every category from Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series to Outstanding Stunt Coordination (no joke, those are actual categories), but I’ll start by limiting myself to what people actually care about: the actors.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Larry David for “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Steve Carell for “The Office”
Jim Parsons for “The Big Bang Theory”
Tony Shalhoub for “Monk”
Matthew Morrison for “Glee”
Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock”
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Amy Poehler for “Parks and Recreation”
Edie Falco for “Nurse Jackie”
Julia Louis-Dreyfrus for “The New Adventures of Old Christine”
Lea Michelle for “Glee”
Toni Collette for “United States of Tara”
Tina Fey for “30 Rock”
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jon Hamm for “Mad Men”
Kyle Chandler for “Friday Night Lights”
Hugh Laurie for “House”
Michael C. Hall for “Dexter”
Bryan Cranston for “Breaking Bad”
Matthew Fox for “Lost”
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
January Jones for “Mad Men”
Kyra Sedgwick for “The Closer”
Mariska Hargitay for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
Glenn Close for “Damages”
Julianna Margulies for “The Good Wife”
Connie Britton for “Friday Night Lights”
So there are no real surprises there. Personally, I think Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson deserve an Emmy for Lead Actor more than Matthew Fox, but both are recognized in the Supporting Actor category. I’m trying to refrain from making predictions, because they’ll most likely be completely wrong, but I’m inclined to believe the more seasoned actors from the well-developed shows will sweep these categories. (Sorry, “Glee.” Give it a few more years.)
And what would TV be without writers? The answer: “Jersey Shore” and “American Idol,” but I value writing and scripted programming so I’m giving my writers a shout-out.
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
“The Office” – Niagara Falls
“Glee” – Pilot (Director’s Cut)
“Modern Family” – Pilot
“30 Rock” – Anna Howard Shaw Day
“30 Rock” – Lee Marvin vs. Derek Jeter
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
“The Good Wife” – Pilot
“Mad Men” – Guy Walks Into and Advertising Agency
“Man Men” – Shut the Door. Have a Seat.
“Friday Night Lights” – The Son
“Lost” – The End
I’m supporting “Lost” completely on drama writing. “The Good Wife” is overrated (especially the pilot), the “Friday Night Lights” nomination read like a joke to me, and though “Man Men” is excellent, “Lost” deserves the love. Comedy is where it gets tricky. I’m ruling out “The Office” and “Modern Family.” I actually think the pilot episode of “Glee” was the show’s best-written episode, but those two episodes of “30 Rock” were talked about for weeks. The outcome of this category is one I look forward to seeing.
And when you combine writers and actors (and hairstylists and stunt coordinators) you end up with the show itself.
Here are the nominations:
Outstanding Comedy Series
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Modern Family”
“The Office”
“30 Rock”
“Nurse Jackie”
“Glee”
Outstanding Drama Series
“True Blood”
“Dexter”
“Mad Men”
“The Good Wife”
“Breaking Bad”
“Lost”
Outstanding Reality – Competition Program
“American Idol”
“Dancing With the Stars”
“The Amazing Race”
“Project Runway”
“Top Chef”
Outstanding Reality
“Antiques Roadshow”
“MythBusters”
“Undercover Boss”
“Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-list”
“Dirty Jobs”
“Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution”
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
“The Colbert Report”
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
“The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien”
“Saturday Night Live”
“Real Time with Bill Maher”
Here’s where we have stuff to talk about. Let’s just get it out of the way right now: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is with Coco! Will NBC and Jay Leno ever live this down!? I sincerely hope not. The Outstanding Drama category is missing “White Collar” (which is a travesty) and is also rightfully missing “Flashforward,” and “Burn Notice,” but the biggest surprise for me is the lack of “Community.” Community didn’t even grab any Outstanding Actor/Actress nods in either lead or supporting categories, let alone Outstanding Comedy or Outstanding Writing. What gives? I was actually one of the last people on the “Community” fan bus, but anyone who has seen a couple episodes knows it’s better than “Nurse Jackie.” Maybe next year? As for Reality, “Jersey Shore” wasn’t nominated, so I don’t care. I predict “Curb” or “30 Rock” for Comedy and “Mad Men” for Drama. We’ll just have to wait until August 29 to see me proven wrong.
Final prediction: “The Tudors” for Outstanding Hairstyling and “24” for Stunt Coordination.
