CALL THE FOLKS AT PRICE WATERHOUSE: So, Oscar nominations are out, and we have things both non-shocking (lead nominees include Gravity, American Hustle, and 12 Years A Slave), and things more surprising (not a single nomination for one-time frontrunner Lee Daniels' The Butler, and only lower category recognition for Saving Mr. Banks (just a score nomination), and Prisoners (just a cinematography nomination)).  A few other things of note:

• If one could have bet in September on Captain Phillips getting a Supporting Actor nomination for Abdi, as well as picture and screenplay nominations, but Hanks not being in, I expect one would have made a pretty penny today.
• The power of Meryl compels you to nominate her, even for the not-particularly well-received August: Osage County (and her power is strong enough to get Roberts a nomination as well), and the power of Marty Scorsese is powerful enough to get the highly polarizing Wolf of Wall Street in for all the major categories it had a shot at.
• Her was clearly much more of a darling of the writers than it was of the actors--no acting nomination for Phoenix, but a Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay nomination.
• Most competitive category?  Supporting Actress, where I can plausibly see 4/5 nominees winning--the one exception would be Sally Hawkins, for whom a win would shock me.
• I think it's likely we're going to see a pretty spread out year, with Gravity (rightly) dominating the technical awards and Director, but the acting awards going all over the place (my best guess would be McConaughey, Blanchett, Leto, Lawrence at this point).

MAE YOUNG (1924-2014): Given how much I've written in the past about the WWE's problems with so many wrestlers dying young**, it's worth paying tribute to Mae Young, who passed away yesterday at the age of 90. Young started as a "girl wrestler" at age 15 in 1939, and remained active with occasional appearances even until the past few months, nine consecutive decades of performing. By the end, she was the much-beloved Tough Old Broad of the organization, willing to take a bump, make a joke, show up for a bikini contest, do what it took to entertain the fans. This tribute video will give some flavor for why she was so beloved.

** One which seems to have abated over the past few years with increased attention to the PED-painkiller nexus.

FOURTH TRY IS THE CHARM: Based on the photo, it appears that the next effort at creating The Greatest Event In Television History will be Adam Scott and Paul Rudd filling the shoes of Bosom Buddies.

"DOISANNT" IS STILL APPARENTLY AVAILABLE:  "Cronut" is now a federally registered trademark, so you're going to have to think harder for the name of your next pastry-spawn.

ARE WE GOING TO GET AN AMERIKA REBOOT?  Because miniseries are becoming increasingly common (and because networks have created things like American Horror Story, True Detective, and Fargo, which straddle the line between miniseries and series), the Emmys are going to deconsolidate TV Movie and Miniseries into separate categories again. I'm guessing HBO pushed this one pretty hard, so it doesn't have to deal with True Detective and Normal Heart competing with each other in the acting categories.

PULL OUT THE WABAC:OK, let's journey 5 years into the past--which of these statements would have seemed most implausible then?

• Jimmy Fallon will (a) take over The Tonight Show and (b) critics and the hip young audience will eagerly anticipate him doing so.
• Andy Samberg will be starring in and winning awards for a critically admired sitcom on Fox.
• Matthew McConaughey is an Oscar frontrunner.

THIS IS....OF MARGINAL RELEVANCE:I've never been much for any of the talent shows that have proliferated on television, but American Idol returns for a 13th season tonight.  Do we care about a show that hasn't produced a "Superstar" since Carrie Underwood?