Tangled Up In Wires » TV News

Primetime Emmy Nominations: Who Will Win

Michael — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:45:29 +0000

The September 18 Emmys are still a long time away, but the nominations were announced last night. Here’s our expert analysis on who will win, who should win, and who got snubbed.

BEST DRAMA SERIES

Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Mad Men

Who Will Win: Mad Men. This is there year to break through the Breaking Bad wall. Boardwalk has a strong chance as well, but I think the boys at SCDP are going to be happy come Emmy night.

Who Should Win: Friday Night Lights. The final season of FNL was not its best (season 1 or 4), but was still very good, and getting a symbolic win in its last season would be great to see. Don’t hold your breath though.

Who Was Snubbed: Justified. Seriously, how was this show forgotten?

BEST COMEDY SERIES
Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
30 Rock
Parks and Recreation

Who Will Win: Too Close to Call. This is a really tight category, where any of these shows could take the statue, but…

Who Should Win: Parks and Recreation. Hands down the funniest show with the best cast. The show went nuts this year, with no weak episodes, and if it doesn’t win, I’ll go on a hunger strike (or probably just be mad for a few days).

Who Was Snubbed: Community. The show had a few brilliant episodes this season, including a few that were light on the wacky humor that helped build the shows fanbase, but heavy on tremendously done storytelling. A shame it didn’t get a nod.

BEST DRAMA ACTOR

Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Who Will Win: Jon Hamm. It’s his year to hold the statue before Cranston comes back. And honestly, if you saw the episode “The Suitcase,” you’ll have no problem agreeing with me.

Who Should Win: Kyle Chandler. Like FNL in the Drama Series category, this would be symbolic, though Chandler was pitch perfect in his final season as Coach Taylor, and deserves it outright.

Who Was Snubbed: This category is surprisingly tight. Not much you can argue here.

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law
Mariska Hargitay, SVU
Mirelle Enos, The Killing
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Who Will Win: Elisabeth Moss. If you saw Hamm in “The Suitcase,” you know Moss deserves an Emmy for her work too. She’s past due, and this will be her year.

Who Should Win: Connie Britton. If I had a vote, I’d vote for Moss, but Britton spent five years doing phenomenal work as Tammy Taylor, and it’s sad to see her come away from it all empty handed.

Who Was Snubbed: January Jones, Mad Men. I’m not the biggest January Jones fan, and Betty didn’t have much to do this season, but when she was on screen, the whole mood of the scene changed. Betty was fascinating to watch this year, thanks in large part to Jones.

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation

Who Will Win: Amy Poehler. Tina Fey might surprise, but I think this is Poehler’s year. She was very good all season, and I think that will be hard to ignore.

Who Should Win: Amy Poehler. Seriously. She was great.

Who Was Snubbed: Alison Brie, Community. Annie is one of the sweeter, more fun characters on TV right now. Just watch her try and be someone else in the bar night episode, you’ll see what I mean.

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Steve Carell, The Office
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Louie C.K., Louie

Who Will Win: Steve Carell. He hasn’t won an Emmy yet for playing his most iconic roll, and this is the last chance. Voters won’t forget that.

Who Should Win: Louie C.K. It seems like an odd nomination, but it’s sort of Louie‘s consolation prize.

Who Was Snubbed: Joel McHale, Community. The longer he’s on Community, the better he’s getting.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Chris Colfer, Glee
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ed O’Neill, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Who Will Win: Ty Burrell. It’s gotta be someone from Modern Family, and it might as well be the most consistently funny.

Who Should Win: If not Burrell, Eric Stonestreet. After Phil, Cam is among the funniest characters on TV.

Who Was Snubbed: A long list here, including Danny Pudi, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Rainn Wilson, all of whom did fantastic work this season on shows that were not Modern Family.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Walton Goggins, Justified
John Slattery, Mad Men
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age

Who Will Win: John Slattery. Like I said, it’s Mad Men’s year to break through the Breaking Bad wall.

Who Should Win: Walter Goggins or Peter Dinklage. Both were fantastic, but will certainly be forgotten come voting time.

Who Was Snubbed: Not to bring in more Mad Men, but the more the show has gone on the more I like Vincent Kartheiser as Pete, who has yet to get a nomination.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Jane Lynch, Glee
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock

Who Will Win: Kristen Wiig. This will be her anointment into stardom, much the same way Tina Fey (and hopefully Amy Pohler) got her first Emmy en route to a successful movie career. She deserves it too.

