Lather/Rinse/Repeat: It's the Emmys!

What is there to say about last Monday night's Emmys except "same old, same old"?

It's certainly nothing new for Emmy voters to pick the same winners year after year. You know, like Candice Bergen,who won five Emmys for Murphy Brown, or Don Knotts, with five for The Andy Griffith Show. 

Ed Asner as Lou Grant

And then there's Cloris Leachman, who won eight over the years for different shows and Ed Asner, who won seven, five of them for playing the role of Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant.  MTM herself also has seven Emmys on her mantel. Tyne Daly is right behind with six, with four for Cagney and Lacey. I'm not going to quibble with any of those, although I have to say, the winning streaks of John Larroquette (who won four consecutive Emmys for Night Court) and Rhea Perman (with four for Cheers) certainly gave me pause back in the 80s.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep

Given the Emmy predilection for repeats, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Jim Parsons collected his fourth Emmy this year as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for The Big Bang Theory or that Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her third in a row as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Veep. Louis-Dreyfus already had two on her mantel, with a Supporting Actress Emmy for Seinfeld and a Lead Actress Emmy for The New Adventures of Old Christine. Allison Janney, who won two this year, is another perennial fave. She'd already taken home four Emmys for playing C. J. Cregg on The West Wing, so this year's wins as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Mom and Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Masters of Sex gives her six overall. Jessica Lange can't compete with those numbers, but she did just win her third Emmy in the Miniseries/Movie category and her second for American Horror Story.

The two big Supporting Actor categories -- for Drama and Comedy series -- gave Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul his third and Modern Family's Ty Burrell his second. Anna Gunn also took home No. 2 for Supporting Actress for Breaking Bad, while Kathy Bates, who has been nominated twelve times, won for only the second time. Hers was for her Supporting turn in American Horror Story: Coven, in the Miniseries/Movie category.

Even though it's a repeat, I'm still glad that the very deserving Bryan Cranston took home his fourth Emmy as Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for Breaking Bad after not hitting the podium for a few years, and that Juliana Margulies was recognized again as Outstanding Actress for a stellar season of The Good Wife.

That leaves Benedict Cumberbatch alone among the Lead Actor nominees. His win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Sherlock was his first. What a surprise! His Sherlock cohort, Martin Freeman, was also a first-time Emmy winner, although he was nominated in two categories this year.

The show winners were just as much a part of the lather/rinse/repeat cycle. It's five in a row for Modern Family as Outstanding Comedy Series. And two for Outstanding Drama Breaking Bad, although this will be the end of that road, since the show has finished up for good. After eight wins for The Daily Show in the Variety Series category, The Colbert Report has now won two. But everybody looks like pikers next to The Amazing Race, which has now won ten Outstanding Reality/Competition Emmys.

Since 2010, television movies and miniseries had been lumped into the same category, but this year they were split up, meaning that Fargo (the mini) and The Normal Heart (the movie) could both win. If they put it all back together next year, there's no telling who will win.

That's just one of the television academy's tough choices, like what constitutes a guest actor as opposed to a supporting one.

The guest honors were handed out in the Creative Arts ceremony a week ago, with Uzo Aduba from Orange Is the New Black emerging as a winner over two castmates plus Joan Cusack from Shameless and two Saturday Night Live hosts. "Guest" used to mean a one-off. No more. Adube has appeared in 38 of the show's 39 episodes, according to IMDB. Joe Morton also won as a "guest" for Scandal, although he was in the credits for all 24 of this season's episodes, and winner Allison Janney was in seven of Masters of Sex's total 24. By contrast, Jimmy Fallon won for hosting one episode of SNL.

But then, there are a lot of questions about Emmy definitions. Why are Fargo or American Horror Story considered miniseries instead of plain old series, when True Detective is a series, not a mini? Why are Orange Is the New Black and Shameless called comedies instead of dramas?

