Emmy Nominations 2017

When Emmy nominations were announced yesterday, I had two reactions: The race for Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or Movie may be the strongest Emmy race in history, and what the heck is wrong with Emmy nominators when it comes to The Leftovers?

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta
Blackish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep

Will Atlanta sneak in and upset Veep and Modern Family, the perennial contenders? Does anyboy really care what Modern Family does at this point?

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Tracee Ellis Ross, Blackish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Allison Janney, Mom
Pamela Adlon, Better Things 

Can anybody take down Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Ever?

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Anthony Anderson, Blackish
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
William H. Macy, Shameless
Zach Galifianakis, Baskets

Emmy voters love streaks, and Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent is one of them. Even though the show itself isn't nominated this year, don't bet against a third straight win for Tambor.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Kathryn Hahn, Transparent
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Judith Light, Transparent 
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

AKA the Saturday Night Live category. I'd pick Anna Chlumsky, who has been fantastic on Veep from the get-go, but I think an SNL player will take it. Probably McKinnon again.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tony Hale, Veep
Matt Walsh, Veep

It's lovely to see Tituss Burgess's name, if not Ty Burrell's. Burrell is back for the eighth time in a row. Yes, he's good, but he's not that good. It doesn't matter -- Alec Baldwin is going to win for his recurring role as our current president on Saturday Night Live.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Westworld 
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Better Call Saul
House of Cards

Who will win? Probably The Handmaid's Tale, although Stranger Things has been buzzy, too, just not as recently as The Handmaid's Tale. But where is The Leftovers? I've asked that for the past few years to no avail. This last season was the best of all and really, really deserved a nomination.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Claire Foy, The Crown
Keri Russell, The Americans
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld

Elisabeth Moss and The Handmaid's Tale have made a huge impact on this year's TV landscape. I can't imagine anyone but Moss winning, although Claire Foy's QEII was impressive, too.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Anthony Hopkins, Westworld
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

It's fantastic to see Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia make the list from This Is Us, which bowed to excellent ratings and critical reaction last season. I'd probably vote for Matthew Rhys from The Americans, long overlooked by Emmy voters, but it's hard not to go with Brown, who was note-perfect all season. And then there's Anthony Hopkins. The TV Academy loves its Brits as well as its movie stars. Hopkins is both. As well as an Oscar winner. 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things  
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale 

There should be enough awards to give one to each of the actresses in this outstanding category. They're all that good. I'd probably go with Samira Wiley, but Ann Dowd is hard to overlook.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us
Michael Kelly, House Of Cards
 John Lithgow, The Crown
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Ron Cephas Jones has my heart in this category, even though I'm bummed not to see Michael McKean's name for Better Call Saul. Just don't give it to John Lithgow, please. His Winston Churchill was OK, but that's it, and he has been way over-rewarded by the Emmys in the past.

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Big Little Lies
Fargo
Feud: Bette and Joan
Genius
The Night Of

I thought Big Little Lies was stronger work all around than Feud and I'd love to see the former win, even as I expect the latter to take the Emmy.

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE
Black Mirror
Dolly Parton’s Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Sherlock: The Lying Detective
The Wizard of Lies

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Carrie Coon, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime

The battling divas of Feud take on the wounded modern women of Big Little Lies. I thought Kidman and Witherspoon were more impressive than the campy Feud ladies, and neither Lange or Sarandon really captured the screen legend she was portraying, but... Lange wins a lot, even in bad roles. Still, it could be anybody's prize in this jam-packed category.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
John Turturro, The Night Of
Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective
Geoffrey Rush, Genius

I'm expecting Ahmed or Turturro to win. McGregor really doesn't belong with the others; his dual roles on Fargo were pretty lame when all was said and done.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Regina King, American Crime
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies
Judy Davis, Feud: Bette and Joan
Jackie Hoffman, Feud: Bette and Joan
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies

Laura Dern was beyond amazing, although Jackie Hoffman was pretty great, too. I'd be happy with either of them winning.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies
David Thewlis, Fargo
Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
Stanley Tucci, Feud: Bette and Joan
Bill Camp, The Night Of
Michael Kenneth Williams, The Night Of

There isn't a bad choice in the bunch. Skarsgard and Thewlis were both creepy, scary and terrific in their roles.

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice 

This is one category where I am always bemused. Why so much love for The Voice and The Amazing Race? I have no idea. I'd say give the award to newcomer RuPaul's Drag Race.

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Late Show with James Corden
Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Real Time with Bill Maher

Go, Samantha Bee!

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Wanda Sykes, Blackish
Carrie Fisher, Catastophe
Becky Ann Baker, Girls
Angela Bassett, Master Of None
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Riz Ahmed, Girls
Matthew Rhys, Girls
Dave Chappelle, Saturday Night Live
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Saturday Night Live
Tom Hanks, Saturday Night Live
Hugh Laurie, Veep

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Alison Wright, The Americans
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale
Cicely Tyson, How to Get Away with Murder
Ann Dowd, The Leftovers
Laverne Cox, Orange is the New Black
Shannon Purser, Stranger Things

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
BD Wong, Mr. Robot
Hank Azaria, Ray Donovan
Denis O’Hare, This Is Us
Brian yree Henry, This Is Us
Gerald McRaney, This Is Us

OUTSTANDING REALITY HOST
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party
Gordon Ramsay, Masterchef Junior
Alec Baldwin, Match Game
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway
RuPaul Charles, RuPaul’s Drag Race
W. Kamau Bell, United Shades of America

OUTSTANDING STRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
Antiques Roadshow
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Fixer Upper
Lip Sync Battle
Shark Tank
Who Do You Think You Are?

OUTSTANDING UNSTRUCTURED REALITY PROGRAM
Born This Way
Deadliest Catch
Gaycation With Ellen Page
Intervention
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked
United Shades Of America With W. Kamau Bell

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL
Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2017
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents Not The White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Louis C.K. 2017
Sarah Silverman: A Speck Of Dust
Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going To Clean Up This Sh*t?

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL CLASS PROGRAM
Hairspray Live!
The Oscars
Super Bowl LI Halftime Show Starring Lady Gaga
70th Annual Tony Awards

The Emmy Awards will be presented by CBS on Sunday, September 17.

