BUT YOU NEVER THANK ME: The 2011 Emmy Awards air Sunday night, and in one form or another (haven't decided yet whether to Cover-It-Live) we will be here for ongoing commentary and whatnot. Might as well start talking about all the Should/Will stuff, since others have already started (Vulture, HitFix) and we all have some strong thoughts on the need for an Amy Poehler win, the Mad Men v. Boardwalk Empire debate, and topics both various and sundry.
Nominees: in full; main categories. (And our discussion from nomination day is here.)
Following the Chekhovian way, in which a set-up in the post title must be paid off in the comments, THAT'S WHAT THE MONEY IS FOR!!!
ReplyDeleteAs for the awards, I want to see Mad Men, Justified, P&R, and Louie/Louis CK lavishly rewarded in as many applicable categories as possible. That said, in the matter of Mad Men v. Justified, I rule as follows: Hamm>Olyphant, Martindale>Hendricks, Goggins>Slattery, Heller>Buono and Davies>Morse.
Oops, Heller v. Buono should have been its own subcategory, Mad Men v. Mad Men. But my ruling stands.
ReplyDeleteI want Dinklage to win for Best Supporting just so we can hear the theme music at least once on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteIf Dinklage wins, I just want the entirety of the auditorium to chant "half-man! half-man!" as he approaches the stage.
ReplyDeleteAnd Heller and Buono both lost to Loretta Devine and Morse and Davies both lost to Paul McCrane--guest awards were handed out last weekend.
I really want to see Parks & Rec, Justified and Mad Men get some love. In particular, I am rooting for Amy Poehler and a writing award for Parks & Rec for any one of a number of stellar episodes; a win for Margo Martindale, who was fantastic on Justified; and a writing award for The Suitcase and some recognition for Elisabeth Moss for Mad Men.
ReplyDeleteSome picks that I think should be locks include: Parks & Rec for Comedy Series, Amy Poehler for lead actress in a comedy, Stev Carrell for lead actor in a comedy, Sofia Vergara for supporting actress in a comedy, Jon Hamm for lead actor in a drama and Margo Martindale for supporting actress in a drama.
ReplyDeleteIn some other categories, I'd have a hard time picking between a few choices:
Supporting actor in a comedy, mainly because I would have nominated Nick Offerman, Danny Pudi and Charlie Day over Cryer and [pick any two of the Modern Family guys.] (Heck, I could have nominated Rico Rodriguez or Nolan Gould instead of the Modern Family adults. Not that any of the four of them are bad choices.)
Lead Actress in a drama: Elisabeth Moss or Connie Britton. I still haven't finished FNL season 5, so I don't know if Mrs. Coach had any episode that was as good of an acting showcase as The Suitcase, but it's a cumulatively great performance. (I've only sporadically watched The Good Wife, and might otherwise have a stronger opinion re: Margulies.)
Supporting Actor in a drama: Peter Dinklage or Walton Goggins. Both of these actors make their shows so much better when they're on screen. Dinklage simply owns the best role in Westeros and Goggins is electrifying and captivating in every moment on screen. (All of the four nominated performances from Justified were dynamic and excellent.) I don't remember what Slattery had to work with this season as much as what Hamm did.
I have predictions about everything, and there are certain categories I don't have super strong feelings about because I don't watch enough of the shows, or don't watch the shows people are most passionate about, but the wins I want most:
ReplyDeleteSofia Vergara
Chris Colfer
Connie Britton (I'm ok with Elisabeth Moss as well, but I need some FNL love and Mrs. Coach deserves it)
Jon Hamm
Margo Martindale
Walton Goggins
Mad Men
I also vote for Cover-it-live...
I'm still a bit shocked that Michael J. Fox did not get the Emmy for his guest role in The Good Wife. Great, great work there.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo: I'm all for Parks & Rec and Amy Poehler winning. I'm down with wins for Mad Men, Elizabeth Moss, and Jon Hamm (altho a FNL upset in any of those categories would thrill me to bits). Chris Colfer should be the only winner from Glee this weekend. (Sorry, Jane Lynch. But, please, no.)
And, while it would amuse me for American Idol to win Best Reality Show the season after Simon Cowell left---oh, how I would laugh---it totally shouldn't win.
Look: it was good to see Paul McCrane acting with both arms again. I still don't know how they reattached it (or whether it's a prosthesis.)
ReplyDeleteHeh. I did wonder if he has a "no helicopters" clause in his contracts now.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the guest host awards, I forgot to comment on last week's post about the creative arts emmys (nobody else did either; it was September 10 and I imagine thoughts were elsewhere).
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat ashamed to admit that, as a longtime SYTYCD watcher (a fact to which I am also somewhat ashamed to admit), I only looked up last week's winners to find out who won the award for choreography and whether Cat Deely had pulled off an upset for best host.
Deeley lost. Jeff Probst inexplicably continues to be the only person ever awarded an emmy for outstanding host since the category was created in 2008. He's giving Candice Bergen a run for the title of most undeserving emmy hog.
According to the press release, the choreography award, unlike most emmys, is chosen by a special jury of experts who are allowed to pick more than one winner, or to decide to give no award at all (sort of like the Pulitzers, I guess). This year, the jury gave out two, both to work on SYTYCD. One to Mia Michaels (her third for her work on the show) and one to NappyTabs. As people pointed out in comments when the nominations were announced, NappyTabs' nomination (and now the win) was almost certainly due entirely to one dance -- the indisputably terrific Alex Wong-Twitch "ballet nerd learns to hip-hop" routine -- whose terrificness was as much due to the dancers as the dance.
At what point do we need to balance our need to see Amy Poehler recognized for her brilliant work with our acceptance of the fact that her Emmy bid will almost certainly be crushed by Laura Linney's cancer-shaped juggernaut?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen SYTYCD, so can't speak to Deeley, but Probst I think is one of the best hosts out there. He very rarely overinjects himself into the action, keeps things moving, is amiable as hell but willing to kick some contestant butt if need be and in general does everything a host could be asked to do.
ReplyDeleteMonday?
ReplyDeleteIt'll be a shame if Hugh Laurie never wins an Emmy for his work on House, but if he didn't win for the mental hospital episode last year it's just not going to happen. Especially given that his material last season was....less than juicy. (Maybe he'll get one as a "lifetime achievement" award when they finally hang it up.)
ReplyDelete