Thoughts on...the Emmy Nominations

So now we get into the actual nominations. (If you do go to that page, I recommend looking at the statistical breakdowns they have there - they give an interesting sense of how this year's nominees fit into bigger trends in the awards over time.)

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.

Trailer Thoughts

That Scala/Kolacny Brothers cover of "Creep" is so haunting, it was bound to show up in a trailer one of these days, and it's used to pretty great effect here. I'm really intrigued by this movie - Fincher is one of those weird holes in my film viewing (I'm pretty sure that they'll take my Millenial card away if I don't see Fight Club before I turn 25.) I'd like to think that I have enough perspective to acknowledge the appeal of generational navel-gazing; I was a freshman in college in 2004, which means this fall will mark six(!) years of being a Facebook member. I think the rapid pace of change on the Internet and the relative novelty of social networking there means that it makes sense to dramatize the story while it still feels important, whether history bears out that reading or not. (In the interest of candor, I'll also say that I'm pretty sure I'm obligated to find an above-average degree of schadenfreude in a story about Harvard students being assholes to each other.)

Admittedly, I'm most curious about Aaron Sorkin's screenplay. He has a lot of strengths, but being Down with The Kids These Days is not really known to be one of them, and in the past he's seemed to take somewhat of a dim view of the culture spawned by the Internet (notoriously getting into it with commenters on Television Without Pity back in the day). It'll be interesting to see whether the stylistic touches that make his writing so distinctive translate to a story involving real people instead of characters of his own creation.

Mood...Clip?

I know a lot of people don't like her work, or find her overly quippy or whatever, but I really like Diablo Cody. I can only hope that if I ever wrote anything that got even a little bit of attention that I could be as sanguine as she is about negative press.

Thoughts on the Emmy nominations are forthcoming - I've just had to organize my thoughts a bit. I'm also contemplating starting a sort of weekly TV thoughts post. It's really my most-consumed medium, and I'd like to do some commentary that's more in real-time, as opposed to the more retrospective tack that I normally take.

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Best Comedy

Chuck

Community

Glee

Modern Family

Parks and Recreation

United States of Tara

Somehow, it feels like a show that was rescued in part by people eating sandwiches shouldn't be this good. Chuck's writers seem to keep daring themselves to ratchet up the show's stakes, and then keep hitting their mark. Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak have never let something as negligible as potentially impending cancellation stop them from going totally balls-out on their show, and the audience benefits every step of the way. I also feel obliged to commend the show for deciding to stop pussyfooting around their Unresolved Sexual Tension and moving on - it should serve as an example to shows with similar dynamics at play.

While Modern Family and Parks & Rec also have great ensembles, I think Community has the clearest sense of how each cast member functions as a part of the whole and thus does the best job of mixing and matching pairings in different storylines. They also showed an admirable degree of flexibility in acknowledging that Joel McHale and Gillian Jacobs' chemistry wasn't exactly setting the screen on fire and turning that around to use it to their advantage. While Community often goes above and beyond in the name of pop culture homage, it somehow never feels too absurd to be real.

In future seasons, I won't let Glee skate on its relative novelty, but it presented something so dramatically different from everything else on TV that I couldn't leave it off of the list. It was frequently uneven, but the moments where everything clicked - when narrative threads were followed from episode to episode, when the episode's theme wasn't too strained, when a performance spoke to a deeper emotional truth - were transcendent.

Conversely, Modern Family succeeds primarily because it's so familiar - the family-focused sitcom is nothing new, but ModFam manages to introduce freshness into the form while retaining a bit of old-school sentimentality. The show's writers have a firm command of how relatives approach one another and interact with varying degrees of love and frustration in both nuclear and extended families. It is how they exploit those relationships that makes Modern Family unique among the comedies of the 09-10 season.

Parks and Recreation truly distinguished itself from The Office and gained a sense of focus in its second season, introducing us to more of Pawnee's citizens and government employees and developing and deepening the show's universe. Changing Leslie from a more Michael Scott-esque clueless character to more of an idealist fighting from within a cynical bureaucracy both clarified the show's path and enabled the rest of the cast to up their game and give more definition to their characters, all to great effect.

United States of Tara has been good from its onset, but its second season saw its writers doing what truly great writing staffs do - taking a buzzy concept and mining it for all its emotional potential. They could have rested on Toni Collette's amazing lead performance and let Tara's identities remain gimmicky, but instead ditched the explicit costuming of the first season and focused on the underlying interpersonal relationships. John Corbett, Rosemarie DeWitt and Keir Gilchrist all delivered great supporting performances that took Tara deeper and made a good show great.

