TV Jots

58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Picks

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Arrested Development
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• The Office
• Scrubs
• Two and a Half Men
• I pick either The Office or Scrubs, both NBC prime offerings, because they make me laugh, goshdarnit!
• They’ll probably pick Arrested Development because a lot of people seem to think it was given the boot unjustly and deserved both more time and better ratings (the show was an uneven experience for me—sometimes funny, sometimes ridiculous in a not-good way).

Outstanding Drama Series

• 24
• Grey’s Anatomy
• House M.D.
• The Sopranos
• The West Wing
• I pick 24 because it’s so darn captivating (but I wouldn’t mind if misanthropic House M.D. won to get props for its inexplicably non-nominated star, Hugh Laurie).
• They’ll probably pick the recently departed West Wing for sentimental reasons, which is okay since the series did have a fine final season.

Outstanding Made for Television Movie

• Flight 93
• The Flight That Fought Back
• The Girl in the Café
• Mrs. Harris
• Yesterday
• The near-native New Yorker in me picks either of the Flight telefilms about United Airlines Flight 93 for obvious reasons.
• They’ll probably pick one of the Flight telefilms about United Airlines Flight 93 for obvious reasons.

Outstanding Miniseries

• Bleak House
• Elizabeth I
• Into the West
• Sleeper Cell
• Ouch—this one is too hard. I pick Bleak House because my X-Files girl Gillian Anderson was terrific, along with all of her fellow castmates. I also pick Elizabeth I because Helen Mirren is my favorite actress, and nothing she’s in can do wrong. I pick Into the West, too, because the sprawling tale of early America was simply gorgeous. I pick Sleeper Cell, as well, since the terrorist-next-door theme was downright scary, especially as acted by the sensational cast.
• They’ll pick one of the ones I pick because all four nominees would make excellent winners.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

• Steve Carell for The Office
• Larry David for Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Kevin James for The King of Queens
• Tony Shalhoub for Monk
• Charlie Sheen for Two and a Half Men
• I pick Steve Carell because who can resist a 40-Year-Old Virgin?
• They’ll probably pick either Carell or Tony Shalhoub, but I wouldn’t be all that surprised if Charlie Sheen scored with the Academy since his dad Martin is in the spotlight, too, with the West Wing nominations.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Peter Krause for Six Feet Under
• Denis Leary for Rescue Me
• Christopher Meloni for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Martin Sheen for The West Wing
• Kiefer Sutherland for 24
• Judging by mass popularity alone, you probably say Kiefer Sutherland, but I say Denis Leary, the multi-talented star of the suh-mokin’ Rescue Me.
• They’ll probably go with the flow and say Sutherland, but wouldn’t it be cute if Martin Sheen scooped up this one and his boy Charlie the one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series?

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

• Andre Braugher for Thief
• Charles Dance for Bleak House
• Ben Kingsley for Mrs. Harris
• Donald Sutherland for Human Trafficking
• Jon Voight for Pope John Paul II
• Is there really a choice here? I pick Andre Braugher because although Thief was canceled, it wasn’t his fault—the man has never given a subpar performance.
• They’ll probably pick Jon Voight because he portrayed the Pope, like, duh.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Stockard Channing for Out of Practice
• Jane Kaczmarek for Malcolm in the Middle
• Lisa Kudrow for The Comeback
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus for The New Adventures of Old Christine
• Debra Messing for Will & Grace
• If there’s one category where I really don’t care who wins, this one is it. If my life depended on picking someone, anyone, however, I’d go for Julia Louis-Dreyfus merely because The New Adventures of Old Christine rose above initial so-so reviews to ace the ratings big time.
• They’ll probably pick Debra Messing because Will & Grace finally went bye-bye after almost a decade or Louis-Dreyfus because of what I just said.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Frances Conroy for Six Feet Under
• Geena Davis for Commander in Chief
• Mariska Hargitay for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Allison Janney for The West Wing
• Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer
• I pick either Mariska Hargitay (she has a slight edge) or Kyra Sedgwick because both of my girls kick major butt on the crime beat.
• They’ll probably pick Frances Conroy or Allison Janney because long-running, popular canceled series make them all misty-eyed and whatnot.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