Something Old, Something New... Emmy Winners 2016

If there's one thing I've learned about the Emmy Awards after watching them for years and years and years, it's that voters from the Television Academy love to honor the same people year after year after year. I call it the John Larroquette Rule, since he won four Emmys in a row for his role on Night Court. Or maybe I should go with Larroquette/Hunt, since Helen Hunt did the same thing -- four in a row -- for Mad About You. Although they weren't consecutive, Candice Bergen won five Emmys for playing Murphy Brown on Murphy Brown, Rhea Perlman took home four statuettes for playing Carla on Cheers and Don Knotts earned four as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show back in the 60s.

For different roles and performances, Cloris Leachman owns eight Emmys, while Ed Asner has seven, including five for playing Lou Grant (three from his stint with Lou on Mary Tyler Moore and two from Lou Grant.) Yeah, there's no questions that the Emmys gravitate to certain stars.

This year's Emmys did the Larroquette/Hunt Rule one better: Julia Louis-Dreyfus picked up her fifth consecutive Oustanding Lead Actress in a Comedy award for her role as Selina Meyer, the VP in Veep on HBO. Louis-Dreyfus has another Lead Actress Emmy for The New Adventures of Old Christine and a Supporting Actress win for Seinfeld, putting her total at seven. She's gaining on you, Leachman! (Allison Janney and Mary Tyler Moore are also sitting at seven. MTM may come back and snag another one in a guest category and you know Janney will get another three or four before she's done. As will Louis-Dreyfus. It's just a question of who'll get past Leachman first, I suppose.)

Louis-Dreyfus's partner in the comedy lead acting categories was also a repeater, as Jeffrey Tambor picked up his second Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Emmy for playing transgender Maura Pfefferman on Transparent.

Veep was the winner as Outstanding Comedy for a second year, serving notice that Modern Family and its five straight awards were a thing of the past. In supporting categories, Louie Anderson won for playing Zach Galifianakis's mother on Baskets, and Kate McKinnon added to Saturday Night Live's total haul over the years, giving the show its 45th Emmy.

Tatiana Maslany

If the comedy lead actors were same old, same old, the drama leads were brand new, as Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) were both first-time (and much deserving) winners. They also hit my best-dressed list, but more on that later.

One of their supporting pals was a repeat, though, as Maggie Smith took home another award (and didn't show up to accept it one more time) for Downton Abbey. The Outstanding Supporting Actor winner -- Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn for Bloodline -- was a first-time winner, but like Smith, he was not in attendance to accept his trophy.

When it came to shows, Game of Thrones and its Best Drama Emmy (the final award of the night) set a record, too, putting it at 38 overall Emmys and unseating Frasier, which earned a mere 37 in its time, as the series with the most wins ever. In addition to repeating as Outstanding Drama Series, Game of Thrones earned Emmys for director Miguel Sapochnik for the "Battle of the Bastards" episode, as well as for its casting, costumes, editing, makeup, production design, sound mixing, special visual effects, stunt coordination and writing. (Of the four different awards for makeup, Games of Thrones won two, giving them a total of 12 Emmys this year.)

The other big winner was The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, which won nine awards. The program took honors as Outstanding Limited Series as well as gathering awards for lead actress Sarah Paulson (who played prosecutor Marcia Clark), lead actor Courtney B. Vance (defense attorney Johnnie Cochrane), supporting actor Sterling K. Brown (prosecutor Christopher Darden) and writer D. V. DeVincentis, along with wins for its casting, editing, hairstyling and sound mixing.

Rami Malek

As I said above, I picked Rami Malek (right) and Tatiana Maslany (above) as two of my fashion favorites even before their names were announced as winners. Maslany wore one of two sensational red gowns that stood out, along with Priyanka Chopra (Quantico).

You can see the entire list of winners here at the Emmys official site. Here are some of the winners in major categories (including a few given out last weekend at the "Creative" ceremony):

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
black-ish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
*Veep

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
*Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Laurie Metcalf, Getting On

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Will Forte, Last Man on Earth
William H. Macy, Shameless
Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley
*Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY 
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent
Allison Janney, Mom
Judith Light, Transparent
*Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Niecy Nash, Getting On

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY
*Louie Anderson, Baskets
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tony Hale, Veep
Keegan-Michael Key, Key & Peele
Matt Walsh, Veep

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Christine Baranski, The Big Bang Theory
*Tina Fey & Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live
Melora Hardin, Transparent
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live
Laurie Metcalf, The Big Bang Theory
Amy Schumer, Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Larry David, Saturday Night Live

Tracy Morgan, Saturday Night Live
Martin Mull, Veep
Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory
*Peter Scolari, Girls
Bradley Whitford, Transparent  

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
The Americans
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
*Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mr. Robot

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
*Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
*Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Keri Russell, The Americans
Robin Wright, House of Cards 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Kit Harington, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, House of Cards
*Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
*Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Maura Tierney, The Affair
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones
Constance Zimmer, UnREAL

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Mahershala Ali, House Of Cards
*Hank Azaria, Ray Donovan
Reg E. Cathey, House Of Cards
Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife
Paul Sparks, House Of Cards
Max von Sydow, Game Of Thrones

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Ellen Burstyn, House Of Cards
Allison Janney, Masters Of Sex
*Margo Martindale, The Americans
Laurie Metcalf, Horace And Pete
Molly Parker, House Of Cards
Carrie Preston, The Good Wife

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE
All the Way
Confirmation
Luther
A Very Murray Christmas
*Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
American Crime
Fargo
The Night Manager
*The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Roots

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
*Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Lili Taylor, American Crime
Kerry Washington, Confirmation

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Bryan Cranston, All The Way
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
Idris Elba, Luther
Cuba Gooding, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager
*Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Hotel
Olivia Colman, The Night Manager
*Regina King, American Crime
Melissa Leo, All The Way
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Hotel
Jean Smart, Fargo 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
*Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story 
Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager 
Jesse Plemons, Fargo
David Schwimmer, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
John Travolta, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Bokeem Woodbine, Fargo

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
*Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
The Late Late Show With James Corden
Real Time With Bill Maher
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
Inside Amy Schumer
*Key & Peele
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL
Adele Live In New York City
Amy Schumer: Live At The Apollo
The Kennedy Center Honors
*The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Prime Time Special
Lemonade