Honorable Mentions: 10 Things I Hate About You, Cougar Town, Nurse Jackie, Party Down

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Best Drama

Damages

Friday Night Lights

Grey's Anatomy

Lost

Mad Men

True Blood

Damages because of its beautifully labyrinthine plotting. Because of the way it wove all three seasons together in one dense package. Because it was willing to sacrifice Tom Shayes. Because after the gloriously mercenary Tobins, Law & Order's version of "ripped from the headlines" will always feel a little toothless from now on.

Friday Night Lights because it strives to do things that are new and different where other high school shows will stay complacent. Because it neither abandons its older characters nor neglects the new. Because its universe is fully lived-in, down through the landscape. Because "The Son" will stand as one of television's great meditations on grief.

Grey's Anatomy because it had its best, most consistently good season since Season Two. Because it established an ensemble that, if necessary, can now survive the departure of original cast members. Because its finale was one of the most riveting, emotionally harrowing two hours of the 09-10 season.

Lost because it never stopped being frustrating and mysterious in the most wonderful way. Because it took a few steps back to shower love on its characters, all the way up to "The End." Because I'm so looking forward to watching it again.

Mad Men because of the way its slow-burn plotting showcased its characters at their best and (more frequently) their worst. Because its writers aren't afraid to see anyone at rock bottom. Because of "The Gypsy and the Hobo" and "The Grown-Ups" and "Shut the Door. Have a Seat." Because, at the end of the day, it's the show that will give you a man getting maimed by a riding lawnmower.

True Blood because of the way it glories in all the possibilities of its genre. Because it exemplifies the potential for episodic television as an adaptive medium. Because it has the most fearless, committed ensemble cast on television. Because it never stops aiming for new, different and increasingly twisted ways to blow the audience's mind.

Honorable Mentions: Caprica, Dollhouse, Parenthood, Treme

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Lead Actress in a Drama

Connie Britton, "Tami Taylor," Friday Night Lights

Glenn Close, "Patty Hewes," Damages

Lauren Graham, "Sarah Braverman," Parenthood

January Jones, "Betty Draper," Mad Men

Anna Paquin, "Sookie Stackhouse," True Blood

Jeanne Tripplehorn, "Barb Henrickson," Big Love

Britton is always excellent, but this year she was given great material with both the school-redistricting storyline and Tami's ongoing preparation for Julie's departure for college. Close continued to make Patty Hewes one of cable's most dynamic, fearsome characters. Graham fully stepped up to the dual task of replacing Maura Tierney and shedding her established persona from Gilmore Girls, and in turn delivered a heartfelt, vulnerable performance that helped to save Parenthood from network-drama mediocrity. I don't think either Jones or Paquin get enough credit for their roles within their respective ensembles. Whether Jones is Big-A Acting or not, her performance is an essential part of Mad Men's representation of femininity and gendered expectations. The show wouldn't be what it is without those moments where Betty's suburban ennui suddenly feels like barely contained rage. Paquin's Sookie represents a still point among True Blood's over-the-top craziness, but makes you believe somehow that fighting for a sense of normalcy in a world gone mad is a totally viable course of action. In looking over the nomination ballots, I was surprised at what a positive impression I retained of the performances in Big Love's fourth season, even though I remain dismayed at the plotting. No one can radiate quiet doubt quite like Tripplehorn, and she makes me root for Barb over and over again, even though she keeps sticking by that idiot.

Honorable Mentions: Emily Deschanel, Bones; Melissa Leo, Treme

Rendered moot since originally written last month, but for the record I wouldn't [have been] surprised to see: Sally Field, Brothers and Sisters; Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer; Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife; Mariska Hargitay, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; Holly Hunter, Saving Grace; Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Lead Actor in a Drama

Because I'm nothing if not an over-committed completist.

Kyle Chandler, "Eric Taylor," Friday Night Lights

Matthew Fox, "Dr. Jack Shephard," Lost

Jon Hamm, "Don Draper," Mad Men

Peter Krause, "Adam Braverman," Parenthood

Stephen Moyer, "Bill Compton," True Blood

Clarke Peters, "Albert Lambreaux," Treme

Chandler is a big factor in why FNL stays as good as it is - he made the school transfer storyline work, which in turn made the show's narrative leap feel effortless. I've always been a bigger Jack fan than it seemed was the critical consensus, but Fox really stepped it up in Lost's final episodes. In times when it could have felt like the show was spinning its wheels (or even when the show clearly was spinning its wheels), Fox made the show feel instead like it was being propelled forward in communicating Jack's sense of purpose and drive. It feels rote to keep praising Hamm for his work, but his performance somehow keeps finding new shades and tones. You can believe that Don Draper is the quintessential ad man, because Hamm is so good at showing the different personal facades he creates for all the different people in his life. Krause is a big reason why Parenthood doesn't veer off into being maudlin anywhere near as often as it could, particularly in the Asperger's storyline. It's easy for tragic vampire brooding to become seriously overwrought, but Moyer manages to sell Bill's conflicted feelings about his existence while hinting at hidden depths and potentially unsavory agendas. Peters' performance gave Treme a necessary gravitas, representing the grim determination that resides within those who refused to abandon New Orleans even when it was clearly the much more difficult option.

