Blogulator Radio 70 - "Damian Lewis's Face"

Click here to find out why Amy Poehler and Julia Louis-
Dreyfus are awesome. Also, why Damian Lewis's face is important.

Chris and Jerksica semi-reluctantly watched the Emmys this week, along with the rest of the TV-loving world. And also like the rest of the TV-loving world, they have some opinions about it. They discuss the competency of the broadcast itself, some un-televised awards they care about because they're nerds (Best Main Title Theme or Best Main Title Design anyone?), and you know, who won (yay for Homeland! boo for Modern Family!) and who got snubbed (sob! sob! for Parks & Recreation and Community!). It's what you've come to expect from an awards round-up netcast, but with at least 70% more talk about Damian Lewis's large and discomforting face.

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Quick Hits: The 64th Annual Emmys / Feeling Shamed That We Are "Only TV" And Not Movies Awards

The Emmys were last night! It was a glorious night to celebrate all that is right with television. Like Jon Cryer of television's most beloved comedy, Two and a Half Men. Also, such megastars of film who were gracious enough to slum it on television, like Julianne Moore of HBO's Game Change and Kevin Costner of Hatfield & McCoys miniseries, which is also a genre of television that is universally beloved.

Seriously, though, I don't get why the Emmys spend so much friggin' time on miniseries and movies these days, especially considering other nominees like American Horror Story, Sherlock Holmes, and Luther are only nominated in that category on account of making it in by squeezing said series into that category due to rule technicalities. (Even though other series that could have made it in on the rule technicalities and had a legitimate reason to do so, like Luck from HBO, were not even nominated.)

Anyway, here were some other thoughts of mine on the television industry's annual reminder that people in the industry shouldn't judge shows in the industry (unless they are in agreement with me, of course!) Chris and Jerksica will have a lot more tomorrow in netcast form, but here are my written thoughts.

(HOMELAND SPOILERS AHEAD. CAUTION.)

• Wow, I'm remarkably pleased with Claire Danes and Damian Lewis sweeping the acting categories. Danes was a shoe-in, but Lewis' was much more nuanced and thus, I felt like he had less of a chance to pick up the acting. But we all know that when the Emmys decide something, they're gonna probably decide it for a long time.
• That said, although the more I think about Homeland's first season being something of a perfect season of television, the more I wish it were set up as a one-season show. For one: the actual perfect ending to season one clearly would have been Tom Walker shooting Brody in the alley. Bam, terrorists still win the day in the end, Carrie Matheson still solves the terrorist quagmire (but still gets her memory wiped out, y'know, cuz of the patriarchy), we win but, ultimately, we lose. Instead, because of Showtime's record of running their valuable properties to the ground (a la Dexter and Weeds), we have no reason not to believe that this series peaked in its first season and, four more years down the road, will still be trotting Danes and Lewis out for a fifth season where they both keep Narrowly Avoiding Big Things Happening. I want to be optimistic about what happens creatively on this show in the future, but I just don't know.
• Haha, suck it, Mad Men! 0 for 17! 
• I'm so glad I didn't actually watch the Emmys live until the end, because man, Jimmy Kimmel is not a funny guy.
• Oh yeah, Modern Family won again. It's starting to approach Frasier territory in terms of predictability of winning series awards, except that Frasier was a lot funnier. Modern Family is fine, though, and it could be worse, I guess. Even though, like our friend Carrie Raisler pointed out last night, I could name a lot of shows off the top of my head that are better comedies than Modern Family. (Girls, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Archer, Louie, Parks & Recreation, Community, 30 Rock, Awkward, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, etc.)
• Gigolos was not nominated for a single Emmy. Now, that is a real shame.

Emmy Nominations: Snubs and (Non)Flubs

Chris posted yesterday about his Own Personal Emmys, and while I can get behind most of what he would have nominated, I deal in reality. (The difference, I guess, in being an English Teacher vs. being an Accountant.) Therefore, below are the actual nominations for the 2012 Emmys, along with a little bit of commentary by me.

Drama:
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Homeland (Showtime)
Mad Men (AMC)

No "traditional" broadcast dramas, three pay cable dramas, two standard cable drams. The shift into cable seems to be complete. I feel like Boardwalk Empire is weirdly underrated, even though it always seems to get a slew of nominations for things. So glad that Homeland replaces Dexter as the Showtime nomination. I can't really argue with any of these being nominated (though I wish the dearly departed Luck or the is-it-a-drama-or-a-comedy Enlightened would have gotten some love, too.)
Who should win: I'm a sucker for  what's new-and-fresh, so I would vote Homeland.
Who will win: Mad Men.


