Arrested Development

Deadwood

Grey’s Anatomy

Lost

Rescue Me

Scrubs

Six Feet Under

The Sopranos

 

What do these shows have in common? Oh, nothing much. Just that they were ignored by an academy of voters who clearly don’t appreciate spectacular casts and performances, brilliant direction and stellar writing. The conspiracy theorist in me is beginning to question the validity of the Emmy voting system, as I’m sure are the millions of rabid, dedicated fans of these shows who also feel that their beloved programs were unjustly jilted in all major categories.

 

I went to bed angry. I know, it’s sad that a few hours of television can affect me to that extent. But with the exception of the two trophies that made sense and went to deserving parties (The Office – Best Comedy Series and Jeremy Piven – Entourage), I thought the Emmy Awards were awful.  The entire night, from red carpet to rushed ending, was a train wreck that left a bad taste in my mouth; very disappointing from a pop culture perspective. 

 

Am I a party of one on this one?  

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Here are my honest, unedited thoughts, written as I followed Sunday night’s Emmy Awards….

 

I am looking forward to two things: Conan O’Brien hosting and the awkward ‘Tori Spelling v. her family’ moment during the Tribute to Aaron.

 

I didn’t get the memo that Purple is ‘the’ color.

 

Goddaughters are the new daughters. See: Jon Voight and Barry Manilow. What, your own daughters weren’t available? Couldn’t get a date??

I heart Tim Gunn. I love impersonating his voice while reading his blog out loud after each episode of Project Runway every week.

First Impression: DRESSES

 

YIKES

Paula Abdul (Unflattering floral & pearl combo)

Tyra Banks

Candice Bergen

Lorraine Bracco

Blythe Danner

Eva Longoria

Debra Messing (Too white to wear without a tan)

Jeremy Piven (An ascot…really?)

Ellen Pompeo (Slick hair…yikes)

Leah Remini

Kyra Sedgwick (Love her, not the dress)

 

UNDECIDED

Portia de Rossi (Where’s Ellen?)

Cheryl Hines (Are those jewels glued on her back?)

Heidi Klum (Pregnant or not, this was kind of bland for the Runway Queen)

Lisa Kudrow

Evangeline Lily

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Sandra Oh

Kim Raver

Kate Walsh (Beautiful otherwise)

 

APPROVED

Annette Bening (Very classy and age appropriate, which is rare & appreciated)

Felicity Huffman

Kathryn Heigl

Jane Kaczmarek

Virginia Madsen

Helen Mirren (Ditto my comments about Bening)

Jaime Pressly

Alfre Woodard

 

Ok, the show is starting. Conan is doing a LOST parody! I love it!!  Hurley!  I love the nomination snub reference. OMG! The Office! This is the best skit ever. Jim! Pam! I am dying. Now they’re on to 24. And House.  South Park!  The closet! I can’t believe they’re referencing the Tom Cruise episode. Awesome. Now Dateline.  

 

So far, so good. Nice work, Conan.  

 

Wow, I still can’t believe that Ducky (Jon Cryer) is on a hit show. Not that I know anyone who watches Two and a Half Men.

 

Ah, the first obligatory Mel Gibson joke, met with mixed and somewhat uncomfortable applause…followed by the first obligatory gay joke, met with a similar response. Come on Conan, kick it up a notch. Ok there you go – making fun of Charlie Sheen. Not a candidate for father of the year.

 

For a guy who has a show on NBC, Conan sure is making fun of his own network an awful lot.

 

The cameras are only showing actors from NBC shows for reaction shots now. Yawn.

 

Oh good, McDreamy and Zellweger’s doppelganger are first to present.

 

That’s not nice, cutting off Mullally’s speech with music one minute into it.

 

I have missed Julia Louis-Dreyfus. If only her new show didn’t have a laugh track!

 

Ah, the Sheens. Fake banter. Painful.

 

I am very frustrated by the fact that brief scenes for all major nominations are not being shown; why on earth aren’t there scenes from the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series?

