61st Annual Primetime Emmy Award Nominations
Observations on the Nominees for 2009's Best in Television
Jul 16, 2009
It's the first year of the newly-bloated Emmy Awards, where seven shows each for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Drama Series are chosen. Even with more representation, glaring omissions still exist. In the interest of including more programming from a wealth of cable networks such as F/X, AMC and Showtime, the voters continue to arrive late to the party for other worthy candidates.
A full recap of each major category would be too exhaustive, but some analysis of the studs and duds from the pool of nominees is in order.
Studs: Simon Baker, Kristin Wiig and Fine Guest Actors
- Simon Baker's Best Actor nomination for The Mentalist is richly deserved. The show is hugely popular for his compelling presence alone. At a time in which actors in certain procedural dramas rarely get acting nods -- NCIS is a consistently well-made, well-acted example of a show the Emmys avoid, and nobody will confuse David Caruso's run on CSI: Miami with Emmy material -- but Baker's star turn as Patrick Jane resonated with good reason.
- How Amy Poehler snagged a nomination for Saturday Night Live when she didn't last an entire season is strange, but Kristin Wiig's one-woman show finally receives recognition as a Best Supporting Actress. When she isn't the infuriatingly funny Penelope or an uncanny version of Jamie Lee Curtis in fake Activia ads, she saves every sketch in which she appears.
- The Guest Actor and Actress categories always gather a who's-who of beloved stars, and it's always a delight to see whose work is acknowledged each year. Carol Burnett's positively creepy and disturbing appearance on Law and Order: SVU as a Norma Desmond-like ex-actress is a no-brainer. And Ernest Borgnine, still delivering terrific performances at age 92, raised his game again in the final episode of ER with a heartbreaking portrayal of a man caring for his dying wife.
- Kevin Bacon was rewarded for some of his best work in years by earning a Best Actor nomination as Lt. Col. Michael Strobl in the exquisite, near-flawless HBO movie Taking Chance, which chronicles Strobl's journey as an escort of a U.S. Marine's body back home from Iraq.
Duds: No Friday Night Lights, Tony Shalhoub and William Shatner
- After three years and heaps of praise, Friday Night Lights still gets the shaft to a stupefying degree. Season 3 may have trumped Season 1 in terms of writing and character development, and there's nothing to show for it other than an Outstanding Casting nomination. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have practically put together an acting master class, to no avail. Zach Gilford's all-too-real interpretation of "QB1" Matt Saracen needs its own category.
- While Emmy voters infuse fresh names from cable shows into the acting categories (Toni Collette for The United States of Tara, Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment), there's Tony Shalhoub again. Like that fly buzzing around the dinner table that can't be completely swatted away, nobody is getting rid of Shalhoub either. Where's Jeffrey Donovan for Burn Notice?
- In 2012, when Boston Legal has been off the air for more than three years, it'll probably still pick up nominations. William Shatner is crossing into Tony Shalhoub territory, but consider it a miracle that James Spader didn't somehow make the cut for a 45th time.
- It's a mainstay in American viewing habits, but American Idol isn't even the best reality-competition program on its own network. So You Think You Can Dance should be inserted in its place on the Emmy ballot, and soon. Nigel Lythgoe left Idol to concentrate on what has become one of the great reality shows on television. As a presenter, Ryan Seacrest can't even warm Cat Deeley up. Her quick wit and engaging personality is a stark contrast to the stilted Seacrest.
While the Emmy Awards are certainly diversifying the ballot, it isn't tempering the questionable calls. For every Flight of the Conchords or Dexter in the best drama series category, there's an absence of Friday Night Lights. For every first-timer like Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory, there's a William Shatner or Sally Field that seem to be selected based on years of service. Carry on with the debates.
 |
