Emmy Gets Our Hopes Up Again
Lee Pace and Anna Friel in Pushing Daisies by Scott Garfield/ABC
At least now we know which shows don't have the proverbial snowball's chance in Hollywood of getting best-series nomination. Underdogs like
Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad and
The Shield (to name the top drama snubs from my own cheat sheet) and
How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Big Bang Theory (three superior CBS comedies passed over for
Two and a Half Men, again) as well as
Desperate Housewives (whose creative comeback failed to sway the Emmy nominators) and the beyond-edgy
Californication.
All were shut out when the TV Academy
released its list of top-10 contenders for best drama and comedy series, which now submit themselves for inspection this weekend by a blue-ribbon panel whose rankings will help narrow the cut to roughly five in each category. The lists are heavy on hip cable fare: four in comedy, and fully half of the 10 drama contenders. Critics' darlings that have survived so far include
Friday Night Lights, The Wire, Dexter, Mad Men, Damages, Pushing Daisies and (with a tip of the cap to my TCA brethren)
Flight of the Conchords.
Helping clarify matters,
Gold Derby has revealed most of the episode titles submitted for blue-panel review. For comedy:
Curb Your Enthusiasm ("The Bat Mitzvah"),
Entourage ("The Day F***ers"),
Family Guy ("Padre de Famila"),
Flight of the Conchords ("Sally Returns"),
The Office (title to come),
Pushing Daisies ("Pie-lette"),
30 Rock ("Cooter"),
Two and a Half Men ("Rough Night in Hump Junction"),
Ugly Betty ("Something Wicked This Way Comes"),
Weeds ("Go"). For drama:
Boston Legal ("The Court Supreme"),
Damages (Pilot),
Dexter ("The Dark Defender"),
Friday Night Lights ("Leave No One Behind"),
Grey's Anatomy ("Freedom, Parts 1 and 2"),
House ("Frozen"),
Lost ("The Constant"),
Mad Men (Pilot, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"),
The Tudors (#205),
The Wire (Series finale, "30").
Among the headlines here:
The Wire, so long neglected, is HBO's only drama contender, edging the sexier
Big Love, Tell Me You Love Me and
In Treatment.
Family Guy breaks the animation jinx to be considered for best comedy- but really, is drama contender
Boston Legal any less of a cartoon?- while also double-dipping by submitting its hour-long
Star Wars parody in the animated category. First-year series are bringing fresh blood into the process:
Daisies, Conchords, Damages and
Mad Men.
So while this isn't a perfect list, it's one that manages to get our hopes up that the blue-ribbon judges will be as impressed as I was by the stunning pilots of
Daisies, Damages and
Mad Men, the dazzling "Constant" episode of
Lost and the heartbreaking "Leave No One Behind" episode of
Friday Night Lights. The drama category will probably be a real squeaker, given that shows with uneven seasons but strong Emmy track records submitted Emmy-bait stunts, like
Boston Legal's Supreme Court spoof and
House's Antarctic Super Bowl-night episode.
So how would I narrow the field if given the chance?
Comedy (in order of preference):
Pushing Daisies, 30 Rock, The Office, Ugly Betty and
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Drama (in order of preference):
Mad Men, Lost, The Wire, Friday Night Lights, Dexter and
Damages. (Yes, I know that's six, but in case of near-ties, the categories can expand a bit. I could make an argument for almost all 10 of the drama contenders and several more that didn't make the cut.)
Now the wait begins for July 17, when all will be revealed and the real gnashing of teeth can begin.