 

Did Blythe Danner really just use the phrase ‘my golly’ on national television? Twice?!

 

So far, this show has been horrible except for Conan’s opening skit. The music has been rudely interrupting the acceptance speeches and they are so concerned with coming in under three hours that they’re rushing through and it’s messy.

 

I love that Jason Lee’s hair and mustache are in character, even when he’s in a tux and off set.  Jaime Pressly should have won her category.

 

Jeremy Piven totally deserves the award and was surprisingly emotional. The recognition is long overdue.

 

Although the Christopher Meloni bit was funny, it still takes time away from the actual winners. I’m not sure how much more I can take without fast-forwarding my TiVO.

 

I admit to not caring about any of the Miniseries categories this year, and thus not writing about them.

 

What’s with the scenes being shown on iPods and cell phones? This is not getting any better.

 

The editing of this show is HORRIBLE.

 

I’ve made an executive decision. I am not going to blog anymore, except about the major category winners. This sucks, and this show is both boring and frustrating. Such a letdown (I do love my award shows).

 

ACTOR: COMEDY SERIES

WINNER: Tony Shaloub. Again. Unreal. I am so tired of people winning for shows that no one watches.

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: COMEDY SERIES

WINNER: The Pivs (Jeremy Piven)! Sweet!

 

ACTRESS: COMEDY SERIES

WINNER: Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Wow. Good for her, but sad for Lisa Kudrow, who’s return to television was spectacular. If you didn’t watch The Comeback, go rent it now. Painfully hilarious.

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: COMEDY SERIES

WINNER: Megan Mullally. Admittedly, she was the best thing about Will & Grace. Where was Sarah Chalke’s nomination for Scrubs? That girl is pretty damn funny.

 

ACTOR: DRAMA SERIES

WINNER: Kiefer Sutherland. I know he is Mr. 24, but Denis Leary was robbed. His character on Rescue Me is both mesmerizing and disturbing. That show makes for great television.  

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: DRAMA SERIES

WINNER: Alan Alda. He isn’t even there. Yawn. At least it wasn’t Shatner again.

 

ACTRESS: DRAMA SERIES

WINNER: Mariska Hargitay. Does she deserve it? Yes. But in a weak category this year I think Frances Conroy outshined all of the others. It is also a damn shame that Edie Falco was not nominated, as her performance last season on The Sopranos was incredible.

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: DRAMA SERIES

WINNER: Blythe Danner, Paltrow’s mommy. Again. Who watched Huff before it was canceled? Anyone?

 

COMEDY SERIES

WINNER: The Office! Finally – a deserving win. Genius.

 

DRAMA SERIES

WINNER: 24

 

REALITY – COMPETITION PROGRAM

WINNER: The Amazing Race. Fourth time in a row. The production and entertainment value of this particular reality show is impressive, but I have watched every season of Survivor and am infatuated with Project Runway.

 

WRITING: COMEDY SERIES

WINNER: My Name is Earl. It’s a good show, but in my opinion, the writing is better on Arrested Development. Bonus points: the writer who won for Earl had the best speech of the evening.

 

WRITING: DRAMA SERIES

WINNER: The Sopranos. Again, a great show, but in the writing category I’d give the edge to Lost and Six Feet Under.

 

To sum up, I am very disappointed. The nominations, for the most part, had major omissions and the winners prove that I have absolutely no idea who votes for these people (clearly not folks who watch the same amazing shows I do). The show was horribly edited and rushed, and I’ve never wanted to turn off an awards show before tonight.

 

As for my personal Emmy predictions, they represented wishful thinking at best. Only 2 of my 13 picks won. At least The Office won for Comedy Series. That is THE only redeeming moment from these three hours of dull schlock.

 

Conan did an average job, and the Aaron Spelling tribute didn’t even feature any of his family members.  My favorite part was the first five minutes – Conan’s opening montage.

 

Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Six Feet Under were all shut out in all major categories. Now that is a sad statement.  

