2011 Emmy Noms & Reaction from the TV Whore

By Danny Manus (the TV Whore)

Emmy nominations were announced this morning and holy crap is it a mixed bag of awesome and shitty! Cant’ decide if I’m happy or pissed because there’s an equal number of really glaring snubs and deserved nominations! So let’s bitch about it shall we?

Best Drama Series –

The Good Wife – The only network show to get nom’d and deservedly so. I think the final episodes of this season were fantastic and really let its actors shine. I actually hope it wins (which it won’t) only because network dramas need a win!

Game of Thrones – Just watched this whole season a few weeks ago and it did win me over. Glad to see it noticed.

Friday Night Lights – Final season goodbye nom, should have happened years ago.

Boardwalk Empire – I don’t get it. I know people WANT me to watch this, but I don’t think it’s very good. I give shows 3 episodes to win me over – and this didn’t.  If Scorcese wasn’t involved in this, no one would like it.

Mad Men – Again, I know I should watch it and like it…but I don’t really. I think the best days of this show are behind it.

Dexter – I love Dexter, and despite sometimes poor, repetitive writing, the show keeps you going. It’s getting long in the tooth though…and won’t win.

Biggest Snubs – There were some HUGE snubs here, most notably Justified, Shameless, and The Walking Dead. I LOVE all of these shows and any of them could have replaced Boardwalk for me.  I know critics like Treme – but it’s boring to me. The two series I love that I knew wouldn’t be nom’d but maybe one day in another world – Rizzoli & Isles and Castle. They are good fun, engaging, well-acted TV series. 

Comedy Series –

Modern Family – Had some fantastic moments this season, and some bad episodes. Will probably win unless Parks and Rec takes it…

Parks and Recreation – I JUST started watching and liking this show (again, I hated the first 4 episodes so stopped watching but now it’s great). It deserves its nomination and could actually win.

Big Bang Theory – Eh, um…ok…

Glee – It’s jumped the shark and I’m so pissed at Ryan Murphy right now, I hope it loses.

The Office – This is the only season I actually watched all the way through. It’s got a good shot at winning for its final “Michael” episode.

30 Rock – Love the show, but this season was OFF.

Biggest Snubs – Hands down the biggest snubs were 2 of my favorite comedies – Community (which is so original and brilliant and should have been nom’d over ANY of the shows that were), and Raising Hope, which I think is just as original and funny as any of the shows nom’d.  Thankfully Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Tara, and Big C were not nom’d in this category – cause they’re not comedies! Poor Family Guy….

Drama Actor – Kyle Chandler, Steve Buscemi, Hugh Laurie (for the love of god give him an Emmy), Jon Hamm (will probably win since Cranston’s out), Michael C Hall (was really good this season), and Timothy Olyphant (fantastic, but this was his first season).

Snubs – He only had one shot, so I was hoping Sean Bean would get one for Game of Thrones or Holt McCallany for the cancelled FX show, Lights Out.

Drama Actress – Julianna Margulies (she deserves to win this year), Connie Britton (love her), Mariska Hargitay (over it), Mareille Enos (on The Killing – I’ve never seen it), Elisabeth Moss (she’ll always be Zooey Bartlett to me! She could win and I’ll be happy), and new nominee Kathy Bates for Harry’s Law (Seriously?? This is a joke, right?) I think it’s Margulies vs. Moss!

Snubs – HUGE snub category for me. How about instead of Mariska and fucking Kathy Bates, you give deserved noms to Emmy Rossum on Shameless (who truly, truly deserved it!), Katey Sagal, who won the fucking golden globe and is a powerhouse on Sons of Anarchy, Kyra Sedgwick – who fucking WON last year, and Angie Harmon for Rizzoli & Isles. Love her hardcore. Bad choices this year, voters!

Comedy Actor – Steve Carrell (should win this year), Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki (his first nom), Alec Baldwin, Matt LeBlanc (back from the dead and deservedly so), and Louis CK (Fucking awesome, but he’s not an actor). Give it to Carrell – he deserves it.

Snubs – JOEL FUCKING MCHALE! I’m okay with Matthew Morrison being snubbed on Glee cause I think he’s an awful actor.

