Since this is the first time ...

Question: Since this is the first time that I've ever really felt passionate about the Emmy Awards, I have to ask you  — how can you stand it? Not only did I see my favorites lose, but my second choices as well. Terry O'Quinn and Alan Alda lost to Captain Kirk. Tony Shalhoub beat Jason Bateman and Zach Braff (and Ray Romano, for that matter). James Spader beat Hugh Laurie, Ian McShane and Kiefer Sutherland... Holy crap, Lost just won best drama. Forget I said anything. Emmy rules!
Answer: Loving those mood swings, Phil. Join the club. And let the rants begin. For the record, the post-Emmy e-mailbag was pretty close to 100 percent rants. I have to agree. (Check out my Dispatch from Monday for my complete morning-after analysis.) If there was unanimous scorn for anything, it was the double repeat wins of James Spader and William Shatner for Boston Legal. Again, I have to agree. In an era of remarkable drama on network and cable, these are the best dramatic performances? Not by a long shot. (And of course, the likes of FX stars Michael Chiklis, Denis Leary, Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh weren’t even nominated.) But what really gripes me as I get some distance from Sunday’s telecast is how little the awards even tried to celebrate one of the best TV seasons in years, either in the selection of winners or in any sort of overview of a year where network TV came back to life. Simply pathetic. But to answer the question: How do I stand it? By hewing to my critical standards and taking comfort in the fact that, unlike most Emmy voters, I’ve done my homework and I know who should have won. While the projectile vomit of dismay is still fresh, here are some other annotated gripes and reactions.