Saturday, September 17, 2005

The one with the Emmy nominations

The 2005 Emmy Nominations are out.

Interesting comedy nominations. Here are my two cents, because I don't really watch dramas.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series
1. Arrested Development's Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth
2. Everybody Loves Raymond's Ray Romano as Ray Barone
3. Monk's Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk
4. Scrubs' Zach Braff as John "J.D." Dorian
5. Will & Grace's Eric McCormack as Will Truman

This is an interesting race, considering that four out of five nominees are previous winners already, with Bateman the most recent winner. Development's ratings notwithstanding, this doesn't look likely to be Bateman's year. With Shalhoub's ratings also sinking and Dorian an also-ran whose work seems unlikely to ever generate the kind of buzz necessary to win an Emmy, it looks like it's shaping up to be a Romano vs. McCormack race, and with Raymond off the air this season, it looks like Ray's all set to show that everyone truly does love him. Emmy to Romano.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series
1. Desperate Housewives' Marcia Cross as Bree Van De Camp
2. Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer
3. Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo
4. Everybody Loves Raymond's Patricia Heaton as Debra Barone
5. Malcolm In The Middle's Jane Kaczmarek as Lois

Now this category just got interesting. While the ladies of Wisteria Lane may be wishing for a four-way slam, the Emmy voters decided to show up poor Eva Longoria (ironic, since she's always on tops with search engines); Nicolette Sheridan, despite a cunning move to Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, was also locked out. Given this, Hatcher, Cross and Huffman are up against previous winners Heaton and Kaczmarek, the latter most unlikely to take home the trophy, strangely enough, given Malcolm's dismal ratings. Hatcher's character having won her a previous acting award, it appears most likely that she will take home the Emmy, but I wouldn't count out a surprisingly strong and effective performance by Cross as obsessive compulsive neatnik Bree Van De Camp. Assuming the Housewives' votes cancel each other out, I think this one's up for grabs between Cross and Heaton, who gets sentimental votes for the recently deceased Raymond. Emmy to Cross.

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series
1. Arrested Development's Jeffrey Tambor as George Bluth Sr.
2. Entourage's Jeremy Piven as Ari Jacobs
3. Everybody Loves Raymond's Peter Boyle as Frank Barone
4. Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett as Robert Barone
5. Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland

The men of Raymond are arguably the best male ensemble on primetime comedy, and this category deserves to go to one of them, with my personal preference being Brad Garrett. Tambor and Boyle go way back, and while the former is truly brilliant, I tend to think that his performance as not-really-there father figure George Bluth Sr. is simply not as compelling as Boyle's Frank Barone. Jacobs is lucky to receive the nomination, and McFarland, a previous winner, while consistently good as Jack McFarland, has at least one more season to add another Emmy to his collection. Emmy to Garrett.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series
1. Arrested Development's Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth
2. Everybody Loves Raymond's Doris Roberts as Marie Barone
3. Two And A Half Men's Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper
4. Two And A Half Men's Conchata Ferrell as Berta
5. Will & Grace's Megan Mullally as Karen Walker

I still think Sheridan deserves to be in this list, but since she isn't, I'll have to give standing ovations to both Taylor and Ferrell, whose nominations boggle me. Regardless, Walker's performance as Lucille Bluth is a delicious counterpoint to Mullally's socialite Walker. I think both actors' characters tend to cancel each other out, leaving previous winner and sentimental favorite Doris Roberts left. Emmy to Roberts.

Outstanding Comedy Series
1. Arrested Development
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4. Scrubs
5. Will & Grace

Emmy to Desperate Housewives. Enough said.

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