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef
*The Voice

OUTSTANDING HOST OF A REALITY PROGRAM
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With The Stars
Steve Harvey, Little Big Shots Starring Steve Harvey
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway
Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night
*RuPaul Charles, RuPaul's Drag Race
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A COMEDY SERIES
Chris Addison, Veep
Aziz Ansari, Master Of None
Alec Berg, Silicon Valley
Mike Judge, Silicon Valley
Dave Mandel, Veep
*Jill Soloway, Transparent
Dale Stern, Veep

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A DRAMA SERIES
Jack Bender, Game Of Thrones 
Michael Engler, Downton Abbey
Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland 
David Hollander, Ray Donovan
*Miguel Sapochnik, Game Of Thrones
Steven Soderbergh, The Knick 

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
*Susanne Bier, The Night Manager
Noah Hawley, Fargo
Anthony Hemingway, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Ryan Murphy, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story 
Jay Roach, All The Way
John Singleton, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A VARIETY SERIES
Dave Diomedi, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Don Roy King, Saturday Night Live
Tim Mancinelli, The Late Late Show With James Corden
*Ryan McFaul, Inside Amy Schumer
Paul Pennolino, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
*Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, Master Of None
Alec Berg, Silicon Valley
Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe

Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, VeepDan O'Keefe, Silicon Valley
David Mandel, Veep

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
*David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game Of Thrones
Sam Esmail, Mr. Robot
Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey
Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, The Americans
Michelle and Robert King, The Good Wife
Marti Noxon and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, UnREAL

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Joe Robert Cole, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Bob DeLaurentis, Fargo
*D.V. DeVincentis, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
David Farr, The Night Manager
Noah Hawley, Fargo

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Inside Amy Schumer
Key & Peele
*Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
Amy Schumer: Live At The Apollo
John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid
*Patton Oswalt: Talking For Clapping
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted
Triumph's Election Special 2016

And that's all till next year, when there will be no Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey and no People v. O.J. There's no end in sight for Veep or Game of Thrones, however.

Emmy Nominations Blog-a-palooza

And two months later, she comes back to her blog...

I spent most of May and June transitioning out of my job as interim artistic director at Heartland Theatre, directing the annual 10-minute play festival there, and actually taking a vacation. It seems I needed some time off. But local theatre and entertainment have gone on without me too long, I think! You didn't get to hear my side of the "Class Reunion" plays -- terrific all around, if I do say so myself -- or the TV, movies and stage shows that came and went while I was AWOL. I even missed the Tony wrap-up.

So what lured me back? The 2015 Emmy nominations, of course! I always have opinions on that sort of thing and I can't keep them under wraps a minute longer.

If you want to see Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) and Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance) read the list of nominees, you can find that video here or here. If you want to read the complete list, all the way through Outstanding Costumes For A Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie on page 11, the Emmy site can help you out.

Here are some highlights:

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Transparent (Amazon Instant Video)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

Should win: Parks and Recreation, which finished out its run with a triumphant series finale.
Will win: It's hard to bet against Modern Family, which has won the past five years. But surely the Academy is tired of it by now. One can dream... Transparent has the zeitgeist (and a bunch of Golden Globes) but Veep is an Emmy favorite. Still, I'm holding onto hope for Parks and Recreation.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish (ABC)
Don Cheadle, House of Lies (Showtime)
Louie C. K., Louie (FX)
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes (Showtime)
William H. Macey, Shameless (Showtime)
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent (Amazon Instant Video)

Should win: Jeffrey Tambor
Will win: Jeffrey Tambor

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback (HBO)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central)
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie (Netflix)

Should win: Amy Poehler. She has made Leslie Knope a beautiful mix of ambition, good cheer and idealism, and that work deserves to be celebrated before we put Parks and Recreation out to pasture.
Will win: Lisa Kudrow has done amazing work with a flawed character who is too real to be all that funny, Amy Schumer is the current It Girl (and definitely funny), Edie Falco keeps doing yeoman work with Nurse Jackie, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is an Emmy fave with three wins in this category for Veep plus one for The New Adventures of Old Christine and one as a supporting actress for Seinfeld. So who will win? Probably Louis-Dreyfus. Emmy voters love their streaks.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
House of Cards  (Netflix)
Mad Men (AMC)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)

Should win: I am partial to Mad Men. Like Parks and Rec, this powerhouse finished up its run this year.
Will win: Game of Thrones may have all the buzz, given its 24 nominations and polarizing plotlines (especially concerning violence toward women), but I think Mad Men will emerge as the victor in celebration of its brilliant final season.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline (Netflix)
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom (HBO)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Bob Odenbirk, Better Call Saul (AMC)
Liev Schrieber, Ray Donovan (Showtime)
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards (Netflix)

Should win: Jon Hamm
Will win: I refuse to accept any outcome other than Jon Hamm finally winning an Emmy for his fantastic work as complicated, screwed-up, product-of-his-time Don Draper.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Claire Danes, Homeland (Showtime)
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
Taraji P. Henson, Empire (ABC)
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black (BBC America)
Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
Robin Wright, House of Cards (Netflix)

Should win: Anybody except Claire Danes. This is a talent-packed category. Tatiana Maslany, previously overlooked, certainly deserves the Emmy for her insane array of Orphan Black clones, as does Viola Davis, who is so brilliant that she makes the otherwise crazy How to Get Away with Murder so very watchable. And then there is the force of nature known as Taraji P. Henson as Cookie on Empire, while Elizabeth Moss, so good for so long on Mad Men, and Robin Wright, a bright spot in a dismal season of House of Cards, are also worthy.
Will win: I'll go with Viola. She was a stunner. Her taking-off-her-wig scene was as good as it gets on TV.

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
American Crime (ABC)
American Horror Story: Freakshow (FX)
Olive Kitteridge (HBO)
The Honorable Woman (Sundance)
Wolf Hall (PBS)

Should win: Olive Kitteridge
Will win: Olive Kitteridge

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
Agatha Christie's Poirot: Curtain, Poirot's Last Case (Acorn TV)
Bessie (HBO)
Grace of Monaco (Lifetime)
Hello Ladies: The Movie (HBO)
Killing Jesus (National Geographic Channel)
Nightingale (HBO)

Should win: Bessie is the total package.
Will win: Bessie. Poirot is also wonderful, and in Curtain, the show (and Poirot himself) boarded that crime-solving Orient Express in the sky, which may give it some sentimental oomph. Still, Bessie was bold and sad and provocative and everything an Emmy winner should be.

