July 06, 2006

Emmy nominations

Let's discuss the Emmy nominations for a moment, shall we? (In other words, let's discuss how ONLY the shows I watch and like should win.)

The Amazing Race was nominated for a whole bunch of things, including Outstanding Reality Show - Competition, which it should totally win. Look at the competition: American Idol (fun to watch, yes - outstanding, no), Dancing With the Stars (please), Project Runway (great show - nowhere NEAR the quality of TAR), and Survivor (yawn - so bored with that). At the very least, I hope this nomination secures many more seasons of TAR with CBS, because it truly is the greatest show on television. Ever.

In the category of Outstanding Reality Show, two of my favorites - The Dog Whisperer and Penn & Teller: Bullshit - are nominated. As much as I adore Cesar, I've got to go with Penn & Teller, because it is the funniest "smart show," along with South Park (which was also nominated for 'Trapped in the Closet' - take that, Tom Cruise!). I fear that they will lose to the tear-jerking Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Blah.

For Outstanding Drama, it's got to be The Sopranos, just because - it's The Sopranos, but House is a close second. 24 will probably win.

If Curb Your Enthusiasm wins Outstanding Drama, I'll barf. I love The Office to bits, but nothing, nothing is funnier than Arrested Development. Plus it would be a total slap in the face to everyone involved in cancelling that brilliant show before it had a chance to TRY to jump the shark.

All the supporting actor/actress nominations...blah blah blah...whatever. Jaime Pressly, who rules, will probably lose and Will Arnett won't win, either, so I don't care about these categories. I'm especially bitter that both John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson were overlooked in the supporting actor in a comedy category. That's just total b.s.

How does Kevin James even GET nominated for lead actor in a comedy series? What, did he take over where Ray Romano left off? I'm so bored with family sitcoms - unless the family is totally dysfunctional or animated. I'm just SO GLAD to see the annoying Desperate Housewives off the lists! And, um, The West Wing is STILL ON? Who knew? Go Steve Carell!

Anyone else care to weigh in with their votes?

Dude. You picked P&T over The Dog Whisperer? I like P&T, and I think they're funny, but "Bullshit" is about as informative as a segment on 20/20 featuring John Stossel. Cesar, on the other hand, is giving information that will help millions of families. No contest, to me.

Hell, did you see the South Park episode featuring Cesar? They didn't even make fun of him! When you've got Trey and Matt showing you respect like that, then you're doing something right.

As far as the rest of the Emmys, I really don't care. I feel like I should, but nah.

Why did Kevin James get nominated? Hello! Fat guy shirking all responsibilities and screwing evreything up. You know we're funny.

Ok, I have no idea why he was nominated.

I could never get into Arrested Development. I felt about it the way I feel about Wes Anderson movies. Everyone says I should like them, so I watch and I try to like them. I really do, but it just doesn't work for me.

No Lost? So wrong...so wrong.

For Reality Show-Competition, I'm for Skating with Celebrities. It may not be nominated, but anytime B-listers can smack their faces on the ice, I'm for it.

I loathe Extreme Makeover-Home Edition. (1) It's horrifyingly exploitative crap. (2) Ty Pennington is one of the 5 most annoying humans ever to have walked the face of the Earth.

I have to defend the family sitcom. It's not that there is anything wrong with the format or that the family needs to be dysfunctional and/or animated. I look at it in a similar way to my thoughts on milk chocolate. I love chocolate, but I had convinced myself that I didn't like milk chocolate. Then I realized, it isn't that milk chocolate is bad, it's just that there are so many truly awful varieties out there that it's hard to find the good ones. There can be good family sitcoms, but the market gets flooded with the cheap imitation versions and so the whole concept gets lost. (Ok, so maybe that wasn't the best or most vegan friendly analogy, but you get the point...and realize that I can relate 90% or more of life to chocolate in some way.)

Desperate Housewives is a nice concept (don't like the show, but a nice idea for a show), but the concept is done so much better on Weeds.

And that's why I love The Family Guy!

Right, it's like there are so many varieties and imitations that eventually they all end up sucking. Although sucking is a relative term depending on your sense of humor and taste in shows. There are enough people out there disagreeing with me about Arrested Development - the show was cancelled - and yet Everybody Loves Raymond went on for what seems like eons. So yeah...suckage is all relative.

I have not seen Weeds. Tony will attest that if I have even the slightest aversion to a celebrity, I will refuse to watch anything they are in, and I will also flick their picture when thumbing through tabloid magazines. He will often wait to turn a page in order to give me ample time to deliver my obligatory flick. In the case of weeds - Mary Louise Parker.

Flick.

(Also, you must know that when I develop a celebrity aversion, there is no explanation. The aversion just IS. Tony tries and tries to understand, like when my eyes shoot fire and venom spews from under my tongue from glimpsing a picture of Jennifer Love Hewitt, but no words can express the hate. It just is.)

Um, Family Guy is everything that has ever been wrong with television ever since the beginning of television time (which really is the beginning of ALL time). The jokes - hilarious. Really. But that's all they are. I'm not saying that a show featuring a cartoon man with a chin that looks like a scrotum should spend a lot of time massaging my cerebellum (wrap your head around THAT one!), but, on occasion, a plot is nice. Also, work that joke IN. Build an episode around it. Don't just wedge it in there after a dog saying "Isn't that like the time Peter (insert ridiculous phrase here)?"

I am sooooo out of the loop on TV. I can't wait to graduate so I can veg more! I haven't seen the noms in full detail yet. Nothing for LOST? I nominate Sawyer for best scowl and Kate for cutest freckles in a dramatic series.

But, why will you barf if Curb Your Enthusiasm wins? Do you not heart that show? =(

I can't heart it. I've tried, and I can't. I don't know why because I loved Seinfeld! LOVED IT! (although I hate Jerry Seinfeld as a comedian...)

OMG, I totally forgot about LOST! WTF! I call shenanigans!

You know I'm with you in thinking that TAR is God's gift to TV, but I wouldn't mind seeing Project Runway win this year. TAR loses points for the poorly conceived family edition and the idiotic Da Vinci Code product placement, while Runway gains big points for Andre, Santino, and Tim Gunn.

No nomination for Donald Faison? Nothing for that Henry Gale guy? Kiss my ass!

I do think the family edition is going to lose points with voters - at the very least I hope the editors and camerapeople get some recognition.

And yeah! Henry Gale TOTALLY deserved a nod! Ass kissing all around!

Um, Kevin James gets nominated because that show is the most underrated half-hour on TV. Every time I see it, I cry with laughter, and Jamie and I have completely co-opted his delivery of the word "AWK-Ward!" into our daily lexicon.

I agree that TAR should win, having seen all of the shows nominated. However, Project Runway may benefit from being original and new.

Regarding all other TV-dom, quite frankly, your mold post is more interesting to me than sit-com and serial drama television of this past season.

Without Friends, M*A*S*H, Seinfeld (the early years), or Cheers - watching TV just hasn't been the same.

Hee! Thanks!

And that's why I thank the stars every day for TV shows on DVD. It makes me happy to know that when there's nothing worth watching on cable or network television, I can always pop in an episode of The Electric Company or Doogie Howser. Yay for technology!