Honorable Mentions: Eric Stoltz, Caprica; Wendell Pierce, Steve Zahn, Treme

Rendered moot since originally written last month, but for the record I wouldn't [have been] surprised to see: Kiefer Sutherland, 24; Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Hugh Laurie, House; Simon Baker, The Mentalist

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Lead Actress in a Comedy

Toni Collette, "Tara Gregson," United States of Tara

Courteney Cox, "Jules Cobb," Cougar Town

Edie Falco, "Jackie Payton," Nurse Jackie

America Ferrera, "Betty Suarez," Ugly Betty

Lea Michele, "Rachel Berry," Glee

Amy Poehler, "Leslie Knope," Parks and Recreation

Collette is a big factor in Tara stepping its game up in its second season by A) making Tara herself a more distinctive character and B) effortlessly transitioning from personality to personality without the crutch of distinctive costuming. Cougar Town made a major thematic shift mid-season that rescued it from "lame attempt to capitalize on the zeitgeist" status, and Cox's flexibility in her role helped greatly in making such a shift both possible and successful. Jackie works as a character (and, thus, Jackie works as a show) because of Falco's natural charisma - you still like her even when she's being a terrible person, which in turn makes her ability to hide the extent of her addiction from friends and family believable. Ferrera got somewhat left out of the discussion after Betty's first buzzy season - she deserves credit, however, for bringing her character fully into adulthood for the show's finale. Michele's role is too big to be ignored; her star quality rescues Rachel from "too annoying" territory, but she isn't afraid to come right up to that territory's edges when the show needs it. Parks & Rec really defined itself as a wholly separate entity from The Office this season, and Poehler is a major reason why. She wholeheartedly sells Leslie's idealism without making her seem too simple.

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Patricia Heaton, The Middle; Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, The New Adventures of Old Christine; Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds; any member of the Desperate Housewives ensemble

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Lead Actor in a Comedy

Alec Baldwin, "Jack Donaghy," 30 Rock

Thomas Jane, "Ray Drucker," Hung

Zachary Levi, "Chuck Bartowski," Chuck

Joel McHale, "Jeff Winger," Community

Matthew Morrison, "Will Schuester," Glee

Adam Scott, "Henry Pollard," Party Down

The past season of 30 Rock didn't always compare favorably with its predecessors, but Baldwin remained excellent, especially in those storylines that parodied NBC's real-life woes. The sad-sack charm Jane brought to Hung kept me watching the show much longer than I was interested in so doing. Chuck's Intersect 2.0 storyline would've failed without full commitment from Levi, who delivered consistently and proved why the show deserved its fourth-season renewal. McHale's god-given snarky humor was perfectly served in Community's inaugural season, making Jeff's gradual crawl towards personal growth feel authentic without being cheesy. Morrison is saddled with a character who frequently comes across as a condescending tool, but he did a good job playing the emotional beats he was given, particularly when Will discovers Terri's fake pregnancy plot in "Mattress." Scott is one of comedy television's best straight men, and his talents really shone as Henry attempted to take on a position of authority in PD's second season.

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Tony Shalhoub, Monk; Steve Carell, The Office; Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Dream Emmy Ballot 2010: Supporting Actress in a Drama

Let's see if I can't get this all wrapped up before the nominations are announced on Thursday...

Khandi Alexander, "LaDonna Batiste-Williams," Treme

Christina Hendricks, "Joan Harris," Mad Men

S. Epatha Merkerson, "Lt. Anita Van Buren," Law and Order

Alessandra Torresani, "Zoe Graystone," Caprica

Chandra Wilson, "Dr. Miranda Bailey," Grey's Anatomy

Deborah Ann Woll, "Jessica Hamby," True Blood

Alexander's performance made me want to adopt LaDonna as a Fictional Role Model - steely without being hard, simultaneously emotional and reserved, cutting down those who crossed her with just an arch of an eyebrow. The walls crashed down around Joan's image of how she wanted her life to be last season on Mad Men, and Hendricks made the audience feel every emotional blow even as she attempted to keep up appearances. If the Emmy voters elect to recognize Law and Order in its final season, I hope that it's in putting support behind Merkerson, who anchored the show's swan song with Van Buren's cancer storyline. Torresani is beyond long-shot territory as far as actual nominations go, but she is deserving of acclaim for the largely silent but extremely expressive work she does as a girl trapped within a robot's body - the quality of her acting rescues what could have been a gimmicky conceit within the show. Wilson has been excellent throughout the entire run of Grey's, but was a standout this season, particularly for her work in the season finale. As a newly-turned vampire (who remains a hyper-emotive teenaged girl), Woll brought a vibrant presence to True Blood that kept the show balanced between somberness and levity.