Who Should Win: Julie Bowen. Claire isn’t a likable character without her.

Who Was Snubbed: Rashida Jones, Parks and Recreation. Poor, beautiful Anne.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Margo Martindale, Justified
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men

Who Will Win: Christina Hendricks. This is a really tight category full of deserving actresses, but she’ll have the Mad Men luck behind her.

Who Should Win: Margo Martindale. If you’ve watched Justified, you know why.

Who Was Snubbed: No one here. Fantastic group of actresses.

OUTSTANDING MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Kennedys
Mildred Pierce
The Pillars of the Earth
Too Big to Fail

BEST VARIETY SERIES
The Colbert Report
Conan
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Real Time with Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
Antiques Roadshow
Undercover Boss

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION
The Amazing Race
American Idol
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef

Fox Picks Up Four Shows, Dumps Five

Michael — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:37:03 +0000

Good news today for fans of Manic Pixie Dream Girls and bad news for fans of White Sox-loving cops. With the fall season coming to a close and network upfronts on their way, Fox has picked up four new shows, including The New Girl, a Zooey Deschanel vehicle that features Mrs. Ben Gibbard as a suddenly single teacher who moves in with three guys. Also picked up were J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and a Bones spin-off, Finder. To make room, the network is dropping poor performers Breaking In, The Human Target, Lie to Me, Traffic Light, and Sean Ryan’s cop drama The Chicago Code. Rumor is the rest of their lineup will be filled with shows with singing and Seth McFarlane. [Ed. Note: That was a startlingly accurate joke]

Bubble Watch 2011: What Shows Might Bite the Dust?

Michael — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:08:16 +0000

It’s that time of year again when everyone gets nervous that their favorite show that no one watches is going to get cancelled. To help ease (or feed) your fears, we’ve come up with this handy list and scale to help you out. The scale is 0-10, with 0 meaning the show is gone, 5 meaning it’s on the fence, and 10 meaning it’s a sure bet to return. So without further ado, here we go:

Parenthood

What started out as a chaotic, melodramatic show, Parenthood has become one of the best ensemble dramas on TV. It’s no coincidence that its gotten better as executive producer Jason Katims wrapped up Friday Night Lights, and any fan of the football drama that isn’t watching Parenthood needs to do so immediately. That aside, the strong ratings opposite CBS’ popular The Good Wife and the critical acclaim (rare for an NBC drama in recent years) will probably come back for a third season, even though there hasn’t been a renewal yet.

Cancellation Scale: 8

House

Surprised to see this one on here? The show hasn’t been renewed yet as FOX and the show’s studio, NBC Universal are haggling over contracts, but the long running show has ratings to back it up. Ultimately the biggest issue for TV fans is whether or not House will still be quality entertainment for another season or two. I love the cranky doctor as much as the next guy, but after seven seasons, the jokes are stale and the insane medical crisises aren’t exciting. House will be back, rest assured, but maybe its time to start thinking about pulling the plug.

Cancellation Scale: 10

Mr. Sunshine

For a show that most people didn’t like at first, it has steadily improved as its become less and less reliant on Matthew Perry making sour faces and brought the excellent supporting cast into the spotlight a bit more. The show has been ABC’s best new comedy, despite airing opposite American Idol and frequently after low rated Modern Family reruns. This isn’t a perfect show, but there’s potential, especially if its paired with Cougar Town, which shares a similar quirky vibe. If ABC finds something better, it’ll get the axe, but if not, expect to see it on the lineup in the fall.

Cancellation Scale: 5

The Chicago Code

Shawn Ryan had a rough fall with Terriers, and his cop drama on FOX hasn’t exactly done stellar this spring. Still, the show has been slowly getting stronger and has been up against lighter, popular comedies on CBS, and FOX really needs it. The network has had a rough stretch when it comes to new dramas in the past few years, and their two popular franchises in the genre, House and Bones have lost the shine they had a few years ago. It wouldn’t be uncharacteristic of the network to drop The Chicago Code and start fresh in the fall with four new dramas, but the prevailing notion is that unless something better comes along, you’ll hear more ridiculous statements about the White Sox being better than the Cubs.