Comedy Actress – Tina Fey (love you, read your book, but you don’t deserve this one), Laura Linney (deserved and voters love her), Amy Poehler (will probably win this year), Edie Falco (ugh, NOT funny), Martha Plimpton (awesome!), and Melissa McCarthy (so hot right now, so happy for her, but won’t win this year). It’s Linney vs Poehler.

Snubbed – Lea Michele on Glee. Again, I love her, but she’s not the best actress on the show and not even close to the funniest.

Supporting Actor, Drama – A great category with a lot of strong actors and every one of them feels rightly deserved! I didn’t think there were any snubs in this category really. Josh Charles, Alan Cumming, Walton Goggins on Justified (AWESOME!), Andre Braugher, John Slattery, and Peter Dinklage on Game of Thrones (YAY!!!). I’m picking Peter Dinklage or Walton Goggins.

Supporting Actress, Drama – This was a very competitive category this year and there were THREE huge snubs in my opinion! SARA RAMIREZ for her awesome and powerful musical episode on Grey’s and the fantastic KADEE STRICKLAND, who was so amazing in her rape storyline on Private Practice (and the only good thing about the show) – it’s sad she wasn’t recognized.  And KHANDI ALEXANDER, the only really good thing about Treme for me, and who also had a rape storyline.

The noms were Archie Panjabi (love her), Christine Baranski, Christina Hendricks (I don’t get her), Michelle Forbes for The Killing (been a huge fan of hers since “Homicide”), Kelly MacDonald (hate Boardwalk), and the FANTASTIC Margo Martindale for Justified – I hope she wins! I think it’s Archie vs. Margo – and I give it to Margo this year!

Supporting Actor, Comedy – All the Modern Family Men (YAY Ed O’Neill and Ty Burrell who both really deserve to win), plus Jon Cryer (ugh), and Chris Colfer again.

Snubbed from this category – and horribly so – is Nick Offerman from Parks & Rec, Danny Pudi from Community, and Neil Patrick Harris on HIMYM.

Supporting Actress, Comedy – The Modern Family gals (please give it to Julie Bowen and not that annoying bag of tits Sofia Vergara), Jane Lynch (who will probably win again and is hosting the Emmy’s), Betty White, Kristen Wiig for SNL (who I love, but wasn’t very active this season), and Jane Krakowski.

Snubbed –Alison Brie for Community? Yes, please. Or Pamela Adlon on Californication. Or Heather Morrison or Naya Rivera on Glee, who make the show for me!

Reality Series – Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Project Runway, Top Chef, and newcomer (YAY!) So You Think You Can Dance. It’s about time this show got noticed! Gordon Ramsay has 6 shows on TV and none of them were noticed.

Reality Hosts – It’s all the same noms as usual except for MY GIRL, Cat Deeley. I don’t know why my friends don’t like her – I find her delightful and I think she’s a fantastic and caring host! Very happy for her! But I think it may be Tom Bergeron’s year.

Variety/Music Show – Daily Show, Colbert, Conan, SNL, Bill Maher (27 noms, no wins – fucking give him one already!), and newcomer Jimmy Fallon! All well-deserved.

I want to make some happy shout outs to Guest Actor nominees Gwenyth Paltrow, Kristin Chenoweth, Dot-Marie Jones (all from Glee) and Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock) for comedy – expect Gwenyth to win. And Julia Stiles (Dexter), Mary McDonnell (Closer), Loretta Devine (Grey’s), and the fantastic Joan Cusack (Shameless). I think it’s between Stiles and Cusack – rough call!

All in all, a very interesting year with some brand new entrants and some shows put out to pasture. Eventually, the Academy is going to have to wake up and notice ALL of TV and not just the political choices (like Boardwalk, Mad Men and Glee) and realize that it’s OK to NOT notice a great show (like 30 Rock) when it has a bad season but bring it back when it has another great one. I hate that once you’re not nominated ONE year, you never get nom’d again – why? You can be good one year, bad the next, and good again after that – let’s recognize that.  Thanks all and enjoy the Emmy’s September 18^th – I’ll blog again about the winners afterwards!