It's part -- along with the repeat winners -- of the reason the Emmys bug me. Still, they got good ratings this year. So you know they will be back, handing out statuettes to The Amazing Race and Allison Janney one more time. 

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.

I Love a Surprise: ARGO Wins Again at the Screen Actors Guild Awards

Last night's Screen Actors Guild Awards honored many of the usual suspects -- Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones from Lincoln and Anne Hathaway for her performance in Les Misérables on the movie side, and ABC's Modern Family, Claire Danes from Homeland, Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey from NBC's 30 Rock , Kevin Costner (Hatfields and McCoys) and Julianne Moore (Game Change) for mini-series or TV movies -- with a few surprises as well.

Argo, the clever little thriller directed by (and starring) Ben Affleck about breaking a handful of Americans out of Iraq, took the trophy for Ooustanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, the SAG equivalent of Best Picture, upsetting Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and Les Misérables and taking the lead in Oscar predictions. Don't forget, however, that The Help won in that category at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last year, while The Artist took Best Picture at the Oscars. You just never know...

Other SAG winners included Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, lauded for her Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture. (Best Actress is so much easier, isn't it?) Lawrence and Jessica Chastain, nominated for Zero Dark Thirty, have been considered the top contenders for Oscar's Best Actress for quite a while, and they both won at the Golden Globes. Does this SAG Award mean Lawrence is edging ahead in that race? I kind of think so, considering how many SAG members also vote for the Academy Awards.

The other big upset of the evening was on the television side of the aisle, as the Downton Abbey cast took top honors for TV dramas. That meant a win over the likes of the much-lauded Homeland, Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire actors. I'm not sure that's warranted, honestly. As much as I love Downton Abbey, I found myself straying last season because of the contrivances involving Matthew and Mary and much of the murder plot. I think Homeland and its stars had a better year, Mad Men was pretty good except for that Too Much Megan problem, and Breaking Bad was as riveting as ever. Boardwalk Empire is too violent for me (looking at you, Gyp Rosetti) so I'd put it in last place on this list, but any of the other casts could've edged out Downton and I wouldn't have complained.

The Screen Actors Guild also honors stunt ensembles, and those awards went to Skyfall, the James Bond movie, and TV's Game of Thrones.

Best dressed? Tina Fey looked great in a snazzy black Oscar de la Renta gown with movie star hair, and Kerry Washington was a stunner in a sparkly white-and-silver Rodarte dress.

But for my money, Marion Cotillard walked away with the fashion prize in Dior Haute Couture, mixing a creamy white bodice with a full skirt (with pockets!) in a lovely shade of blue. French blue, of course. Cotillard may not be picking up as many awards as Lawrence and Chastain for her performance in Rust and Bone, but she's certainly setting the fashion standard.

And speaking of Jennifer Lawrence... Uh oh on the wardrobe malfunction, when her navy Christian Dior dress split apart at a thigh-level tier when she got up to accept her award. Oh well. A see-through pants suit on Oscar night didn't hurt Barbra Streisand all that much in the long run.

Screen Actors Guild Nominations: Loving LINCOLN, SILVER LININGS and LES MIS

Like the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards cover both movies and TV. Unlike the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards are a pretty darn good predictor for Oscar's acting nominations. They also cover a lot more ground in terms of voters; initial nominations are done by a random selection of about 2000 SAG members across the country, with final voting open to all 100,000 actors who belong to the Screen Actors Guild. Since those SAG members will be the same ones voting in Oscar's acting categories, you can see why they're a good prognostication tool.

The Screen Actors Guild is one of the newer entries into the awards show sweepstakes, beginning in 1995, but they're also taken a bit more seriously than some of the others, since they are voted upon by actors and only actors judging in their area of expertise, and they don't mess around with awards for songs or special effects or makeup. They don't even give a Best Picture or Best Show award. Just Best Ensemble.

On the film side, this year they've nominated Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones, as well the entire ensemble from Lincoln; along with leads Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, supporting actor Robert DeNiro, and the cast as a whole from Silver Linings Playbook; and Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and the acting and stunt casts of Les Misérables.