Cancellation Scale: 6

Perfect Couples/Outsourced

To be clear, Perfect Couples isn’t a good show, but Outsourced is atrocious. The former should be cancelled because it isn’t fresh or entertaining enough to watch week to week, and the latter has spent an entire television season insulting smart viewers and the entire nation of India with jokes about diarrhea and culture clashes. The two shows are the weak links in NBC’s three hour comedy block, but they aren’t necessarily signs that the experiment failed. 10:00 is a good spot for 30 Rock, and renewals for Community and Parks and Recreation have proven they work in their time slots. This is ultimately an issue of quality instead of quantity, but NBC will probably run for cover and put an hour long show back in at 10. Despite this fact, it’ll be nice to get rid of Outsourced and barely noticeable that we’ll be rid of Perfect Couples.

Cancellation Scale: 1

Mad Men Returning in 2012 With or Without Matthew Weiner

Michael — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:57:49 +0000

Since Mad Men is traditionally a late summer-early fall show, it already feels like forever since its been on. Making matters worse, AMC and show creator Matthew Weiner have been engaged in heated contract talks to keep the show runner attached to the hit series. Today brought both good news and bad news, with AMC announcing it had authorized production on the show, with early 2012 as an air date. The only hitch is that Weiner doesn’t have a deal yet, meaning the show could go on without his guidance. Apparently, AMC is asking for a few things, including reducing two minutes off the show’s run time to run more ads and cutting back on the screentime of some major characters, while Weiner is reportedly asking for somewhere in the range of $30 million, which would make him one of the highest paid showrunners in television. No matter whose side your on, it sounds like a mess that could jeopardize the quality of one of the best shows on television. Stay tuned for more.

Futurama Sticking Around For Two More Years

Michael — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:31:23 +0000

Good news everyone! The Comedy Central reincarnation of Matt Groening’s Futurama has been renewed by the network for another 26 episodes to be split into two half seasons for another two years. All of the original cast will return to the show, which has been a big hit for Comedy Central, not only since it began airing new episodes last year, but also with reruns from the show’s original five seasons that aired on FOX. The renewal will take the show into 2013, meaning new episodes will be airing 10 years after its cancellation, which is pretty damn awesome.

Will Ferrell, Ricky Gervais To Visit Dunder-Mifflin

Michael — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:46:51 +0000

The Steve Carell Exit Tour just got a little more star power. Will Ferrell has signed on to do a multiple episode arch on The Office as a visiting branch manager from Dunder-Mifflin’s main office. Quipped writer Paul Lieberstein, “We found Steve Carell when he was nothing but a movie star and we turned him into a television star. We are proud to continue The Office’s tradition of discovering famous talent, and we hope that once America gets a good look at Will, they’ll see what we see: tremendous raw sexuality.” Could Ferrell secretly be Michael Scott’s replacement? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. At least it’s a reunion of this winning team.

In other Office guest star news, be sure to tune in tonight to see a brief appearance by none other than David Brent himself. Ricky Gervais, the man who created the original British show, will reprise his role for a brief cameo. No word on what it will entail, but this has been a long time in the making, so it’ll be worth it either way.

So How About That Ricky Gervais Controversy?

Michael — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:37:43 +0000

Most of our coverage of the Golden Globes came via Twitter, and our analysis of Ricky Gervais’s second stint as host was limited to a brief “Ricky Gervais killed it in his intro. Tha man doesn’t care who he pisses off.” Well, turns out he pissed off a lot of people, especially Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Philip Berk. Gervais took a couple of big shots at people both in the room and out of it, notably making big jabs at The Tourist (which prompted a scathing look from Johnny Depp and probably a voodoo curse from Angelina Jolie), Tom Cruise (who he referred to as being gay, “probably”), Tim Allen (which pissed off co-presenter Tom Hanks), Robert Downey Jr. (referring to his stints in jail and rehab), and the antics of Charlie Sheen. So how did Ricky get away with it? By not sharing his jokes with the HFPA before the show. Berk responded to the controversy, saying, “”I had absolutely no idea what Ricky was going to say so anything I heard was at the same time you heard it…He definitely crossed the line. And some of the things were totally unacceptable. But that’s Ricky.” Berk seemed uncomfortable addressing Gervais on stage during his brief speech, and he’s not the only one voicing his distaste with the Twitterverse exploding yesterday with responses to the edgy performance. Gervais defended himself yesterday, saying, “Everyone took it well and the atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great…I was allowed to choose who I would introduce in advance. I obviously chose presenters who I had the best jokes for. (And who I knew had a good sense of humor.)” He added that he didn’t think he was going to be invited back next year, which seems like the obvious call.