Actress in a Drama Series:
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law (NBC)
Glenn Close, Damages (Audience Network)
Claire Danes, Homeland (Showtime)
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)

LOLZ at Kathy Bates for Harry's Law. You just can't help yourselves, can you, Emmy voters? Glenn Close also fits in the "movie actor gravitating to television" type of nomination (though her interplay with Rose Byrne is the one and only reason to watch Damages anymore.) Can't really argue with the rest of them. Some year, Lorraine Bracco will finally win in her title role for Emmy Justice. (Hat tip to the TV on the Internet podcast.)
Who should win: Claire Danes is so fantastic in Homeland in so many ways that she is clearly deserving, probably even moreso than my vote for the series itself above.
Who will win: Danes, because Homeland won't get the series, but it's gotten enough nominations that it needs to get something. Plus, the Emmys will be praised for voting for someone new, even though Claire Danes actually isn't really new.

Actor in a Drama Series
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Damian Lewis, Homeland (Showtime)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

*Sigh*...Michael C. Hall. You don't always have to nominate him when the show has gone down the tubes, Emmys. This is a pretty stacked category now, though, especially with Damian Lewis joining the fold. I'm sure there are lots of snubs here (Timothy Olyphant, for example...) but meh.
Who should win: Jon Hamm is always great on Mad Men, though he never wins because he's often more subtle than his nomination peers. But this should be the year he wins, since he got to do some stuff where he was all crazy-like.
Who will win: My gut says Cranston, but my heart says Hamm.

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)

I love how this category is "AMC stars versus Downton Abbey versus The Good Wife." So little diversity in the nominations. I'm kind of disappointed that none of the other Game of Thrones actresses got a nomination; Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and Michelle Fairley were all tremendous in season two. But, these are all picks I can't really argue with at all.
Who should win: I'd always go with Anna Gunn, because her character has gotten so much more complex as Breaking Bad has gone on and Gunn has captured all of that tremendously.
Who will win: Thrice-nominated never-won Christina Hendricks has a chance, especially given the Joan-centric episode I would surmise she was submitted for ("The Other Woman"), but here's where Downton Abbey will break through. Give it to the dramatic version of Betty White, Maggie Smith.

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey (PBS)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
Jared Harris, Mad Men (AMC)

I looove Giancarlo Esposito's nomination here -- a very pleasant surprise. And again, it's basically "AMC vs. Downton Abbey vs. Something Else" -- in this case, the very worth Peter Dinklage is the Something Else. A big snub: Mandy Patinkin for Homeland.
Who should win: As awesome as Esposito was as Gus in season four, Aaron Paul just completely owns Breaking Bad and is every bit an equal to Bryan Cranston. A constantly impressive body of work, which slightly edges Dinklage's scene stealing in Game of Thrones.
Who will win: Tough call, but I predict Dinklage gets the back-to-back Emmys.

Comedy Series:
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Girls (HBO)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Veep (HBO)

This is another example of Emmy voters not knowing when to stop giving a series nominations once it gets in the game. 30 Rock is still a worthwhile show, but it is far surpassed by shows on its own network like Parks and Recreation and Community. Also: Modern Family and Big Bang. (Brigitte gets mad at me when I point out how Modern Family really should be a multi-cam sitcom.)  And no Louie nomination. Sad. But hey! Girls! That's exciting! And Veep! Surprising, but also exciting!
Who should win: Louie, or Parks and Recreation, or Community, but none of them are nominated. So, Girls, the next best thing. Although, the invention of the Car Periscope could be enough to convince me to give the award to Curb. I seriously needed one when I was stuck in traffic yesterday. (And now as it turns out, it was actually invented on Seinfeld. Good reference, Larry David.)
Who will win: Modern Family. Remember the thing about not knowing when to stop giving series nominations? Same applies to series victories.