And outside those categories... If you are connected to Illinois Wesleyan University, you will be pleased to know that alum Richard Jenkins was nominated as lead actor for his work on Olive Kitteridge, while Jane Lynch is representing ISU with a nomination as host of Hollywood Game Night.

It's also noteworthy that half of the nominated field for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie is British this time out. The English trio are Ricky Gervais (Derek Special), David Oyelowo (Nightingale) and Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall), with Americans Jenkins, Timothy Hutton (American Crime) and Adrien Brody (Houdini) filling out the category. Over on the actress side of Limited Series or Movie, Emma Thompson (Sweeney Todd) is the lone Brit, facing Queen Latifah (Bessie), Frances McDormand (Olive Kitteridge), Felicity Huffman (American Crime) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman).

If I'm picking winners for TV movies and minis, nobody much on the male side stood out for me, but I'll go with Queen Latifah as Best Actress. Mo'Nique was also nominated for Bessie, for her supporting role as Ma Rainey opposite Queen Latifah's Bessie Smith, and if I'm honest, I'd like to see both of them win.

The Emmy Awards will be broadcast on Fox on September 20th. I'm sure prognostications will become more prevalent as we get nearer to September. In the meantime, it's well worth your while to check out the last episodes of Mad Men and Parks and Recreation as well as Bessie and Veep from HBO, Poirot's Curtain, Tatiana Maslany and Orphan Black, Transparent on Amazon and Kimmy Schmidt and Bloodline on Netflix. It's all still out there for the viewing.

Emmy Nominations Go Big for THRONES and ORANGE, Ignore Maslany and GOOD WIFE

When the Television Academy announced nominations for acting, directing and related excellence in television last week, the hue and cry began immediately. Why no Tatiana Maslany? How in the world could the stellar year enjoyed by The Good Wife be overlooked when it came to a Best Drama nomination? Are Emmy voters officially out to lunch, up a creek, off the rails?

My answers? Not enough voters watch BBC America. There is no possible excuse. And yes.

Some of the craziness -- Downton Abbey gets a nod after a terrible season, while Good Wife doesn't, after one of the best seasons in the history of TV? Michele Dockery is nominated for looking wan and getting her Lady Mary duds dirty, but Tatiana Maslany is ignored when she plays an entire phalanx of clones, all with distinct and sharply etched personalities, on Orphan Black? Jeffrey Wright gets no love for his captivating work on Boardwalk Empire? Jeff Daniels again for the execrable Newsroom? Really? And so much love for Modern Family when it peaked a long time ago? -- is made a bit better by nominations for Good Wife's Josh Charles and Christine Baranski, Robert Morse from Mad Men, and Bob Newhart for his guest turn on The Big Bang Theory.

And then there's the fact that Orange Is the New Black, which racked up 12 nominations, is listed as a comedy series. Sure. Right there with Shameless, which earned nods for the very deserving William H. Macy in addition to the fabulous Joan Cusack. It's hard to be mad about that or the Orange adulation (I have loved Kate Mulgrew since Ryan's Hope) even if neither is really a comedy. Aside from Mulgrew, actresses Taylor Schilling, Uzo Aduba, Laverne Cox and Natasha Lyonne were also recognized.

Other big winners include Game of Thrones, which leads the pack with 19 nominations for everything from its art direction to its hairstyles, with Peter Dinklage back on the list for supporting actor, along with supporting actress Lena Headey and guest actress Diana Rigg.

Over in the miniseries or TV movie category, the FX dark comedy Fargo made a big splash with 18 nominations. The two lead actors -- Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton -- are nominated along with supporting actor Colin Hanks and supporting actress Allison Tolman.

Like Fargo, American Horror Story: Coven may look more like a series than a miniseries, but it totaled 17 nominations, including nods for lead actresses Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson and supporting actresses Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates and Frances Conroy.

HBO's The Normal Heart also made an impact in the miniseries or movie arena, garnering 16 nominations. Lead actor Mark Ruffalo is nominated for his performance, as are supporting actors Matt Bomer, Joe Mantello, Alfred Molina and Jim Parsons. They were all wonderful, but it will be hard to beat Bomer, who was superb.

When the Emmy Awards air on August 25 on NBC, look for host Seth Myers to be rooting for pals Amy Poehler, nominated for her role on Parks and Recreation, and Tina Fey, nominated for best guest actress in a comedy for hosting Saturday Night Live.

To see the complete list of nominations, check out the Emmy website.

Emmy Rundown (or Maybe Running Over Them with a Mack Truck)

I was going to do a rundown of the Emmy ceremonies that took place last Sunday night on CBS. But here's the deal. Some of the winners were surprising, but not necessarily in a good way (Jeff Daniels, you're a good actor and I like you, but The Newsroom is a dog. I know you're doing the best you can to elevate Aaron Sorkin's mess, but... It's still a mess.) and some of the winners weren't surprising at all, also not in a good way (Love you, Modern Family, but you really don't need to keep taking all the awards, ok? Leave some for some other comedies.)

Fine by me for Behind the Candelabra to clean up. Fine by me for Tony Hale to win for Veep. He's so good, as evidenced by the little act he did as his Veep character when Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her award, carrying her purse and whispering suggestions. He's the kind of actor who often doesn't get picked up on Emmy's radar, so good for him.

What else? I find Derek Hough smug and annoying and I wish anybody else had won that category. Why give it to someone whose choreography is too often about simulated blowjobs instead of, you know, dancing? The Voice? Really? Why did Neil Patrick Harris have so little to do? Why does anyone think boob jokes are still funny, even if it's NPH delivering them? Why am I still watching the Emmys?

While I was, I did a kind of stream-of-consciousness record of what was happening, but I didn't start till the first award. Whatever came before that is lost in the sands of time. Yep. That's how forgettable it was. But here are my thoughts on the 2013 Emmy Awards as they unfolded. Not a lot of detail, I admit. And again... Why am I still watching the Emmys?

Merritt Wever

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie. Who is Merritt Wever?

