Emmy Awards – @Cinefille

The Best and Worst of the 2010 Emmys

I throughly enjoyed last night’s Emmys telecast. Jimmy Fallon did a fine job as host and the shows I care most about Modern Family and Mad Men went home with the night’s top prizes. Here is my recap of the Emmys.

The Best:

1. The Glee-ful Opening – I fully expected there to be a Glee performance somewhere in the show but I did not expect it to be a wonderful as this opening number. Host Fallon, my favorite Gleeks – Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, and Amber Riley – plus the likes of Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, Joel McHale, and Nina Dobrev form their own Glee club. They prevent Kate Gosselin from joining and Betty White is Jon Hamm’s dance coach. AND they perform Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. This Jersey girl was in Glee/Emmy heaven.

2. The wins for Modern Family – Modern Family is the best new comedy of television. Its wins for Best Comedy, Best Writing and Best Supporting Actor (Eric Stonestreet) were well-deserved. Toss in a great parody segment where Sofia Vergara (shockingly) oozes sex and George Clooney ends up in bed with Cam and Mitchell, and it was Modern Family‘s night to shine.

3. Temple Grandin – At first I had no clue who this person who kept standing and waving throughout the ceremony as a TV movie, Temple Grandin, kept winning awards (seven in total). I was also distracted by Claire Danes appearing on my television but not in a Latisse commercial. After a quick Google search, I have moved Temple Grandin to the top of my Netflix queue.

4. Betty White, Betty White, Betty White – I love everything about this women. Between her appearance in the opening parody as Jon Hamm’s choreographer and their boundless sexual chemistry, there is nothing this woman can’t do that I won’t adore.

5. Clooney and Margulies reunited – George Clooney receiving the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award is a true honor. He accepted the award with great humor. And of all the people present the last night’s Emmys there was not better person to present the award to him than Juliana Margulies, Clooney’s E.R. co-star for five seasons. Doug and Carol forever!

6. Top Chef beats out The Amazing Race – It is about damn time someone broke The Amazing Race‘s Emmy winning streak. I’m glad it happened now too because I am in a feud with The Amazing Race for reasons I cannot disclose until September 1. But trust me, they are good reasons.

The Worst:

1. Al Pacino speaks and Jack Kevorkian makes an appearance – After Pacino won for his performance in “You Don’t Know Jack”, his speech became a rambling mess. They really don’t cut Pacino off, do they?

2. Fred Savage is dead! – A teaser for the In Memoriam segment (of a young Corey Haim) led many people on the internet to think that it was really Fred Savage.

3. Mad Men doesn’t win an acting award…again – The stellar cast of Mad Men has never won an Emmy. Not Jon Hamm. Or John Slattery. Or January Jones. Or Elisabeth Moss. Or Christina Hendricks. I have my own theories but please feel free to share your own.

4. No love for FNL – Friday Night Lights fans must sound like a broken record by now. All we want is for this show to win Emmys and to last more than five seasons. Neither has happened. Even when the lead actors – Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton – are nominated but don’t win, it is a bad Emmys night for us FNL fans. Just remember, clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

Did I miss anything? Sound off below.

My Emmy Predictions

I don’t know why I am even attempting to predict the victors at tonight’s Emmy Awards. Between the lack of preliminary award shows (a la the Oscars) and the Emmys frequent ignoring of what is popular or logical in favor of sentimentality, this is one award show that is nearly impossible to predict. Regardless of this, here are my predictions or just what shows and who I want to win.

Best Drama: The Good Wife

Lost is heavily favored to win after a stellar sixth and final season but I believe that the Emmy voters will name this new legal drama as the Best Drama. But if Julianna Margulies wins Best Actress (and she will) then expect a different show to win.

Best Comedy: Modern Family

Yes Glee won the SAG and the Golden Globe but that was before the entire first season had aired. Months later, Glee clearly had only a few great episodes (namely “The Power of Madonna“) and lacked consistency. Whereas Modern Family never missed a beat, between the writing, acting and direction of the show. And if Modern Family wins, it will take away the pain from Ed O’Neill’s lack of a nomination. I also refuse to accept that Nurse Jackie is a comedy.

Lead actor, Drama – Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights

More than anything I want Chandler to finally win the recognition he deserves. I’m predicting Chandler to win, even though my gut is telling me that Matthew Fox and Bryan Cranston may be the real winners.

Lead actress, Drama – Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

One of the first things I did this summer was watch every episode of The Good Wife. After doing so, I am more than convinced that Julianna Margulies deserves this Emmy. As much as I want Connie Briton to win for Friday Night Lights.