The other casts as a whole recognized are from Argo and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. From Argo, supporting actor Alan Arkin was nominated, while Maggie Smith was the lone actor given a nod from Marigold Hotel.

Other actors nominated include John Hawkes and Helen Hunt in The Sessions, Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty, Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone, Helen Mirren in Hitchcock, Denzel Washington in Flight, Naomi Watts in The Impossible, Javier Bardem in Skyfall, Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master, and Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy.

Along with Les Miz, the stunt casts from The Amazing Spider Man, The Bourne Legacy, The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall were nominated. TV "action" ensembles recognized include those from Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead.

Boardwalk Empire and Breaking Bad also scored nominations for their acting casts, accompanying Downton Abbey, Homeland and Mad Men in the Drama category. Yes, cable rules the day in drama, as AMC, HBO, PBS and Showtime shut out ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in nominations.

Four of the five dramas also got nods for their leads actors, as Boardwalk Empire's Steve Buscemi, Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, Homeland's Damian Lewis and Mad Men's Jon Hamm were all nominated. Jeff Daniels of The Newsroom filled the last slot in that category.

If Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey was not recognized, his costars Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith were. They will compete with Claire Danes from Homeland, Jessica Lange from American Horror Story and Juliana Margulies from The Good Wife.

For comedy series, the casts of 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie and The Office were nominated. If you're thinking the Guild is a few years out of date in this category, I would agree with you.

Individual comedic actors recognized include Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara from Modern Family, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey from 30 Rock, Louie C.K. from Louie, Edie Falco from Nurse Jackie, Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory, Amy Poehler from Parks and Recreation and Betty White from Hot in Cleveland.

The TV miniseries or movie category is smaller, with categories for only lead actor and actress. Why no ensemble award for a television miniseries or movie? Why no supporting categories for anything on TV? Because that's not how the Screen Actors Guild rolls.

In any event, Woody Harrelson, Ed Harris and Julianne Moore were all nominated for the Sarah Palin-inspired Game Change, while one Hatfield (Kevin Costner) and one McCoy (Bill Paxton) got nods for Hatfields & McCoys and both Hemingway (Clive Owen) and Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman) were nominated in Hemingway & Gellhorn. That leaves Charlotte Rampling in Restless, Sigourney Weaver in Politcal Animals and Alfre Woodward in Steel Magnolias to round out the mini/movie nominations.

There is also a lifetime achievement award, and this year that will go to Dick Van Dyke.

The Screen Actors Guild will hand out their Actor statuettes on January 27, 2013, in a ceremony broadcast on both TNT and TBS from LA's Shrine Exposition Center.

Golden Globe Nominations Announced, Usual Oddities Included

So the Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday. And now there's that.

A lot of people trumpet that the Golden Globes are bellwethers for the Oscars. Yeah, no. They may generate more publicity for films that have been flying under the radar, or they may push forward a performance nobody was considering, but really, there is very little prognostication value from the Golden Globes. Remember, they're voted upon by the murky body known as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has about 90 members. That's not a typo. 9-0. More people than that vote for dog catcher in Mayberry.

But still.. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its 90 members have managed to parlay their little party into a big deal where the people who put together both film and television can and will show up to get some facetime on the first big awards show of the year. Note that even though the Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations a day earlier than the Globes, the Globes will hold their ceremony on NBC on January 13, while the SAG Awards don't show up till the 27th.

So what do these nominations mean? Well, they mean that the 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press like NBC's execrable Smash more than makes any sense, that they like the new Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained more than most people expected, they continue to love Modern Family, they don't love Mad Men or Parks and Recreation nearly as much as I do, and they love Lincoln most of all. Meanwhile... Hello? Scandal? It, Kerry Washington and Jeff Perry ought to be right up the Golden alley.

But let's look at they've recognized, shall we?

