Well, it's that time again — ...
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Question: Well, it's that time again — time to rejoice and weep about the Emmy nominations. I was actually pleasantly surprised this year. After last year's debacle (it can't be called anything else), I wasn't expecting much. But this year, probably 75 to 80 percent of my wish list was granted, which, when it comes to Emmy nominations, is pretty good. Nothing's perfect, of course: In particular, I was disappointed that
Lost wasn't nominated for best drama (but
Boston Legal was? What?) and that
Matthew Fox and
Elizabeth Mitchell weren't recognized for their riveting performances. As a new convert to
Friday Night Lights, I was also disappointed (but hardly surprised) to see that the show received no nominations at all. But there was good news to balance things out: I was particularly thrilled to see nominations for
Ugly Betty, and for
America Ferrera and
Vanessa L. Williams. I also think they got it right in nominating
Sally Field,
Michael Emerson and
Terry O'Quinn for their great weekly work, and
Dixie Carter,
Judith Light and
Eli Wallach for outstanding guest appearances. So, while they're still far from perfect, I think the nominations are much better than last year's, and I hope this is a trend that will continue. Thoughts?
Answer: "Pleasantly surprised" wasn't exactly my first reaction (for my complete day-of-nominations analysis, check out my
Dispatch from last week), but given how heated much of the rest of my Emmy-related mail has been, I figured it would be a nice change of pace to start by accentuating the positive. The good news this year is that a surprising amount of new blood is in the Emmy mix, especially where
Ugly Betty, 30 Rock and
Heroes are concerned. But I have to say that the aftertaste is still mostly bitter, in large part because of the snubs of
Lost and
Friday Night Lights (agreed, not entirely a surprise, but still a letdown) in favor of
Boston Legal. Read on to see what even a fan of
BL has to say about the situation.
