Pleasantly Surprising:
This could pretty easily turn into a laundry list of every single actor I'm glad to see nominated (you saw how involved that whole Dream Ballot deal was), so I'll try to keep this as minimal as possible.
- Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights: Chandler and Britton always seemed like they'd number among the legions of great performers who've never been recognized by the television academy for little-watched roles, so it was wonderful to see them both nominated. (I wonder if NBC electing to re-air this year's season of FNL later in the summer than last year - and therefore during the voting period - contributed to their being acknowledged.
- Mary Kay Place, Big Love: For some reason, Place slipped my mind when I was putting together my ballots, but I'm definitely glad to see that she finally got recognized for her work, even for a lackluster season of Big Love. Adaleen is one of Big Love's greatest characters - Place makes you believe that, given the opportunity, she could run the world but also makes you understand how the patriarchal culture that structures her worldview prevents her from doing so.
- January Jones, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men: Mad Men is moving into the early years of feminism's second wave, and is accordingly giving its female characters some meaty discontent in their story arcs. I'm particularly glad to see Hendricks finally nominated - she's consistently made Joan a vital part of Mad Men's ensemble by demonstrating both her capability and her vulnerability.
- Chris Colfer and Mike O'Malley, Glee: Though it's not necessarily surprising that Glee had as big a nomination haul as it did, it was never a sure thing that actors like Colfer and O'Malley would be recognized. They shone on the show because they were given narratively consistent, emotionally rich material to work with, and hopefully their recognition will prompt the show's writers to do more with the parents of their main characters.
Unpleasantly Surprising/Unsurprising, but with a Negative Take:
- While I'm glad that actors like Colfer and O'Malley got nominations for their performances, I'm also hopeful that the number of nominations given to Glee won't be viewed as an indicator that the show shouldn't strive to be better in its second season. I have a lot of thoughts about this that I'll probably write about later in a separate post, but I'll just say that double-digit nominations should not indicate that the show doesn't have a lot of room for improvement.
- There were a lot of new (or improved) comedy ensembles this year, and I would have liked to see the love spread out a bit more. I was somewhat shocked to see that there wasn't more vote-splitting among the cast of Modern Family - not that I don't like the show, because I do very much, but I'd rather see some love for Community, Parks and Recreation, Cougar Town and United States of Tara. The same goes for The Office and 30 Rock - they've had great seasons in the past, but they were plainly eclipsed by the newer offerings this past season. I didn't expect any category to be completely overhauled, but it would have been nice to see some more new blood.
- No love for any members of the True Blood ensemble? In my opinion, what makes the show worthy of consideration in the Best Drama Series category is the cast. They're extraordinarily committed, bringing grounded performances to material that could easily be played broadly or with a wink towards intentional campiness. Maybe next year one or two supporting players will break through.
- I didn't really expect the Internet campaigns pushing Zach Gilford for a nomination to work, but they got enough press there for a bit that it seemed at least marginally plausible. However, his performance in "The Son" episode of FNL remains strong enough to endure in the imaginations of television lovers even without academy recognition.
- Some year, it will be the year when academy voters clear the cobwebs out of their heads and bring significant changes to the Reality Competition category, acknowledging new shows, concepts and hosts. Some year, but not this year.
Assorted Other Thoughts that are Essentially Neutral:
While the Emmy's are not necessarily known for being up-to-the-minute, they do reflect the zeitgeist a bit, and it's interesting to speculate about what they might indicate about the coming decade in television. Formerly dominant networks have seen somewhat of a wane in their reputations, particularly ABC and HBO. While HBO still garners dozens of nominations, many come from miniseries and documentaries and its original series are not getting the same degree of recognition as the predecessors that established the network's credentials; True Blood, while popular, is not occupying the same strata as The Sopranos, Six Feet Under or Deadwood, and the academy seems to have embraced the increasing critical disdain for Entourage. It'll be interesting to see whether prominent projects in the pipeline - Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Luck, Tilda, Miraculous Year - re-elevate HBO's position, or whether they'll continue losing ground to up-and-comers like AMC. Similarly, ABC's popular one-hour dramas and dramedies seem to have plateaued - Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters didn't get nominations where they seemed like sure things in the past few years and both Lost and Ugly Betty ended. As ABC's big ratings-gatherers begin to reach the point when their stars renegotiate their contracts, the network will likely need to do some soul-searching about their original programming portfolio, particularly as cable continues to gather steam.
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