Nominations were announced Thursday for the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
NBC’s “30 Rock” led the way with 22 bids, followed by the AMC series “Mad Men” with 16 nominations.
You can find a full list of nominations at emmys.com, but here’s a few of the highlights:
The vanishing
You might notice that something’s become quite scarce in this year’s list of best drama nominees — series from major networks.
Five of the seven potential winners hail from either HBO, AMC, FX or Showtime. Only “House” on Fox and “Lost” on ABC represent the major networks.
This isn’t a new trend, but the fact that it’s become a trend is disturbing.
It’s not that these cable series aren’t worthy of nomination — ”Big Love,” “Breaking Bad,” “Damages,” “Dexter,” and “Mad Men” undoubtedly are among the best television has to offer.
It’s that you have to add an extra tier on your cable or satellite system to watch them.
Geeks rule!
Geek culture has taken the nation by storm. See the success of this summer’s “Star Trek” film and popularity of the recent rash of comic book movies.
Now we’ve weaseled our way into the Emmy Awards.
Jim Parsons, who portrays the socially-inept uber-nerd Sheldon Cooper on CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory,” earned his first Emmy nomination as lead actor in a comedy series.
Parsons helped make Thursday’s announcements and was shocked to see his name among the nominees.
“No! ... This is some sort of trick fest,” Parsons said.
No, no trick fest, Sheldon. And this may be hard for a socially awkward theoretical physicist to understand, but people like you. Inflated ego, quirks and all.
The only disappointment here is no series nomination for the show.
You won’t find a smarter, or funnier, bit of television.
The real trick fest
“Family Guy” is among the contenders in the best comedy series category.
Seriously? This isn’t some kind of joke? This can’t actually be true.
But, alas, it is. The number of nominations in the major categories was expanded this year, and somehow that allowed “Family Guy” to make the jump from the small-fish animated series category to the big pond.
How this vulgar, decidedly unfunny series earns an honor “The Simpsons” was never given is stunning.
Thankfully, it will NOT win in the face of competition like “Entourage,” “Flight of the Conchords,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Office,” “30 Rock” and “Weeds.”
But if by some ungodly act of insanity “Family Guy” was to appear in the final envelope, I expect Dwight Schrute to take care of it quickly and quietly.
Snubbing their toes
Actors, actresses and shows are snubbed every year.
Worthy performances go unheralded, despite critical and fan acclaim.
And this year’s “Oops, We Forgot About That” award is a tie.
Both SyFy’s “Battlestar Galactica” and HBO’s “True Blood” were shut out of the major categories.
Guess the academy isn’t as afraid of Cylons or vampires as it is of nominating a sci-fi or fantasy series.
Contact Heather Bremer, who thinks the only dreamy vampires are Angel and Spike, at 640-4867 or heather.bremer@herald
bulletin.com.
