Question: So how did you do on your predictions? Who should win vs who will win vs who did win? I could do the math myself, but perhaps everyone would like to see the results!
Answer: Like many another so-called "expert," I did even worse than usual this year. But honestly, given the results, I'm accepting that as a badge of honor. Of the 17 categories I went on the record to predict, I pegged only eight right: for drama (Lost), lead actor in drama (James Spader), supporting actress in comedy (Doris Roberts), movie (Warm Springs), lead actor in movie (Geoffrey Rush), music/variety/comedy series (The Daily Show), reality program (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which was announced a week earlier) and reality-competition program (The Amazing Race). If you count my "should wins," you can add two more: for miniseries (The Lost Prince) and lead actress in movie (S. Epatha Merkerson). Of all the categories I flubbed altogether, the one I'm most at peace with is Felicity Huffman winning as
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For both of you who skipped reading Damian J. Holbrook's deliciously snarky blow-by-blow of Sunday night's Emmycast, those wiseguys from The Sopranos, MIA this year, contracted out a hired gun named Inspector Clouseau to get the job done for HBO. Fueled by nine wins for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers — including a gold lady for star Geoffrey Rush — HBO amassed 27 Emmys overall, the same tally as the top two broadcast networks, ABC (with 16) and CBS (11), combined. Monk's Tony Shalhoub and Medium's Patricia Arquette were the night's "not so expected" wins and Felicity Huffman beat out Housewives favorites Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross. Boston Legal's James Spader (a repeat winner) and William Shatner packed a one-two punch, and everybody showed Raymond
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If it weren't for Lost, you might never have known what year was being honored at Sunday's Emmy Awards.
James Spader and William Shatner— didn't they win last year? A Raymond sweep — haven't we seen that before? Tony Shalhoub winning again? Wake me when it's over.
I think Felicity Huffman (prior to her own surprise, but not undeserved, win) summed it up best when she muttered, "Clunk."
She was referring to some lame banter during a joint presentation by the five main Desperate Housewives, but she could have been talking about the night itself. Poor Ellen DeGeneres did her droll best to keep this bloated show afloat, but not even the second coming of Johnny Carson (who was paid generous, if solemn, tribute by David Letterman) could have rescued this long, unsatisfying evening.
Few awards are as capricious and as maddening as the Emmys. Even when you s
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She's no Willow Rosenberg, but she'll do: Mariel Hemingway is suiting up to play a Sapphic Secret Service agent in gay-cabler Here!'s upcoming telepic, Her Line of Fire, says Variety. Hemingway previously proved what a good lesbian she'd make in Personal Best ,and proved what a good thespian she is by acting like she was attracted to Roseanne on Roseanne.... Also per Variety: Clive Owen will join Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush in a sequel to Elizabeth called The Golden Age. In the film (which had been titled Elizabeth 2: Electric Boogaloo), the Closer heartthrob will play Sir Walter Raleigh, which is almost enough to make me wish I'd stayed awake during more history classes. Or even the first Elizabeth.... Sam Shepard is strapping on a holster to play
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Before winning a best actor Oscar for Shine, Geoffrey Rush taught physical comedy. Knowing how to trip with the best of them came in handy for his role in HBO's new biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (Sunday, 9 pm/ET), in which Rush had to re-create many of the slapstick savant's most memorable characters, from Dr. Strangelove to Inspector Clouseau. Sellers' old pal Blake Edwards gushes, "It's too bad the audience didn't know Sellers the way I do, so they could appreciate how [Rush] caught the man."
TV Guide Online: Is it true you turned down the role at first?
Geoffrey Rush: I thought, "I'm Australian and he's English. He's stouter and shorter than I am. And hairier."
TVGO: The script portrays Sellers as an abusive man. Were you put off by that?
Rush: At one point, they were writing a new draft because he was so unlikable, but that never hit me. I find people most interesting if they're flawed.
TVGO: W
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