Actress in a Comedy Series:
Lena Dunham, Girls (HBO)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl (Fox)
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (HBO)

Lena Dunham! So great in Girls! Ah! Swoon! Really, all of these actresses are tremendous, so I'm pleased for all of them. The bits of Nurse Jackie I have sampled recently leave me feeling good about Ms. Falco, although she's not really comedic at all in the show (nor, is the show at all comedic. Half hour does not always mean comedy, Emmy voters / networks that submit themselves to those categories.)
Who should win: Amy Poehler, because she is the ray of bright sunshine in an already very sunny show.
Who will win: This seems like a tough one to predict, but I'll go with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, because the Emmys are a club like that.

Actor in a Comedy Series:
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Don Cheadle, House of Lies (Showtime)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men (CBS)

Ay-yay-yay, Jon Cryer? To be nice, I'm assuming this is a "we feel bad for you having to work with Charlie Sheen" sympathy nomination. I mean, he's not the reason Two And A Half Men is what it is, but, geeze. I actually enjoy Jim Parsons in Big Bang, which probably doesn't make me the most popular Blogulator member, but popularity be damned! Don Cheadle = rewarding movie actors who make it in television (is House of Lies any good, anybody? It got pretty mixed reviews.)
Who should win: In terms of acting, I don't really think Larry David or Louis C.K. are tremendous actors in the traditional sense, but they are both indispensable to each of their shows. I'll give the edge to Louis C.K. since he has much more range than David.
Who will win: Probably Parsons, again.

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Oof, this is a bit of a rough category. For one, I don't understand why Saturday Night Live keeps getting nominations -- did NBC just recently figure out they could submit actors here? I'm a little tired of Modern Family's schtick, but the actors are all good at what they do. So, yeah.
Who should win: Probably Martha Plimpton for Raising Hope but she's not nominated. So, between Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergera, I go with Bowen.
Who will win: Probably Vergera.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (ABC)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (ABC)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Max Greenfield, New Girl (ABC)
Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Again, the Modern Family awards, everybody! The biggest snub of all is not including Nick Offerman for Parks And Recreation. This might be the biggest snub that I can think of this year.
Who should win: If we're assuming someone from Family will win, then I'd give it to Eric Stonestreet, who is my favorite part of the show. Ty Burrell used to be until his character became a more cartooney version of Michael Scott.
Who will win: Burrell.

Writing for a Comedy Series:
"Pregnant", Louie (FX), written by Louis C.K.
"Pilot", Girls (HBO), written by Lena Dunham
"The Debate", Parks And Recreation (NBC), written by Amy Poehler
"Win, Lose, or Draw", Parks and Recreation (NBC), written by Michael Schur
"Remedial Chaos Theory", Community (NBC), written by Chris McKenna

Hooray for writing nominations for all the shows that actually should have been nominated for Comedy Series! I'm looking at you, Louie, Parks and Community.
Who should win: As far as individual writing awards go, "Remedial Chaos Theory" is one of the best-written scripts of the year, so I'd give it to that, even if I think the overall writing for the entire season of Girls is probably my favorite.
Who will win: This might be the Girls category that wins, so I predict Dunham will walk away with the trophy.

Writing for a Drama Series:
"Episode 7", Downton Abbey (PBS), written by Julian Fellowes
"The Other Woman", Mad Men (AMC), written by Matthew Weiner
"Commissions and Fees", Mad Men (AMC), written by Maria Jacquemetton & Andre Jacquemetton
"Far Away Places", Mad Men (AMC), written by Matthew Weiner
"Pilot", Homeland (Showtime), written by Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa & Gideon Raff

Ladies and gentlemen, the Mad Men awards! Again, I think it's weird that you can have one show get nominated more than once for writing, but I guess that's the rule.
Who should win: That pilot for Homeland was one of the best pilots I've seen in a long time, and since the better episode "The Weekend" wasn't nominated, I'll give it to "Pilot".
Who will win: Probably "Far Away Places" so Matthew Weiner gets his annual Emmy for writing, and because it was a season finale (something-something Matthew Weiner writes circles around everybody else.)

Other Snubs and (Non)Flubs

• Nothing for Archer. Boo. But yay for Bob's Burgers making it over Family Guy.
• Nothing for Treme or Enlightened or Luck. Boo.
• Community and Parks And Recreation don't get series nods but get the acting and writing nods. Very Oscar-like giving the consolation-type nominations to shows that aren't as popular as the others.
• No The Vampire Diaries! I mean, not that I was expecting anything, but still. There should be a "Most Holy Crap! Moments In A Drama Series" category next year, cuz it would clean house.
• Obviously there are a million other categories that I did not discuss here. 
• All in all, this is a pretty decent list of nominations.