Lead actress, Comedy – Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Although I don’t consider Nurse Jackie a comedy (a frustration which stems more from the second season than the first), I expect Edie Falco to win. Just because she is not playing Carmela Soprano. But maybe voters will be wowed by Lea Michele’s powerful and emotional rendition of “Don’t Rain on my Parade” and pick her.

Lead Actor, Comedy – Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Sometime I feel as though The Big Bang Theory should be renamed Sheldon Cooper and those other nerds. The Big Bang Theory is defined by Sheldon Cooper and without Jim Parsons portrayal of this character, the show would be nothing of interest.

Supporting Actor, Drama – Michael Emerson, Lost

Sentimentality will play a huge role in this category which is why I imagine that Lost‘s Michael Emerson will win the Emmy. But for this category, I know very little of the performances. I haven’t even seen Men of a Certain Age. (Project!)

Supporting Actress, Drama – Christina Hendricks, Mad Men

It is hard to believe that the acting on Mad Men has never been recognized by the Emmys. If any actor deserves that statuette, it would be Christina Hendricks. Joan Harris’ story arc during season 3 is heartbreaking and powerful. The episode Hendricks submitted, “Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency” (aka the John Deere episode), is beyond fantastic.

Supporting Actor, Comedy – Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Modern Family‘s one acting win will be in this category. But do not forget about the power of Kurt Hummel. Because three Modern Family cast members are nominated, they could split the Emmy votes and Chris Colfer could pull a surprise victory.

Supporting Actress, Comedy – Jane Lynch, Glee

If there is one thing that is guaranteed at this year’s Emmys it is Jane Lynch winning for Supporting Actress.

Are you Emmy ready?

The Primetime Emmy Awards are tomorrow night on NBC. To prepare for the award show, you need to do nothing more than to watch a series of interviews with Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family), Lea Michele (Glee), John Slattery (Mad Men), Rose Byrne (Damages), Jeff Probst (Survivor) and Mindy Kaling (The Office) that the Hollywood Reporter has posted online.

Okay, so they really won’t prepare you for the Emmys but you will have a good laugh. Like, for instance, at the thought of Rachel Berry and Don Draper competing on Survivor.

I’m expecting great things from this year’s Emmy Awards. Host Jimmy Fallon promises it will be a great show (which includes having home viewers tweet the introductions for the show’s presenters.) Not to mention some of my favorite shows (Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, The Good Wife, Modern Family) are nominated. I desperately want FNL to finally receive the recognition it deserves, moreso than any other show nominated.

What are you most looking forward to from Emmys night?

The 2010 Emmy Nominations

I am generally pleased by the Emmy nominations, which were announced this morning. New comedies Glee and Modern Family received 19 and 14 nominations respectively. For the 10th year in a row, HBO led the nominations receiving 101 nominations in total.

I practically did cartwheels throughout my house when I saw that Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler were FINALLY nominated for Friday Night Lights. While the show itself and Zach Gilford were not nominated, I will take the nominations of Coach and Mrs. Taylor as a victory for what has been one of the most under appreciated shows of recent years. There is still one more season for which the show can be nominated and perhaps these two nominations will lead to Friday Night Lights finally getting it’s Emmys due next year.

The other two nominations that have made me completely ecstatic are Chris Colfer and Mike O’Malley for their work on Glee. Everyone fully expected Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, and Jane Lynch to be nominated for their roles; they have been dominating the t.v. award circuit since the Golden Globes. But Colfer, who plays Kurt, and O’Malley, who plays his dad Burt, are genuine and much-welcomed surprises. See, the Emmys do celebrate great characters and great acting.

These are the main highlights for me. As for what I think was overlooked…

Courteney Cox, Busy Phillips, and Cougar Town. With one sentence: “What kind of skank where’s a watch?” Cougar Town had me hooked. Of course, it does desperately need a name change. Maybe that is why the Emmys turned a blind eye to the series.
Joel McHale and Community. Although the show started off slow but once it found its rhythm, Community definitely belonged in NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up.
Ed O’Neill. Please explain to me how every other actor on Modern Family was nominated except O’Neill.
No love for Ugly Betty‘s great last season.
And for the love of God, why is Tony Shalhoub still being nominated? Ditto for Jon Cryer. Sometimes, I wish there would be a cap on how many times an actor can be nominated for the same tired role. (Of course that would be pointless and impossible since everything is subjective.)

The complete list of Emmy nominees is after the jump. Sound off in the comments section if you are generally pleased or infuriated by this year’s nominations.

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