 

And now for the most outrageous portion of the evening. Why is it that when announcing the nominees, most of the clips shown were for the men nominated in each category? Seriously. How freakin’ sexist is that?! Winners for both Actress in a Comedy (Louis-Dreyfus) and Actress in a Drama (Hargitay) – no scenes. But both Actor in a Comedy (Shaloub) and Actor in a Drama (Sutherland) – brief scenes from their shows were shown. I don’t get it; then again, I didn’t get how the voting rules changed this year and didn’t anticipate just how far from grace this show had fallen.

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Two well-known writer/directors (Joss Whedon and James Gunn) posted their selections for Favorite 25 TV Characters Ever on their blogs. As a huge fan of lists, I wanted to play along.

 

So here are my choices, in alphabetical order of course. Admittedly, most of my favorites are from recent shows and I am totally showing my age, but I reserve the right to make additions should they come to me at a later date!

 

Here are their rules:

No puppet or cartoon characters

No miniseries

No reality show folks

All characters must be ‘regulars’

 

1.       Elaine Benes – SEINFELD

2.      Sydney Bristow – ALIAS

3.      Phoebe Buffay – FRIENDS

4.      Carol Burnett – THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW (the rules don’t say anything about variety shows)

5.      Calamity Jane – DEADWOOD

6.      Angela Chase – MY SO-CALLED LIFE

7.      Laverne DeFazio – LAVERNE & SHIRLEY

8.      Claire Fisher – SIX FEET UNDER

9.      Ruth Fisher – SIX FEET UNDER

10.   Marshall Flinkman – ALIAS

11.    Tobias Fünke – ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

12.   Henry Gale – LOST (he will be a regular in Season 3, starting in Oct.)

13.   Tommy Gavin – RESCUE ME

14.   Ari Gold – ENTOURAGE

15.   Jim Halpert – THE OFFICE

16.   Miranda Hobbes – SEX & THE CITY

17.   Sayid Jarrah – LOST

18.   Frank Pembleton – HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET

19.   Jo Polniazek – FACTS OF LIFE

20.  Dr. Elliot Reid – SCRUBS

21.   Dwight Schrute – THE OFFICE

22.  Dana Scully – THE X FILES

23.  Andy Sipowicz – NYPD BLUE

24.  Carmela Soprano – THE SOPRANOS

25.  Al Swearengen – DEADWOOD

 

Runners up; ensemble casts that provided too many characters for me to choose from: ER (the early years), GREY’S ANATOMY, NIP/TUCK, OZ, THE WEST WING, and WILL & GRACE.

 

Thoughts? Additions? Omissions?

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I love The Office and I was amused by both Bruce Almighty and Anchorman, but unlike most of world, I do not bow at the temple of The 40 Year Old Virgin. If you really want to see Steve Carell’s true range and talent, go see Little Miss Sunshine. Carell plays Uncle Frank, and his dysfunctional movie family includes Toni Collette (in yet another great performance), Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano and fabulous little Abigail Breslin (Signs).

 

Little Miss Sunshine has the humor and poignancy of Garden State, and the word-of-mouth momentum of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The fantastic cast and script will keep you entertained and smiling from start to finish (the last scene alone is worth the price of admission). Made for just $8 million and gobbled up at Sundance for a record $10.5 million, it is the little-indie-that-could. Go see it in theaters now. 

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Here are my picks for the Emmy Awards (major categories only), which air this Sunday on NBC. Of course keep in mind that I tend to choose winners based upon who I think deserves to win, and not necessarily who is favored to win. At least the freaking Emmy juggernaut known as Everybody Loves Raymond is finally off the air and out of contention. But don’t get me started about the egregious omission of Lost in the Best Drama Series category…

 

I will be blogging ‘live’ and posting my thoughts immediately following the show.

 

ACTOR: COMEDY SERIES

Steve Carrell – The Office

Note to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Where the hell is Zach Braff’s nomination? Talk about another unforgivable exclusion…
 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: COMEDY SERIES

Jeremy Piven – Entourage

2^nd choice: Will Arnett – Arrested Development

 

ACTRESS: COMEDY SERIES

Lisa Kudrow – The Comeback

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: COMEDY SERIES

Jaime Pressly – My Name is Earl

2^nd choice: Cheryl Hines – Curb Your Enthusiasm (she’s very underrated)

“What a Joke” nomination: Alfre Woodard – Desperate Housewives. I’m sorry, I love her as an actress, but was there even an ounce of joy in her character last season? Yikes. Marcia Cross was robbed.

 

ACTOR: DRAMA SERIES

Denis Leary – Rescue Me

2^nd choice: Peter Krause – Six Feet Under. One of the more memorable television deaths; I will never forget that scene, nor Nate’s last word, ‘narm’ (numb + arm).

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR: DRAMA SERIES

Michael Imperioli – The Sopranos

 

ACTRESS: DRAMA SERIES

Frances Conroy – Six Feet Under

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: DRAMA SERIES

Sandra Oh – Grey’s Anatomy

2^nd choice: Chandra Wilson – Grey’s Anatomy. For many reasons, but primarily for the scene when she uttered the best television catchphrase of the year: “Stop looking at my va-jay-jay!”

 

COMEDY SERIES (my toughest category; 3 of my favorite comedies of all time are competing)

The Office

2^nd choice tie: Scrubs & Arrested Development

 

DRAMA SERIES

Grey’s Anatomy, in an upset over 24

 

REALITY – COMPETITION PROGRAM

Survivor, in an upset of reigning champ The Amazing Race

 

WRITING: COMEDY SERIES

The Office

2^nd choice: Arrested Development

 

WRITING: DRAMA SERIES

Lost

2^nd choice: Six Feet Under

 

Stay tuned!

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Every entertainment blog in the universe appears to be following and reviewing the phenomenon known as Snakes on a Plane. Have I seen it? No. Will I? Yes. Though this type of film does not usually fall under the ‘my cup of tea’ category, I will make a point of seeing it in the theater. Why? Because my friend Joey was the Visual Effects Editor of Snakes on a Plane (or SOap, as fans are referring to it). He was also the Assistant Visual Effects Editor of the last two Matrix films and Constantine, to give you an idea of his talent. So this is my shout-out to Joey, who finished rendering snakes just in time to get married last month. Congrats for both accomplishments, my friend. Regardless of the box office, you were part of something special in the pop culture realm. I hope your honeymoon was somewhere very far from slithering creatures.

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This year’s Oscar-caliber films have finally arrived. My predictions for early Academy Award contenders are listed below, in addition to other releases I eagerly await.

 

Official JOpinionated Caveats:

1. Some of the films on my list feature a few of my least favorite actors (i.e. Ben Affleck, Cameron Diaz, Josh Hartnett, Gwyneth Paltrow), but I will ignore them all with ease and joy, focusing instead on their brilliant co-stars and the films at hand.

 

2. It pains me to admit that two of my selections were written by the man who is responsible for the worst Best Picture in Oscar history (Paul Haggis; Crash), but I remember how fantastic his script for Million Dollar Baby was, so I will keep that in (an open) mind.  

 

SEPTEMBER 2006

 

ALL THE KING’S MEN

Political drama; Loosely based on Gov. Huey Long

Cast: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, Patricia Clarkson

Director/Screenwriter: Steve Zaillian (A Civil Action, Searching for Bobby Fischer)

 

OCTOBER 2006

 

BABEL
Drama/Tragedy; Four stories in four countries

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Gael Garcia Bernal

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (21 Grams, Amores Perros)

Screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams, Amores Perros)

 

THE DEPARTED

Crime Drama/Thriller; Boston police v. Irish mafia

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg

Director: Martin Scorsese

Screenwriter: William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven)

 

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

Action/History/War; The six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima

Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Barry Pepper

Director: Clint Eastwood

Screenwriter: Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby)

 

MARIE ANTOINETTE

Biography/Drama; The infamous young Queen of France

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis {LOVE her!}

Director/Screenwriter: Sophia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides)

 

THE PRESTIGE

Drama/Thriller; Two magicians, intense rivals – it looks much better than it sounds!

