Thoughts On The 2005 Emmy Nominations

The nominations for the 57th Annual Emmy Awards were announced on Thursday. As always, here are my thoughts on them. I'll post my predictions sometime in September before the awards air.

-Two of the best new shows of last season, Desperate Housewives and Lost, got respect from the voters. They were both too good to be denied.

Desperate Housewives looks to be the new Sex & The City (or Friends) for Emmy voters. Like what the Emmys did for Friends (and for the last season of Sex & The City), multiple actresses were nominated for their leading roles on DH. I guess this is a show that has too many good performances for its own good. I really wish that Eva Longoria, Nicollette Sheridan, and Harriet Sansom Harris (the actress who played Mrs. Huber's sister) could have been nominated.

I'm very happy that Lost got nominated. The Emmys are notorious for ignoring most shows dealing with sci-fi/supernatural themes. I guess the voters didn't consider Lost to be such a show. I like that Naveen Andrews and Terry O'Quinn were nominated. However, I think Matthew Fox should have been nominated as well. Even though Lost is a true ensemble show, Fox's character is the closest to being the center of the show. In my opinion, Fox has put in some very good performances on the show and made me forever forget that he was on Party of Five.

-What is it with Emmy voters and The West Wing? Why does this show, even when it's not at its best, continue to be nominated? Although I'm beyond glad that Lost got nominated, there are other worthy shows that could take The West Wing's seemingly permanent spot. What about The Wire? Or The Shield, a show that has been nominated in the past? What about Rescue Me? Nip/Tuck? Battlestar Galactica (Suuuure...)?

-When will Emmy voters get off their high horse and actually nominate a show from The WB or UPN for a major category? There are actually some very good shows on these small networks. Everwood is probably the best family drama on TV. It takes chances and deals with issues via superb writing and acting. Veronica Mars got the best reviews UPN has seen in years. Gilmore Girls is a great show that actually found itself again last season. Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel have deserved Emmy nominations for years. Reba just might be the most underrated "traditional" sitcom left on TV. One Tree Hill is the best of the "teen" dramas on TV. Each of these shows are Emmy worthy in one form or another. It's sad that even when The WB and UPN put on quality programming, they are still treated like the red-headed stepchilds of television.

-What is it with Emmy voters and The Simpsons? The show was again nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. I love The Simpsons. I still watch every episode when it comes on and I consider it to be one of the best comedy series ever. However, the show is floundering. Frankly, no episode that came on last season deserved to be nominated, including "Future Drama," the episode that was. While the Emmy voters embraced The Simpsons, they completely ignored King Of The Hill. At this point, King Of The Hill is a better written, funnier, and more consistent show than The Simpsons. It's a shame it got shut out.

-I'm happy that Scrubs was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series this year. I only wish that cast members other than Zach Braff could also be recognized for their work.

-How surprised would we be if anyone other than Quentin Tarantino (CSI) or J. J. Abrams (Lost) won for Outstanding Direction For A Drama Series?

-How wrong is it that Halle Berry (nominated for Their Eyes Were Watching God) is competing against S. Epatha Merkerson, the star of Lackawanna Blues (which Halle produced) for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie?

-It's possible that Cloris Leachman could end up with both Guest Actress Emmys for appearances on Malcolm In The Middle and Joan Of Arcadia. I didn't see her on Joan Of Arcadia but she is always brilliant whenever she plays Ida on Malcolm In The Middle.

-I was hoping that Hugh Laurie would get nominated for House and I'm glad he did. I've only watched the show once but I was thoroughly impressed with his performance and the show itself. I'm going to try and record it when it comes on this season.

-And now, the snubs I haven't yet mentioned:

Anthony Anderson from The Shield: The only two things I heard the media talk about when it came to last season of The Shield were Glenn Close's tough performance and Anthony Anderson's surprising dramatic turn. However, the Emmys only decided to nominate one.

Peter Gallagher from The O.C.: Since The O.C. is a teen show (and one whose quality kind of dipped last season), there was no chance in hell for Gallagher to be nominated. I've always enjoyed Gallagher's performance as Sandy Cohen and I bet if he was on a different show, he would've been nominated.

Desperate Housewives Men/Lost Women: I don't know if this really could be considered as snubs but not one man from Desperate Housewives or woman from Lost was nominated. Let's hope the men of DH and the women of Lost get some nice beefed up storylines next season so they can actually be considered for nominations.

Michael Cera from Arrested Development: This young actor somehow finds a way to make George Michael funny, vulnerable, and appealing despite the fact that his character is in love with his cousin.

Bryan Cranston from Malcolm In The Middle: While it seems like Jane Kaczmarek's Lois is an automatic nomination, Cranston's hapless Hal is shut out again. While it can be a bit over-the-top sometimes, I love Cranston's nutty performance. Despite Hal being useless, helpless, and borderline insane, Cranston makes him into the father you almost wish you had.

Conan O'Brien from Late Night With Conan O'Brien and David Letterman from The Late Show: Jay Leno got nominated over both of them? Wow.

Chris Rock from the Academy Awards: Who knew there were repercussions for making fun of Jude Law?

The Office (American version): Yes, it is different from the beloved British version of the show. However, I thought this show was actually quite funny. At the very least, the episode dealing with diversity training deserved a writing nomination (it was one of the completely original episodes). I guess it's hard to judge a remake on its own merits, especially since the original was still so fresh in Emmy voters' minds. They did nominate The Office Special after all.

Adult Swim Shows (except Family Guy): Honestly, an episode of The Venture Bros. is a lot better than the episode of The Simpsons that was nominated. Plus, not one anime series from Adult Swim (or Toonami) has ever been nominated for an Emmy. Given that The Office has been nominated for Emmys, I have to wonder what the rules are for shows that appeared in another country before debuting in America.

CSI/Law & Order: Wow. Apart from some Lead Actress and Guest Actress nominations for Law and Order: SVU, both of these shows/brands/franchises have no major nominations.