The Oscar voters seem to go ...
Question: The Oscar voters seem to go out of their way to nominate the "little guys."
Felicity Huffman was nominated for
Transamerica even if the movie made less than $3 million at the box office. Why can't it be the same for the Emmys? If the Oscar voters were anything like Emmy voters, then
Crash or
Brokeback Mountain wouldn't even be on the list of nominations. I am especially nervous about the category for best actress in a comedy: I agree with you that
Marcia Cross deserves to win. She makes the transition from a psychotic alcoholic to a caring mother look so freakin' easy! Unfortunately, I have a feeling that
Teri Hatcher will also be nominated. She's a great actress, but there are actresses who are more deserving. Huffman is always great, but this season of
Desperate Housewives belonged to Cross.
Mary-Louise Parker will probably get nominated, too. Other nominees I'd like to see are
Lisa Kudrow — sadly, I think the Emmy voters might pass on her, and though she was on HBO, her show was low-rated — and
Lauren Graham. Graham's yearly absence from the list makes her the perfect poster child for everything that is wrong with the Emmy system. Do you think the new system for the Emmys will make a difference? By the way, are you an Emmy voter?
Answer: Don't I
wish I were an Emmy voter! It would be nice to think that
someone who actually watches TV were involved in the process. (I'm not a member of the television academy, so I don't qualify.) I hope this year's new system will allow for some underdogs to slip in, but I'm not counting on it. I imagine the nominations will continue to be dominated by longtime industry faves, a handful of newer breakthrough hits, a smattering of cult items (the showing of
Arrested Development in the last few seasons gives me hope) and, maybe, an authentic surprise. Lauren Graham getting a nomination would certainly qualify. I'd guess that Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Mary-Louise Parker are shoo-ins. A third Housewife (Teri Hatcher, most likely) is also possible. And I imagine
Julia Louis-Dreyfus will make the cut for
Old Christine. If only two Housewives are nominated, which would be the right way to go, that would leave an opening for Lisa Kudrow, who was brilliant in the less-than-brilliant
The Comeback. It really all depends on how slavishly devoted the Emmys will be toward
Housewives, which was wrongly denied the best comedy Emmy last year and doesn't deserve it for this season.
But to your larger point about the differences between the Oscars and the Emmys: It seems to me that the Oscars can't help but nominate low-budget, breakthrough independent films like Brokeback Mountain and Crash, because so many of the blockbuster movies are creatively bankrupt. Seriously, could you imagine that last Star Wars movie getting serious nominations? By comparison, most of the top-rated TV shows are actually quite excellent these days. (Which isn't to say the lower-rated gems aren't equally worthy of Emmy attention.) The real problem in the Emmy process is the crushing volume of TV product, which ensures there will always be quality shows that fly under the radar.