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield, 30 Rock, "Last Lunch" episode

Tony Hale

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Tony Hale, Veep. Aw, nice. One of our nieces was really into Arrested Development when she was little, and she told my husband he was just like Buster. (My Arrested Development twin was Maggie Lizer, by the way.) So when Tony Hale's name was announced, my husband said, "I won an award!" And that was nice, too.

Robin Williams' tribute to Jonathan Winters. Nicely done, but nothing so significant that it couldn't have been part of the standard In Memoriam reel.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep. Loved the bit. Funniest thing so far.

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
Gail Mancuso, Modern Family. I don't really have an opinion on who's who here, so it's good to see a female director win.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory. Whatever. He seems nice. He got Bob Newhart on his show, so bonus points for that.

Jean Stapleton

Rob Reiner's tribute to Jean Stapleton. It seemed heartfelt and sweet, and I do think Jean Stapleton and All in the Family were huge in the history of television. But I would've preferred at least a few clips. I wanted to hear Edith Bunker sing "Those Were the Days."

Elton John plays a new song in honor of Liberace and HBO's Behind the Candelabra. Total waste of time as far as I'm concerned.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Laura Linney, The Big C: Hereafter.

A bit about NPH and Excessive Hosting Disorder from his HIMYM pals. Mildly amusing.

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Henry Bromell, Homeland. Very sweet to see this posthumous tribute.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad. She and I have the same birthday (along with Viola Davis) and she does a dandy job on Breaking Bad in what seems like more of a leading role than a supporting one. But this way she gets an award because she doesn't have to compete with Claire Danes, so good for her.

Jane Lynch's tribute to Cory Monteith. Which of these things is not like the other? Yeah, I thought so.

Outstanding Reality Competition Program
The Voice. Poor Amazing Race doesn't know what to do with itself without a win in this category.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire. Outstanding Supporting Actor with the Most Violence in a Drama Series... Your girl is lovely, Bobby. And I like you. I really do. But I think Aaron Paul deserves this more than you do. And Mandy Patinkin deserves this more than you do.

Jeff Daniels in The Newsroom

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom. Yeah, whatever. Daniels is fine, he really is, but the way Aaron Sorkin builds his characters, especially the female ones, makes this show unwatchable for me.

Don Cheadle and Carrie Underwood salute 1963 on television, as the year the Beatles hit The Ed Sullivan Show and TV anchors like Walter Cronkite covered the JFK assassination. Underwood sings "Yesterday." Very, very badly. I love "Yesterday," but it was a hit in 1965, not 1963. If I have to have a tribute to 1963, could I have a different one, please? One without Carrie Underwood anywhere near it? Talk about pitchy, dawg. It was also at this point (with Carrie Underwood and her milkmaid/Heidi/40-Year-Old Virgin Sound of Music poster showing up all over the place) that I realized that pretty much everyone with a special segment -- with the exception of Rob Reiner, I guess, and maybe Elton John -- also had a season premiere or new show or special project of some sort coming up very soon. So they were chosen so they could promote their stuff, then, and not because the people or events they were supposedly celebrating were worth celebration in any meaningful way. Got it.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes, Homeland. Of course. Hated her dress, by the way. The internet was divided. Thumbs down from here.

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
David Fincher, House of Cards. Nice to see the show get something.

Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series
The Colbert Report. Very much deserved.

Outstanding Directing in a Variety Series
Don Roy King, Saturday Night Live. Yeah, no.

Michael J. Fox tribute to Gary David Goldberg. I love Michael J. Fox and he certainly did have a strong connection to Gary David Goldberg, someone whose contributions to television were significant and important and over too soon. But these memorial segments are so not working. They just make me mad at the people who've passed away or at the people honoring them, and that is so wrong.

Outstanding Choreography
Derek Hough, Dancing with the Stars. Ugh.

The Colbert Report

Outstanding Variety Series
The Colbert Report. Sure.

Edie Falco tribute to James Gandolfini. She seemed very emotional and very committed to sharing what she loved about James Gandolfini. I found this the most moving of the tributes because of that.

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
Abi Morgan, The Hour. Did you see the other nominees? Tom Stoppard, Jane Campion, David Mamet, Richard LaGravenese... Good for you, Abi Morgan, for coming out with the trophy against that kind of competition.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum. He's fabulous.

And then the more complete In Memoriam reel, which was, of course, hugely overshadowed by the special people with special tributes. Such a bad idea to single out the few and insult the many.

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special
Steven Soderbergh, Behind the Candelabra.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals.

Michael Douglas as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra. Deserved and also very, very expected.

Outstanding Miniseries or Movie
Behind the Candelabra. Expected.

Outstanding Comedy Series
Modern Family. Of course.

Outstanding Drama Series
Breaking Bad. It deserves it. Mad Men, Downton Abbey and House of Cards (even Game of Thrones) are more my style, but I can't deny that Breaking Bad is a fabulous hour of TV. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are what makes it sing, though, and I'm sorry that the Academy didn't see that. They should've been throwing awards at those two whenever they could.

Emmy Time!

Tomorrow the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences throws itself a big, boffo party on TV to hand out its annual primetime Emmy Awards for excellence in acting, directing, writing, choreography, and in general, putting on the shows we see on our tellies, whether they're reality TV-paloozas, comedies, dramas, mini-series, made-for-TV movies, animation, variety specials or pretty much anything else you can think of.

This will be Neil Patrick Harris's sixth year as host, and stars like Elton John, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Bob Newhart, LL Cool Jay, Jon Hamm, and Jimmies Fallon and Kimmel will drop by to help out.

Who wins is generally a fairly predictable affair, although this year there's a little more drama with non-televised, made-just-for-Netflix entries like House of Cards and Arrested Development. Will Kevin Spacey or Robin Wright win acting honors for the former or Jason Bateman for the latter? Can anybody upset the Homeland juggernaut from previous years? Will Breaking Bad break through and steal the hardware in the drama categories? Is Modern Family still the comedy to beat? Will HBO's Behind the Candelabra continue to clean up like it did at the technical awards ceremony last week?

I wouldn't be against any of those things, although I suppose someone has to emerge in the Homeland vs. Breaking Bad battle for Best Drama.