• Gillian Anderson for Bleak House
• Kathy Bates for Ambulance Girl
• Annette Bening for Mrs. Harris
• Judy Davis for A Little Thing Called Murder
• Helen Mirren for Elizabeth I
• I pick Anderson or Mirren because I enjoyed their performances more than those of the other nominees (also see my comments under Outstanding Miniseries).
• They’ll probably pick one of the other three because I didn’t.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

• Will Arnett for Arrested Development
• Bryan Cranston for Malcolm in the Middle
• Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men
• Sean Hayes for Will & Grace
• Jeremy Piven for Entourage
• I pick Jon Cryer because he cracks … me … up in Two and a Half Men.
• They’ll likely pick Jeremy Piven because he cracks them—and everyone else who watches it—up in Entourage.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

• Alan Alda for The West Wing
• Michael Imperioli for The Sopranos
• Gregory Itzin for 24
• Oliver Platt for Huff
• William Shatner for Boston Legal
• I pick no one for this one because, oddly enough, I really don’t care who wins.
• They’ll probably pick Alan Alda, if not William Shatner, to give a nod to another dinosaur of the acting set who graced the small screen during the nominating season.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

• Robert Carlyle for Human Trafficking
• Clifton Collins Jr. for Thief
• Hugh Dancy for Elizabeth I
• Jeremy Irons for Elizabeth I
• Denis Lawson for Bleak House
• Oh, my—is this the year of the Brits or what (Carlyle and Lawson are Scottish, while Dancy and Irons are English)? I pick Robert Carlyle because he’s one of my all-time favorite actors. Plus, Human Trafficking was unexpectedly all right and schmaltz-free, especially for a Lifetime original telefilm.
• They’ll probably pick Jeremy Irons or Hugh Dancy because Elizabeth I rocked (so to speak).

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

• Cheryl Hines for Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Megan Mullally for Will & Grace
• Elizabeth Perkins for Weeds
• Jaime Pressly for My Name Is Earl
• Alfre Woodard for Desperate Housewives
• Alfre Woodard was in Desperate Housewives last season? Oh, yeah, right—for all of two or three scenes.… Anyway, this category is a no-brainer: I pick Jaime Pressly because nobody could bring Joy to the world like she does in My Name Is Earl.
• They’ll pick Pressly, too, if they have any sense.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

• Candice Bergen for Boston Legal
• Blythe Danner for Huff
• Sandra Oh for Grey’s Anatomy
• Jean Smart for 24
• Chandra Wilson for Grey’s Anatomy
• Now, come on—do I really need to write it out? I pick Chandra Wilson because Grey’s Anatomy would definitely not be the same without her larger-than-life presence (girlfriend steals every scene she’s in, no matter how brief).
• They’ll probably pick Wilson, or Sandra Oh, if they know what’s good for their reputation, especially after all of this year’s nominating glitches and oversights.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

• Ellen Burstyn for Mrs. Harris
• Shirley Jones for Hidden Places
• Cloris Leachman for Mrs. Harris
• Kelly Macdonald for The Girl in the Café
• Alfre Woodard for The Water Is Wide
• I pick Woodard since she certainly ain’t gonna win for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
• They’ll probably pick Ellen Burstyn for fourteen seconds of 2006-Emmy infamy. ;-) Just teasing. Actually, they’ll probably pick Woodard, like me, because it would be kind of hard to justify her being nominated in two different categories, yet walking away with zip.

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series

• The Colbert Report
• The Daily Show
• Late Night with Conan O’Brien
• Late Show with David Letterman
• Real Time with Bill Maher
• Ha! No Leno? Well, I don’t care who wins, then, since the one I definitely wouldn’t want to isn’t here.
• They’ll probably pick The Colbert Report or The Daily Show because Daily Show affiliates and alumni are all the rage nowadays.

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

• The Amazing Race
• American Idol: The Search for a Superstar
• Dancing with the Stars
• Project Runway
• Survivor
• I pick Project Runway because Heidi Klum and company are so very in.
• They’ll likely pick one of the other four because they probably don’t even know where to find basic cable’s Bravo on the dial.

The 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards airs live Sunday, August 27 at 8pm EST on NBC

Emmy photo courtesy of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences