The prime-time Emmys are coming Sunday, and to help me sort out the nominees, I called on Jay Bobbin, the hard-working entertainment writer for Zap2It.com and Tribune Media, who has forgotten more about this past television season than I’ll remember.
Let’s start with the actress categories, where we find a traffic jam of talent despite the academy’s failure to nominate critics’ darlings Lauren Graham for “Gilmore Girls” or Kristen Bell for “Veronica Mars.”
On the comedy side, familiar faces like Stockard Channing and Julia Louis-Dreyfus took on new roles. None took more chances than Lisa Kudrow in the short-lived HBO series “The Comeback,” playing an out-of-work actress whose career was about three notches below Kathy Griffin’s.
“I love the fact that people whose shows may not have been the biggest ratings hits can still be recognized for the quality they put into those shows, and Lisa Kudrow is a sterling example of that,” Bobbin says. Still, I’d have to give the edge to Louis-Dreyfus for her less demanding but more popular role in “Old Christine.”
Supporting-actor and -actress categories aren’t always worth noting, but Alfre Woodard’s nomination for “Desperate Housewives” is, and not just because Woodard would seem to be the last person you’d give a comedy Emmy to. She is also the only actress in the running this year from “Housewives,” an indication of how far that show has fallen off Hollywood’s radar in one short year. (Bobbin thinks she won’t win, because “Jaime Pressly has gotten a lot of attention for her work on ‘My Name Is Earl.’ ”
On the drama side, how does Kyra Sedgwick not win for “The Closer”? Bobbin agrees, though he does salute the Emmy voters for nominating Geena Davis, who soldiered admirably through a behind-the-scenes meltdown on “Commander in Chief.”
And then there’s the weirdest nomination of the year: Ellen Burstyn, who appears for all of 14 seconds in HBO’s “Mrs. Harris,” for best supporting actress in a movie or miniseries. It’s too bad, because including Burstyn — a talented actress with an even more talented manager — puts a damper on what should be a well-deserved win for Kelly Macdonald in HBO’s “The Girl in the Café.”
So how did this happen? Bobbin says voters have been partial over the years to distinguished actors taking roles on television. (Burstyn herself played Jean Harris in a made-for-TV docudrama in the 1980s.)
On the guys’ side of the ledger, while Tony Shalhoub has won twice for best comedy actor as itchy detective Adrian Monk, the clear favorite this year is Steve Carell for NBC’s “The Office.”
Bobbin agrees: “I think this is Steve Carell’s to lose. He has nailed that character under difficult circumstances,” that is, trying to make critics and fans forget that Ricky Gervais defined that same part in the original British version.
“Well, with all due respect, I think Kiefer Sutherland — if I were his physician I’d give him the Emmy,” says Bobbin about the much-abused star of Fox’s action thriller “24,” who’s nominated again but has yet to win. “He’s done yeoman work in so many ways on that show.”
And speaking of omissions: “It’s a travesty that Hugh Laurie did not get nominated,” Bobbin says. “I mean, ‘House’ got nominated for outstanding drama series. Well, who’s House?” Hear, hear.
The highest-profile contests of the night may have the most buzz, yet oddly, the least suspense around them. “The Office” and “Grey’s Anatomy” are favorites to win best comedy and best drama, simply because they are seen as the hottest shows in their genre. (My vote for best comedy is hype-proof: CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” is consistently great.)
Bobbin sees “Grey’s Anatomy” winning for the same reason “Ally McBeal” won the Emmy a few years back: “It just seems like the perfect storm for it to win. Creatively, it’s excellent. It’s been a hit for the network. And it’s one of the most talked about shows.”
The Emmys are so last season — what will be the good shows this season? Find out Sept. 6 when The Star’s TV critic, Aaron Barnhart, previews his favorite new shows at Screenland Theatre. To enter the ticket giveaway, go to KansasCity.com, click on Entertainment and look for “Watch the Pilots With Aaron.”
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