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson

Director/Screenwriter: Chris Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento)

 

NOVEMBER 2006

 

THE FOUNTAIN

Drama/Romance/Sci-Fi; Three parallel stories, from 16^th through 26^th centuries

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn

Director/Screenwriter: Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Pi)

[* Pop culture aside: Director Aronofsky and Weisz are now engaged and have a baby]

 

DECEMBER 2006

 

DREAMGIRLS

Drama/Musical; Adaptation of hit Broadway play

Cast: Beyonce, Jaime Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson

Director/Screenwriter: Bill Condon (Kinsey, Gods & Monsters)

[* Pop culture aside: Hudson was a Season 3 American Idol finalist]

 

THE GOOD GERMAN

Drama/Romance/Thriller: Journalist in post-WWII Berlin

Cast: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire

Director: Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich)

Screenwriter: Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show, Donnie Brasco)

 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Drama/Romance/Thriller: History and suspicion of the CIA

Cast: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci

Director: Robert De Niro (A Bronx Tale)

Screenwriter: Eric Roth (Munich, Ali, The Insider)

 

Other films on my must-see list this year:

 

SEPTEMBER 2006

 

THE BLACK DAHLIA

Crime Drama/Thriller; James Ellroy novel about unsolved murder

Cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank

Director: Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible, Scarface)

Screenwriter: Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds)

[* Pop culture aside: Hartnett and Johansson are now dating]

 

CHILDREN OF MEN

Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller; Glimpse into a future world without children

Cast: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Michael Caine

Director/Screenwriter: Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

 

HOLLYWOODLAND

Drama/Mystery/Thriller; The mysterious death of TV Superman George Reeves

Cast: Diane Lane, Adrien Brody, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins

Director: Allen Coulter (Sex & the City, The Sopranos)

Screenwriter: Paul Bernbaum

 

INFAMOUS

Biography/Drama; The OTHER movie about Truman Capote

Cast: Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Daniel Craig (the new Bond), Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hope Davis, Isabella Rossellini

Director/Screenwriter: Douglas McGrath (Emma)

[* Pop culture aside: British actor Jones played Dobby the House Elf in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Smee in Finding Neverland]

 

THE LAST KISS

Comedy/Drama; Friends in their 30’s begin to second-guess their lives & decisions, as do their parents

Cast: Zach Braff, Rachel Bilson, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson

Director: Tony Goldwyn (A Walk on the Moon, Someone Like You)

Screenwriter: Paul Haggis (Flags of Our Fathers, Crash, Million Dollar Baby)

[* Pop culture aside: Director Goldwyn played the slimeball friend who betrayed Demi and Swayze in Ghost]

 

OCTOBER 2006

 

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

Comedy/Drama; memoirs of a quirky, dysfunctional childhood

Cast: Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow, Alec Baldwin, Evan Rachel Wood, Joseph Fiennes, Brian Cox

Director/Screenwriter: Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck)

 

NOVEMBER 2006

 

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Comedy; Actors reacting to awards buzz

Cast: Christopher Guest & his usual cast, plus Ricky Gervais (The Office on BBC) and John Krasinski (The Office on NBC)

Director/Screenwriter with Eugene Levy: Christopher Guest (Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind)

 

STRANGER THAN FICTION

Comedy/Drama/Romance; Man hears woman narrating his life, in his head – again, it looks so much better than it sounds!

Cast: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah

Director: Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball)

Screenwriter: Zach Helm

 

VOLVER

Comedy/Drama; A mother returns as a ghost to fix her daughter’s life

Cast: Penelope Cruz

Director/Screenwriter: Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her, All About My Mother)

 

DECEMBER 2006

 

THE HOLIDAY

Comedy/Romance; Two women from different countries swap homes, lives

Cast: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black

Director/Screenwriter: Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want)

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