Because 2013 marks "the 50th Anniversary of two events that changed the face of our world," we will see a tribute to television milestones in 1963, with Don Cheadle and Carrie Underwood telling us about the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and how John F. Kennedy's assassination made TV come of age.

Jonathan Winters

And because television lost TV legends James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties, Spin City), Jean Stapleton (All in the Family) and Jonathan Winters (The Steve Allen Show, The Garry Moore Show, Mork and Mindy) this year, there will be a a special In Memoriam segment to honor the passing of these luminaries along with Cory Monteith of Glee. Monteith's career wasn't nearly as long as the others and not nearly as important in my mind. But Monteith was current and his death was shocking, and I guess that counts for something with the Academy. You'll excuse me while I spend my extra mourning time on Jonathan Winters, a comic genius and someone my mom absolutely loved. Today would've been her 89th birthday, and she would've been really cranky that her favorite had to share his In Memoriam time with a callow youth from Glee.

Much better examples of television icons who passed away this year? Larry Hagman of Dallas and I Dream of Jeannie fame, who was nominated for Emmys twice, and Jack Klugman, who starred in Quincy and The Odd Couple and won three Emmys. Come on, Academy! It's pretty clear who does and does not belong in the special group that gets extended tributes. And it ain't Cory Monteith.

Oh well. This complaint's for you, Mom.

Edie Falco will pay tribute to her Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini, while Michael J. Fox will step up for Family Ties and Spin City producer Gary David Goldberg, Rob Reiner will say a few words about Jean Stapleton and their All in the Family days; and Robin Williams will speak on behalf of his friend and mentor Jonathan Winters. And Jane Lynch, also of Glee, gets the Cory Monteith assignment.

The 65th Annual Emmy Awards will start at 7 pm Central on CBS tomorrow, September 22, 2013. You can see all kinds of extra info and behind-the-scenes video at the Emmys site.

TV Legend Bob Newhart Wins an Emmy!

He has a Peabody, a Golden Globe, a Grammy, a Critics Choice Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And he's been nominated for an Emmy Award seven times. He's had four TV shows with his name in the title -- 1961's "The Bob Newhart Show," a variety hour and the one that won the Peabody and the Golden Globe; the MTM sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1978 also called "The Bob Newhart Show," where he played a Chicago psychologist named Bob Hartley who had goofy patients and a lovely wife played by Suzanne Pleshette; "Newhart," another half-hour comedy, where he played a guy named Dick Loudon, who ran an inn in Vermont, from 1982 to 1990; and plain old "Bob," a show about a cartoonist that lasted one season and change in 1992 and 1993. Newhart famously joked that after those four, the only thing left to call a show of his was "The."

Three times, Bob Newhart was nominated by Emmy voters for his leading role on "Newhart," and then for a guest appearance on "ER" and as a supporting actor in the miniseries "The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice." Way back in 1962, he was nominated for writing that original "Bob Newhart Show." But he came away empty every time.

Now, at the age of 84, Bob Newhart has finally won his Emmy. This time it was for a guest appearance on "The Big Bang Theory," where he played Professor Proton, the host of a children's science show many years ago. After finding out that Professor Proton, their childhood hero, is available for personal appearances, "Big Bang" characters Sheldon and Leonard hire him just to hang out with them. Newhart's Emmy was handed out at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy ceremony last night, which honors guest actors along with variety specials and interactive programs, animation and reality shows, documentaries and informational programs, voiceovers, art direction, costuming, casting, makeup, editing and cinematography.

The other guest actors honored were Carrie Preston ("The Good Wife") and Dan Bucatinsky ("Scandal") in the drama categories, and Melissa Leo ("Louie") as the other comedy winner.

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn were named Outstanding Host(s) for "Project Runway," while "Undercover Boss" got the award for Outstanding Reality Show, "South Park" won for the fourth time as Outstanding Animated Program, and HBO's Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra" racked up eight wins, taking home trophies for art direction, casting, costumes, hairstyles, makeup (prosthetic and otherwise), editing and sound.

You can check out all the winners (and pictures and news and interviews and other fun stuff) at the Emmy site here. And tune in on Sunday, September 22 to see the rest of the Primetime categories awarded. Neil Patrick Harris will be your host once again.

Winners/Losers/Emmy Nominations

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences isn't exactly known for its taste or insight when it comes to handing out awards. Let's just recap: Four consecutive awards for John Larroquette for playing a one-note role as a creepy lawyer on Night Court, four more for Rhea Perlman as the snotty waitress on Cheers, 142 nominations for Saturday Night Live over the years, including a lot of bad years, The Andy Griffith Show's Don Knotts taking home five Emmys while Andy Griffith wasn't even nominated, and Jon Cryer winning in the Lead Actor in a Comedy category for Two and a Half Men last year. Meanwhile, Steve Carell was shut out for his role on The Office, and Jason Alexander got nominated seven times as George Costanza on Seinfeld and never won.

What that means is that the Emmy Awards are fickle and strange, the Academy loves some shows and some performers far more and far longer than seems reasonable, and it's really hard to predict what new ways they can find to go off track.

This year, when the nominations were announced, you would be justified if you asked where the heck Monica Potter (Parenthood), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Games of Thrones), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) were, not to mention a few missing writing nominations for Mad Men and the omission of a comedy series nod for Parks and Recreation. And why in the word is American Horror Story: Asylum classified as a movie or miniseries?

I like Connie Britton and I love Nashville, but she definitely doesn't belong with the likes of Kerry Washington (Scandal), Robin Wright (House of Cards) and Claire Danes (Homeland), especially when the aforementioned Margulies is nowhere to be found. I like Dan Bucatinsky and I love Scandal, but they nominated Bucatinsky and not Jeff Perry, who is absolutely sensational as scheming Chief of Staff Cyrus Beene? And, seriously, no Nick Offerman? Again?

It's nice to see recognition for the Netflix series House of Cards and a little love for Netflix's Arrested Development, with the Academy apparently deciding that made-for-the-net-and-never-broadcast-on-TV series like those do indeed count as television. Now all we need is for the Daytime Emmys to work the same way and include made-for-the-net-and-then-later-shown-on-TV series like the new versions of All My Children and One Life to Live. I'll believe it when I see it.

