Cheers & Jeers: The Closer Gets Another Christmas Present

Jeers to the Screen Actors Guild Awards for overpraising The Closer.

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I've never been impressed by Kyra Sedgwick's sticky-sweet work as LAPD deputy chief Brenda Leigh Johnson — her cornball accent grates on my Southern-born ears. But I can understand why SAG members (not to mention Emmy and Golden Globe voters) would fall for such a larger-than-life, scenery-chewing performance.

What I don't get is the terminally mediocre The Closer receiving its fifth nomination for SAG's outstanding drama ensemble award. Sure, there are some good actors in the cast — J.K. Simmons is always AOK with me — but most of them are put through pretty standard procedural paces every week. How can the SAGs pass over such deserving shows as Breaking Bad, Justified, Terriers, Friday Night Lights and Damages in favor of this middlebrow time-waster?

Maybe it's because TNT airs the SAG Awards as well as The Closer. But if it's basic-cable favoritism, they should honor the net's overlooked Men of a Certain Age instead. My theory has more to do with the age of SAG voters — after all, these are the folks who nominated the musty Hot in Cleveland for best comic ensemble over the more award-worthy casts of Community, The Middle, The Big C and The Big Bang Theory. And The Closer attracts lots of viewers in the same demographic bracket as Brenda's parents (Frances Sternhagen and Barry Corbin), who announced in this week's episode they're moving to L.A. Hey, maybe they can join SAG!

Are you baffled by the SAG Awards welcoming The Closer with open arms?

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