B&C scoured the web to find out what the critics and blogs are saying about this year’s crop of nominees. Here is the second installment:
Michael Ausiello, Entertainment Weekly
I’m Super-Ecstatic About:
–Emmy voters make Howie Mandel pay for ruining last year’s Emmys by snubbing him for best reality host. Even better: They gave the slot to Amazing Race emcee Phil Keoghan.
–How I Met Your Mother finally breaks into the best comedy category.
–Jeremy Piven gets snubbed for best supporting actor, clearing the way for Neil Patrick Harris’ long overdue win.
Yawns to:
–Entourage gets a nod for its worst season yet.
– Tony Shalhoub.
–Anything involving Boston Legal.
I’m Super-Pissed About:
–Nothing for the final season of The Shield or Walton Goggins.
–Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin get no love for Big.
On the nominations in general
“Wow. I know Emmy voters are conservative. I know many of them don’t even watch much television. But oh my word, how stale and predictable were this year’s Emmy nominations??… Twelve categories, exactly 11 changes from last year. And a couple of them were shoehorned in as sixth entries in previously five-entry fields. The fact that Julia-Louis Dreyfus got nominated again, to me, says it all.”
Tom O’Neil, Gold Derby, The Envelope, LA Times
On Family Guy
“Just as I had predicted, “Family Guy” broke through to become the second cartoon nominated for best comedy series. Only “The Flintstones” managed the feat back in 1961, losing to “The Jack Benny Program.” “The Simpsons” tried to make the cut during the 1990s, switching from the category for best animated program (which it won a few times) to best comedy, but didn’t get nommed, so switched back and resumed winning. How did “Family Guy” pull it off? It had two strong pluses that “The Simpsons” didn’t have: There are currently only a few strong comedies on TV and the Emmys just expanded this category to include at least six nominees (turns out seven made it in) from five.
On Toni Collete for best actress
“With Toni Collette (”United States of Tara”) in the race for best comedy actress, she might be the front-runner considering what suckers voters are for roles with split personalities. They can’t resist falling for them, thus getting several performances for the price of one vote. Sally Field pulled off an upset over Jane Alexander (”Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years”) in 1977 for portraying more than a dozen personalities in “Sybil.” That was the same year that Lindsay Wagner (”The Bionic Woman”) pulled off one of the biggest upsets ever in the acting races when she prevailed over Sada Thompson (”Family”) for best drama actress. Her secret weapon: The episode she submitted to Emmy judges featured her in twin roles, one evil, one good.”
On vampire snubbing
“Even Anna Paquin, the Oscar-winning star of “True Blood,” could not break the Emmy curse against vampire shows! Despite pleas from smitten TV critics and avid fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Sarah Michelle Gellar never got nominated for best drama actress between 1998 and 2003.”
Overall reactions, snubs
“All in all, a very satisfying group of nominations – with a few exceptions. This was the last time the Emmys had a chance to honor the amazing Battlestar Galactica, which never got a nomination in any of the major categories… and never will. We’ll call it The Wire syndrome. At least Michael Rymer got a nomination for his excellent work as the director of the finale. The Shield meanwhile was coming off a critically adored, impactful season, which also got overlooked.”