Here are some of the major categories and how the nominations play out:

Outstanding Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Girls (HBO)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Veep (HBO)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Laura Dern (Enlightened)
Lena Dunham (Girls)
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Amy Poehler (Parks And Recreation)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development)
Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Anna Chlumsky (Veep)
Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)
Jane Lynch (Glee)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Adam Driver (Girls)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) 
Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live)
Tony Hale (Veep)
Ed O'Neill (Modern Family)

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series 
Girls, "On All Fours," directed by Lena Dunham
Glee, "Diva," directed by Paris Barclay
Louie, "New Year's Eve," directed by Louis C.K.
Modern Family, "Arrested," directed by Gail Mancuso
30 Rock, "Hogcock!," directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller
30 Rock, "Last Lunch," directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Episodes, "Episode 209, written by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik
Louie, "Daddy's Girlfriend (Part 1),"  story and teleplay by Louis C.K., story by Pamela Adlon
The Office, "Finale," written by Greg Daniels
30 Rock, "Hogcock!," written by Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock
30 Rock, "Last Lunch," written by Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield

--------------------------------

Outstanding Drama Series
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game Of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
House Of Cards (Netflix)
Mad Men (AMC) 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Damian Lewis (Homeland)
Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Connie Britton (Nashville)
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)
Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Kerry Washington (Scandal)
Robin Wright (House of Cards)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad)
Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire)
Jim Carter (Downton Abbey)
Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones)
Mandy Patinkin (Homeland)
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series
Morena Baccarin (Homeland)
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
Emilia Clarke (Game Of Thrones)
Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series 
Boardwalk Empire, "Margate Sands," directed by Tim Van Patten
Breaking Bad, "Gliding Over All," directed by Michelle MacLaren
Downton Abbey, "Episode 4," directed by Jeremy Webb
Homeland, "Q&A," directed by Linka Glatter
House Of Cards, "Chapter 1," directed by David Fincher

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series 
Breaking Bad, "Dead Freight," written by George Mastras
Breaking Bad, "Say My Name," written byThomas Schnauz
Downton Abbey, "Episode 4," written by Julian Fellowes
Game Of Thrones, "The Rains Of Castamere," written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Homeland, " Q&A," written by Henry Bromell 

--------------------------------

Outstanding Miniseries or Movie
American Horror Story: Asylum (FX)
Behind The Candelabra (HBO)
The Bible (HISTORY)
Phil Spector (HBO)
Political Animals (USA)
Top Of The Lake (Sundance)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Asylum)
Laura Linney (The Big C: Hereafter)
Helen Mirren (Phil Spector)
Elisabeth Moss (Top Of The Lake)
Sigourney Weaver (Political Animals)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Benedict Cumberbatch (Parade's End)
Matt Damon (Behind The Candelabra)
Michael Douglas (Behind The Candelabra)
Toby Jones (The Girl)
Al Pacino (Phil Spector)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Scott Bakula (Behind The Candelabra) 
James Cromwell (American Horror Story: Asylum)
John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C: Hereafter)
Peter Mullan (Top Of The Lake)
Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story: Asylum)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Ellen Burstyn (Political Animals)
Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story: Asylum)
Charlotte Rampling (Restless)
Imelda Staunton (The Girl)
Alfre Woodard (Steel Magnolias)

--------------------------------

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

--------------------------------

Outstanding Variety Series
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

--------------------------------

The Emmy Awards will be handed out on CBS on Sunday, September 22 at 7 pm Central. To see the list of complete nominations, click here. I wouldn't bet against anything from Homeland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus or The Amazing Race. 

Emmy Night Has Come and Gone

It always drives me crazy that the Emmy voters love shows and especially performers I don't, and they love them over and over and over again. John Larroquette, Cloris Leachman, Rhea Perlman and Michael Richards, I'm still looking at you. Yes, I love Ed Asner. So his pile of Emmys plus all those wins for fabulous West Wing, fabulous Hill Street Blues and fabulous Mad Men are fine by me. They're almost enough to make me think there is merit in the Emmys, after all. Almost.

Last night, with Jon Cryer nabbing Best Actor in a Comedy... I am definitely tipped over onto I Hate the Emmys side. With that one award, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences showed exactly how irrelevant they are. So very, very.

That's why I'm not going to talk about who won what. Except for Cryer and the Homeland wins and, as always, handing out statuettes to the random movie stars who dropped by (Kevin Costner and Tom Berenger, this time), it was pretty much the same as last year. Feel free to find whatever it was I said about last year's awards and just lather, rinse, repeat.

Let's talk about something more fun. The fashion! As always, the Tom & Lorenzo site has a terrific rundown of who wore what, with big, glossy photos, good and bad. They noted all the yellow on the red carpet, and that was hard to miss, what with Julianne Moore, Julie Bowen and Claire Danes all winning and all showing off neon yellow in different shades.

I liked how Moore looked in her big, sweepy Christian Dior gown that was the color of lemon meringue pie, and Bowen looked great on camera, too, in a fitted dress that was more of an acid yellow shade.

Claire Danes... Not so much. Her dress was a strange, dark mustard yellow that doesn't look good on anybody, plus it made her hair look green, like she'd been swimming in too many chlorinated pools. The dress itself was shapeless and baggy and not at all flattering. Yes, I realize she's pregnant and trying to camouflage it. But there are better ways to do that than wearing a sack dress in a hideous shade.

In the end, I'd say the battle of the yellows goes to Julianne Moore. With that fire-red hair set off against lemon yellow, with the way her skirt moved and flowed, she was a showstopper.

My favorite dress of the night, though, was on Ginnifer Goodwin. It was a strange orange flocked thing, and I hate orange as a rule. But this looked great. Different, eye-catching, fun. And totally her.

Others who looked fab include Amy Poehler, snazzy in a sparkly black dress with lots of cleavage, and Tina Fey in a stunning purple Vivienne Westwood gown with a Byzantine bodice.

Well, now that I've refused to talk about the awards and summed up the fashion, what's left? Jimmy Kimmel. He was aw'ight. Not that funny. Some of the bits were painful. Same old, same old.

John Stewart's swearing was probably the most entertaining thing that happened all night.