My Own Personal Emmys

The Emmy nominations will be announced a quarter past the first cock crow tomorrow morning by Nick Offerman (NBC's Parks & Recreation) and Kerry Washington (ABC's Scandal). I have not always been as excited about the Emmys as I am about, say, the Academy Awards, but with The Blogulator recently becoming a TV-only blog, I feel I must align my obsession accordingly. Thus, like I do every year with Sir Oscar, I'd like to share what the Emmy nods (and only the categories that I care about) might look like if I were in charge. Probably not that different from any TV critic with half of a brain, but still, fantasy is fun. Let me know if you'd swap out any of the following in the comments. If anything, this will be at least fun for me to compare to who actually gets nominated come the morrow.

Best Comedy

Community (NBC)

Happy Endings (ABC)

Parks & Recreation (NBC)

Louie (FX)

Cougar Town (ABC)

Girls (HBO)

Best Drama

Breaking Bad (AMC)

Mad Men (AMC)

Enlightened* (HBO)

Game of Thrones (HBO)

Justified (FX)

Homeland (Showtime)

*Yes, it's a half hour show, but it's more drama than comedy dammit and this is my fantasy!

Best Actress in a Comedy

Amy Poehler in Parks & Recreation

Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep

Courteney Cox in Cougar Town

Lena Dunham in Girls

Martha Plimpton in Raising Hope

Tina Fey in 30 Rock

Best Actress in a Drama

Claire Danes in Homeland

Elisabeth Moss in Mad Men

Laura Dern in Enlightened

Jessica Paré  in Mad Men

Lena Headey in Game of Thrones*

Emily Van Camp in Revenge

*Not sure if she submitted in supporting or lead, but I think she was the lead actress of the show this season, just like Peter Dinklage became the lead actor. Tricky with ensembles but this way it spreads the love.

Best Actor in a Comedy

Louis C.K. in Louie

Garrett Dillahunt in Raising Hope

Zachary Knighton in Happy Endings*

Adam Scott in Parks & Recreation

Joel McHale in Community

Steve Dildarian in The Life & Times of Tim

*Once again, not sure if he submitted for lead (or at all), but Dave is the hapless center of Happy Endings even if it is an ensemble in the truest sense of the word. Therefore my fictional wish vote counts.

Best Actor in a Drama

Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad

Jon Hamm in Mad Men

Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones*

Timothy Olyphant in Justified

Damian Lewis in Homeland

Noah Wyle in Falling Skies

*See Lena Headey's asterisk above.

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Casey Wilson in Happy Endings

Gillian Jacobs in Community

Eliza Coupe in Happy Endings

Allison Brie in Community

Allison Williams in Girls

Christa Miller in Cougar Town

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama

Christina Hendricks in Mad Men

Maisie Williams in Game of Thrones

Mae Whitman in Parenthood

Diane Ladd in Enlightened

Anna Gunn in Breaking Bad

Kiernan Shipka in Mad Men

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Danny Pudi in Community

Nick Offerman in Parks & Recreation

Donald Glover in Community

Chris Pratt in Parks & Recreation

Jim Rash in Community

Adam Pally in Happy Endings

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama

Giancarlo Esposito in Breaking Bad

Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad

Jonathan Banks in Breaking Bad

Walton Goggins in Justified

Neal McDonough in Justified

Dean Norris in Breaking Bad

Best Writing for a Comedy

Dan Harmon & Chris McKenna for "Remedial Chaos Theory" (Community)

Dan Harmon & Matt Warburton for "Digital Estate Planning" (Community)

David Caspe, Lon Zimmet, & Dan Rubin for "Part of Six" (Happy Endings)

Bill Lawrence & Kevin Biegel for "My Life/Your World: Part 1" (Cougar Town)

Louis C.K. for "Duckling" (Louie)

Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, & Amy Poehler for "The Debate" (Parks & Recreation)

Best Writing for a Drama

Vince Gilligan for "Face Off" (Breaking Bad)

Matthew Weiner & Semi Challas for "Far Away Places" (Mad Men)

Graham Yost & Fred Golan for "Slaughterhouse" (Justified)

George R.R. Martin for "Blackwater" (Game of Thrones)

Mike White for "Consider Helen" (Enlightened)

Matthew Weiner & Victor Levin for "Mystery Date" (Mad Men)