So what are we to make of this? Honestly, I don’t know who was expecting Gervais to come out and give the normal dull awards show banter, especially after he did almost the same thing last year, albeit not quite as mean spirited. Gervais has always pushed the envelope Damon Lindleof may have said it best when he tweeted, “In case you forgot what made David Brent so brilliant, it’s that he made us feel unsafe, uncomfortable and unable to look away.” If you want someone to talk about how great The Tourist is, you should have hired someone with a lighter reputation. In the end, this looks like it might be the end of Gervais career as an award show host, which means we can look forward to many more years of bland, boring Hollywood schmooze fests.

Golden Globe Nominations Announced

Michael — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:16:54 +0000

It’s that magic time of year again where the Golden Globe nominations come out and get us excited for the Oscar race, and remind us of all that good TV we’ve been watching. The big guns movie wise got a plethora of nods in the categories that mattered, though True Grit was shut out, perhaps because no one has seen it yet, though it hasn’t stopped some other awards. Thanks to the odd Musical or Comedy category at the Globes, we get a nomination for The Tourist, the “thriller” that got nearly universal critical scorn which made nothing at the box office. Boy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association sure are tastemakers! The TV nominations are also fairly predictable, but the results should be interesting. Ricky Gervais will host the ceremony January 16. The nominations:

Best Picture, Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Actress, Drama
Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actor, Drama
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Musical Or Comedy
Alice In Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Best Actress, Musical Or Comedy
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love & Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

Best Actor, Musical Or Comedy
Johnny Depp, Alice In Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love & Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours

Best Original Song
“You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me,” Burlesque
“Bound To You,” Burlesque
“Coming Home”, Country Strong
“I See The Light,” Tangled
“There’s A Place For Us,” Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Best Animated Film
Tangled
Toy Story 3
How To Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me
The Illusionist

Best Foreign-Language Film
I Am Love
Biutiful
The Concert
The Edge
In A Better World

Best TV Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead

Best Actress, TV Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Katey Sagal, Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Best Actor, TV Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Best TV Comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

Best Actress, TV Comedy
Toni Collette, The United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee

Best Actor, TV Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Supporting Actress, TV
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Supporting Actor, TV
Scott Caan, Hawaii 5-0
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

Best TV Miniseries
Carlos
The Pacific
Temple Grandin
You Don’t Know Jack
Pillars Of The Earth

IFC Adds Larry Sanders, Mr. Show, Ben Stiller Show

Michael — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:59:17 +0000

IFC already was doing the awesome thing and airing some amazing comedies like Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, and Monty Python, while also adding shows like David Cross’ British show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margret and soon, the ThunderANT show Portlandia, but I still offered up a big fist pump at their latest additions. Starting January 3, the network will air full runs of highly influential cult comedies The Larry Sanders Show, The Ben Stiller Show, and Mr. Show, as well as Jay Mohr’s one success, Action. They’ll air in a 90 minute block hosted by comedian Scott Aukerman, and will feature interviews with people involved in each show, as well as those that were influenced by them. Larry Sanders, The Ben Stiller Show, and Mr. Show were all particularly influential in modern comedy, and helped spawn the careers of dozens of comedians and writers. An interesting sidenote, this means that IFC will now be running four shows Judd Apatow wrote and/or produced for in Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Larry Sanders, and The Ben Stiller Show as well as three shows starring David Cross in Arrested Development, Todd Margret, and Mr. Show. Conspiracy?! No, probably not.

NBC Brings Back Parks and Rec, Adds Extra Hour of Comedy to Thursdays

Michael — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:49:59 +0000

If a new, free Girl Talk record wasn’t enough good news for you Monday, how about the news that NBC is bringing back Parks and Rec this January as part of a new three hour block of comedy? Works for us! The show will come back January 20 as part of an interesting move by NBC to put half hour comedies into the 10:00 hour, giving their Thursday comedy night six shows. Community will still lead off the night at 8, followed by a new show, Perfect Couples, about three different couples who are at various stages of their relationships. The Office stays at 9:00 and will lead into Parks and Recreation at 9:30, which should benefit from the larger audiences tuning in for Steve Carell’s final episodes as Michael Scott. 30 Rock will move to 10:00 and Outsourced will round out the night. It’s going to be interesting to see how the move plays out, but above all, it’s going to be great to see the folks of Pawnee back on TV.