The Nominations Are In: Emmy Love for "Mad Men" and "Horror Story"

Emmy nominations (and wins) are always iffy business. I still can't believe John Larroquette won four in a row for his role on "Night Court" back in the 80s, and, yes, I'm still holding a grudge.

On the other hand, Ed Asner holds the record for most wins by a male performer with seven, and there is nothing wrong with that. I love Ed Asner. The more Emmys for him, the better.

More recently, the Academy been annoying me by continuing to toss nominations (and one inexplicable win) at Jon Cryer and the execrable "Two and a Half Men," as well as shrill, annoying "Glee" and shrill, annoying Kristen Wiig, while overlooking deserving actors like Nick Offerman, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie and Casey Wilson, and excellent shows like "Parks and Recreation," "Community" and "Happy Endings." Last year, "Parks and Rec" finally eked out a nomination for Best Comedy. Not this time.

But Jon Cryer and Kristen Wiig are still on the list, with Cryer adding insult to injury by moving from a nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category to Outstanding Lead Actor. Oh, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. I nominate you for Outstanding Attempt to Drive Julie Crazy.

But there's more than just bad news when it comes to this year's Emmy Awards. Thank goodness.When Jimmy Kimmel (standing in for Nick Offerman, who was waylaid by bad weather) and Kerry Washington ("Scandal") announced the entire list this morning, "Mad Men," the AMC period piece about the stylish, sexy, sexist world of advertising in the 60s, was at the top, with 17 nominations, tied with newbie blockbuster "American Horror Story," the FX series being called a miniseries for Emmy purposes, with 17 of its own.

When the awards are given out on September 23, "Mad Men" will be vying for its fifth straight win in the Outstanding Drama category. That would put it one ahead of four-times-in-a-row Drama winners "The West Wing" and "Hill Street Blues" and four-times-overall-with-an-interruption-from-"Northern Exposure" winner "L.A. Law." Can "Mad Men" take the Big 5 over competitors "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones" and "Homeland"?

"Downton Abbey" won as Outstanding Miniseries last year, so it is definitely a contender, even though critics were less in love with its second season than its first. But opinions were mixed on "Mad Men" this year, too. And then there's "Breaking Bad," "Game of Thrones" and "Homeland," any of which might find itself at the podium.

Although "Mad Men" leads the pack with those 17 nominations, including nods for Outstanding Lead Actor Jon Hamm, Lead Actress Elisabeth Moss, Supporting Actor Jared Harris, Supporting Actress Christina Hendricks and Guest Actress and Actor Julia Ormond and Ben Feldman, the other contenders picked up a few of their own, too, with last year's winner Peter Dinklage from "Game of Thrones" again nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category, "Homeland" stars Claire Danes and Damian Lewis up for Lead Actress and Actor, and Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Giancarlo Esposito, and Mark Margolis all nominated for "Breaking Bad." Meanwhile, "Downton Abbey" picked up a whole lot of love for their upstairs (Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith) and downstairs (Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle and Joanne Froggatt) contingents.

"The Good Wife" missed out on an Outstanding Drama Series nod, but did pick up nominations for Lead Actress Juliana Margulies, Supporting Actresses Archie Panjabi and Christine Baranski, and Guests Dylan Baker, Michael J. Fox and Martha Plimpton.

On the comedy side, "Modern Family" continues its domination of pretty much everything Emmy, with a shot at its third Best Comedy Series award in a row. In case you're keeping track, "Frasier" has the record in the Comedy category, with five wins between 1994 and 1998. "Modern Family" seems like a shoe-in for #3, considering the fact that the show owns four of the six slots in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category, with wins for Eric Stonestreet and Ty Burrell the past two years. Maybe Ed O'Neill or Jesse Tyler Ferguson will take it this year, spreading the joy around the cast. Julie Bowen and Sofia Bergara are back on the Supporting Actress list, too. Bowen won that one last year.

Other nominees for Best Comedy Series are "The Big Bang Theory," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "30 Rock," and new shows "Girls" and "Veep." I found "Girls" unwatchable and "Veep" so-so, but clearly the Academy voters are not on the same page.

Lena Dunham, creator and star of "Girls" and perennial nominee Julia Louis-Dreyfus, now up for "Veep" will vie with quintessential manic pixie dreamgirl Zooey Deschanel ("New Girl'), Edie Falcon ("Nurse Jackie"), Tina Fey ("30 Rock'), Melissa McCarthy ("Mike and Molly"), and my favorite, Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation") in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series race.

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series brings back Jim Parsons from "The Big Bang Theory," along with Larry David playing himself in "Curb Your Enthusiasm," a show I thought was canceled several tears ago, Alec Baldwin one more time in "30 Rock," the always magnetic Don Cheadle for "House of Lies," a show I didn't like at all, the irreverent Louis C.K. for "Louie," and, yes, Jon Cryer in "Two and a Half Men." Sigh.

In the miniseries area, "American Horror Story" dominated, racking up nominations for Outstanding Mini, Outstanding Actress Connie Britton, Supporting Actresses Frances Conroy and Jessica Lange and Supporting Actor Denis O'Hare.

For Connie Britton to win, she'll have to get past Julianne Moore ("Game Change"), Nicole Kidman ("Hemingway & Gelhorn"), Ashley Judd ("Missing") and Emma Thompson ("The Song of Lunch").

The Lead Actor nominees are just as stellar, including Kevin Coster ("Hatfields and McCoys"), Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock"), Idris Elba ("Luther"), Woody Harrelson ("Game Change"), Clive Owen ("Hemingway & Gelhorn") and Bill Paxton ("Hatfields and McCoys").

Other things that jumped out at me: Kathy Bates got one nod for "Harry's Law," a show that didn't get a whole lot of notice, and another for a guest shot on "Two and a Half Men," Michael J. Fox is nominated in both the Comedy and Drama Outstanding Guest Actor categories, two of my favorite actors, David Strathairn and Denis O'Hare, are competing for Supporting Actor in a Miniseries, Betty White is up for hosting reality show "Off Their Rockers," and "So You Think You Can Dance" owns three of the five Outstanding Choreography nominations, with former competitor Travis Wall part of the fourth for his work on "Dancing with the Stars."

For all the nominations and all the categories, click here. Stay tuned for predictions as to who will win and who will go home empty-handed as we get closer to September 23. All bets are off without John Larroquette in the race.