Honorable Mentions: Ginnifer Goodwin, Chloe Sevigny, Big Love; Paula Malcomson, Caprica; Rose Byrne, Damages; Jurnee Smollett, Aimee Teegarden, Friday Night Lights; Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy; Emilie DeRavin, Yunjin Kim, Lost; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Mae Whitman, Parenthood; Amy Brenneman, Private Practice; Kim Dickens, Treme; Michelle Forbes, Rutina Wesley, True Blood

I wouldn't be surprised to see: Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter; Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Lisa Edelstein, House

Books Read: June 2010

June 5: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, but a solid companion to the rest of the Twilight series. Certainly, given her tendency to pull her punches in confrontational situations it was good to see Meyer communicate a degree of authorly affection for Bree Tanner's characters, considering that the vast majority are dead upon the story's conclusion. She also didn't shy away from the newborn army's capacity for out-and-out carnage, coming perhaps the closest she's ever gotten to more traditional vampire fiction.

Screened: June 2010

June 1: Letters to Juliet

Screened: In the theater

The kind of romantic movie I could see watching again and again when it's repeating on HBO next year. Not terribly edgy, but largely inoffensive, and granted a huge assist by Vanessa Redgrave's performance. Kings was probably doomed no matter what, but it was refreshing to see how much more charismatic Christopher Egan can be when he's not being forced to do an American accent.

June 2: Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix

Deeply, deeply weird, and not really in a fun way. Burton created an interesting visual world, and largely used his cast of talented actors well, but the story was too often weighted down by excessive exposition and mythology. Isn't the whole point that Wonderland is supposed to defy explanation? The parallels drawn with Alice's life in the real world offered the potential for interesting commentary on the societal expectations surrounding a young woman of relative means in the late nineteenth century, but I can't endorse the film's "empowerment-via-imperialism!" conclusion.

June 5: Camelot

Screened: At home, Netflix Instant Watch

Prompted by watching Letters to Juliet - it makes an interesting companion piece, if only for showing how foxy Franco Nero was back in the day. As far as mid-century composing teams go, I've always been more of a Rodgers and Hammerstein person than a Lerner and Loewe one, but I think Camelot is slowly growing on me.

June 7: Lili, Funny Girl

Screened: At home, DVR saved from TCM

After months of conflicting DVR recordings, I finally caught Funny Girl this time around. Though she had previously played Fanny Brice on stage, it's still astounding that this is Barbra Streisand's film debut - she completely owns the role. I'm always interested to see films that recreate old or obsolete performance types and spaces - in this case, the Ziegfeld Follies. It's impressive to see that kind of "cast of hundreds" staging, which so seldom happens today in the age of CGI crowds.

June 7: The Proposal, 28 Days

Screened: At home, Netflix Instant Watch

The Sandra Bullock montage that accompanied her award at the MTV Movie Awards (Generation Award? Something like that) prompted an evening with a couple of solid entries from her filmography. Substance abuse/rehab stories are probably one of the stranger entertainment subgenres for which I have serious affection, and 28 Days has been one of my favorites for years.

June 8: Shutter Island

Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix

Not one of Scorsese's greater films, as far as his whole filmography goes, but I would rank it second among his non-documentary output of the past decade. July's Books Read will likely contain some comments on the book from which it was adapted, as I'm really curious to know more about how the two works compare, especially since the story deals so much with perception vs. reality.

June 10: Serenity

Screened: At home, Netflix Instant Watch

The reason there's nothing listed for the two days between this entry and the last one is because I spent them bingeing on Firefly. I probably shouldn't be surprised anymore when I fall madly and obsessively in love with a show, but somehow they always catch me unawares and drag me down the rabbit hole. (I feel I should note that this prompted me to decide that resisting Buffy was no longer a viable option, which is why there are so few movies and no books listed for the rest of the month. Ultimately, I had to accept my fate as a Whedonite and move on.) I enjoyed Serenity a lot, but I do have to say that I would rather have seen its plot points played out over another season of television than contained within a two-hour movie.

June 18: Invictus

Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix

June 22: The Last Station

Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix

And thus the 2010 Oscarwatch concludes. I don't know yet whether I'll still write the posts I was thinking about when I started working my way back year-by-year. I'll say here that both films were good, but not great, and probably got the appropriate amount of attention from the Academy (though I could see complaining for years to come about Matt Damon getting nominated over, say, Paul Schneider in Bright Star. But that's another rant for another day.)