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour (Australia)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tiki (Norway/UK/Denmark)
Rust and Bone (France)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone)
Helen Mirren (Hitchcock)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Richard Gere (Arbitrage)
John Hawkes (The Sessions)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Denzel Washington (Flight)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Emily Blunt (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen)
Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Maggie Smith (Quartet)
Meryl Streep (Hope Springs)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jack Black (Bernie)
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Ewan McGregor (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen)
Bill Murray (Hyde Park on Hudson)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Amy Adams (The Master)
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained)
Philip Seymour Hoffman  (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Ben Affleck (Argo)
Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
Chris Terrio (Argo)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA 
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey 
Homeland
The Newsroom

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
The Big Bang Theory
Episodes
Girls
Modern Family
Smash

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Game Change
The Girl
Hatfields & McCoys
The Hour
Political Animals

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Connie Britton (Nashville)
Glenn Close (Damages)
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Damian Lewis (Homeland)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Zooey Deshanel (New Girl)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
Lena Dunham (Girls)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Don Cheadle (House of Lies)
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION 
Nicole Kidman (Hemingway and Gellhorn)
Jessica Lange (American Horror Story)
Sienna Miller (The Girl)
Julianne Moore (Game Change)
Sigourney Weaver (Political Animals)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys)
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock)
Woody Harrelson (Game Change)
Toby Jones (The Girl)
Clive Owen (Hemingway and Gellhorn)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Hayden Panettiere (Nashville)
Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
Sarah Paulson (Game Change)
Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Max Greenfield (New Girl)
Ed Harris (Game Change)
Danny Huston (Magic City)
Mandy Patinkin (Homeland)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)

WGA Has Their Say with Noms for TV

The Writers Guilds (East and West) have announced their nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for television during the 2012 season. They also honor news, radio, promotional writing and graphic animation. Two simultaneous ceremonies (one in LA and one in New York) to honor winners will be held on Sunday, February 17, 2013.

So who are the big nominees in TV?

In the Drama Series category, the nominees are Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones on HBO, Breaking Bad and Mad Men on AMC, and Homeland on Showtime. The fact that Breaking Bad has four of the six total nominations for writing an episode of a TV drama says that they may split the vote in the episodic category, but they'll probably blow away the competition in Drama Series. Who knows, though? Homeland and Boardwalk Empire have mighty weapons of their own.

As I said, Breaking Bad dominates the episodic drama category, with episodes "Buyout," "Dead Weight," "Fifty-One" and "Say My Name" all nominated, along with the "New Car Smell" episode of Homeland and "The Other Woman" from Mad Men. "The Other Woman" was killer. Mad Men. S'all I'm gonna say.

Comedy Series with a Writers Guild nod include 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation on NBC, Modern Family on ABC, Girls on HBO, and Louie on FX. Modern Family will win, but Parks and Rec or Louie would be fine by me.

Modern Family almost corners the market in episodic comedy nominations, with Writers Guild love for "Little Bo Bleep," "Mistery Date" and "Virgin Territory," as well as "The Debate" episode of Parks and Recreation, "Leap Day" from 30 Rock, and "Episode 9" of Episodes. I like Modern Family as much as the next person, but I'm a little tired of automatically sending all the awards their way. "The Debate" was funny and smart and featured Paul Rudd as a sweet but stupid candidate for office in Pawnee. Ya gotta vote Paul Rudd!

Joining Fox's The Mindy Project and ABC's Nashville as nominees for Best New Series were Girls, The Newsroom and Veep from HBO. I'd personally go for Nashville if I had a vote, but really, you can give it to anything but Girls. Or The Mindy Project. Not trying to rain on the Girl Power Parade -- I just don't like Girls or That Mindy Thing.

And even though the daytime soaps are a dying breed, the Guild is still recognizing them. Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless, which still exist, will compete against the late and very much lamented One Life to Live in that category.

For the complete list of nominees, including Hatfields and McCoys, Conan and Kimmel and Colbert, anthrax and the Amish and The Ghost of Joe McCarthy, click here.

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.