Whine & Cheese

Get Your Emmy Nominations

The Emmy nominations were announced this morning. 

This year there was the promise of something new as blue-ribbon panels picked the final nominees from the top ten vote-getters from the Academy's general membership.  I don't know how much "new" there is, but there were some surprises... and, of course, some major overlooks (in my humble opinion)...

The Sopranos - The show gets the expected nod for  Best Drama, but the big surprises were the absence of the usually slam-dunk nods for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco.  Now I am not familiar with all the shows/actors, but I found it particularly insane that the wooden Geena Davis, for Commander In Chief, earned a spot over Falco.  Michael Imperioli did get a nod for Supporting Actor.

Desperate Housewives - I agree the show has slipped in its sophomore season... but last year's winner for Best Comedy was pretty much shut-out in the major categories.  None of the leading ladies were nominated (including last year's winner, Felicity Huffman). If anything, I thought the lone non-nominee last year, Eva Longoria, might get one this time around.  Craziest?  The only major acting nod was Best Supporting Actress for ... Alfre Woodard?!?!  I love Alfre, but the Applewhite storyline is what I felt really dragged down this entire season.

Six Feet Under - It seems like such a long time ago since we said goodbye to the Fisher clan, but the stellar final season was just eligible for this round of Emmys.  While I hoped it would earn a final Best Drama nod, it did not... Peter Krause and Frances Conroy earned lead nominations... but none for Michael C. Hall and Lauren Ambrose, both who broke my heart (multiple times) over those last few episodes.

Lost - As with Housewives, last year's winner for Best Drama was totally shut out of major nominations this year... no acting nominations, lead or supporting... only Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) earned a "guest actor in a drama series" nomination.

The Comeback - One the nominations that made me the happiest... Lisa Kudrow for Best Actress in a Comedy series.  Valerie Cherish may have got the shaft, but at least Lisa knows she's being heard.

The Office - Earned nods for Best Comedy as well as for Steve Carell.  But no Emmy love for Jim and Pam (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) in the supporting categories.

My Name Is Earl - Perhaps eclipsed by The Office, I felt the freshmen comedy was a bit slighted.  No nominations for Best Comedy or Jason Lee or Ethan Suplee -- but all is well in Best Supporting Actress-land with a well-deserved nod to Jamie Pressly.

Arrested Development - The show eked out one more nod for Best Comedy series... but was on the short-end when it came to acting.  Only Will Arnett (Gob) squeaked in for supporting.  Where or where was my Jessica Walter nomination?!?

Will & Grace - Also, in its last hurrah.  The show fails to be up for Best Comedy... but 3/4's of the cast are nominated one more time (sorry Eric McCormack).

The West Wing - Gets its last (and, in my opinion, well-deserved) nod for Best Drama... with the usual suspects nominated in the acting categories... Sheen in lead, Janney in lead, and Alda in support.

24 - The show with the most nominations, including Best Drama.  Now while I think that this is technically a very good show, it's not one I watch for its fine acting.  Nevertheless, Kiefer gets a lead acting nod... and the devilish First Family, Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart, earn nods in support.   What no Chloe?!   Guess we need a "best comedic performance in a drama series" category for Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Weeds - A very good show over at Showtime... didn't expect a Best Comedy nod, but thought the deliciously sly Mary Louise Parker (and Award show fave) would make the cut for Lead Actress, she did not... the only major nod was Elizabeth Perkins in support.

Scrubs - Ok, I am thrilled for the Best Comedy nod... but WTF?!!!? Where are the acting nominations?!?!   Zach Braff made it onto the list last year, so I thought we were past all of this... and again, it is just inexcusable that John C. McGinley has never been nominated as Dr. Cox.

For the full list of nominess... and to see if your favorites have been nominated from the few shows I do not watch (i.e. the very much nominated Grey's Anatomy)... go here:
Yahoo! TV - Coverage of The 58th Annual Emmy Awards

A more "easy on the eyes" list can be found here:
EW.com | Here are the Emmy nominees

Season Finale Wrap-Up

We were on vacation for most of the season finales... so just getting around to getting some thoughts down... 

We watched the "biggies" as quickly as we could upon our return, but it took us to this past weekend to wrap them all up (mostly sitcoms that we were behind on prior to vacation).

Given my propensity to surf the Web and read entertainment magazines, I was "spoiled" on most shows... though, believe it or not, 24 and Lost were two shows I managed to remain spoiler-free. 

Okay here we go...

The Sopranos - I pretty much already covered this one.  Maybe I am just not enough of a die-hard Sopranos fan, but I was not let down by the much maligned season finale. Perhaps, my memory fails me, but does anything really big ever happen in a Sopranos season finale?  Most time it seems as if the "shocker" is an episode or two prior to the finale.  This time around we had Vito getting (pretty predictably) killed off, but with some surprising ramifications between the dueling mob families... and, as mentioned, I think the whole ChristaphaChristufuh/Julianna thing will have some serious ramifications... and the whole Adriana thing keeps bubbling up too!

24 - Surprise, surprise... Jack Bauer saves the world again, but looks like he is in some deep sh&t "tomorrow."  Having set the "shock" bar so high in previous seasons, I wasn't quite floored with this year's twist.  I predict a quick resolution to Jack's kidnapping early next season... and then we'll just get on with the usual crazy business at hand.  Let's just hope that next season they can find a way to keep First Lady Martha (deliciously played by Jean Smart) and Aaron Pierce in the loop.

Lost - This gets my nod for best finale of the season.  To no surprise, the show got totally flipped... with the cast we have grown to love (or hate) over the past two seasons, now just seemingly secondary (and innocent) players in a crazy scheme by some big-wig to keep his daughter away from a guy.  I think this by far topped last year's hatch ender.  Now, I think the best thing that could happen to this show is to give it a "finish" date.. say 3-5 more seasons max... and work towards "resolution."  That said, I suspect it'll never happen... from what I gather JJ Abrams and Co. don't work that way (and despite what they may say, I don't think they have a "plan")... and ABC will make their decision solely based on ratings (good or bad).

American Idol - Since we were still in the U.S., we found out Taylor won the very next morning.  But even knowing the result, the finale still seemed to have little tension... and, in five seasons, I think it was the worst finale.  Of the 3 songs they performed, Taylor and Kat only squeaked out one good one... and the guest-star duets were particularly dreadful.   Toni Braxton's duet with Taylor was a complete train wreck (for Toni, not Taylor!)... I think Mary J. Blije forgot Elliott was even on the stage... and the strangest of all, the Kat & Meatloaf creepy duet.  That one only got stranger after the fact... Kat admittted to not even knowing who Meatloaf was... and, due to paralyzing stage fright, Meat didn't even remember doing it.  The "new" songs were, as always, pretty pathetic.  Kudos to the judges for pointing that out!  Next year, cut the show down to an hour and be done with it (again, that'll never happen).

My Name Is Earl - Not much to say, since there was no cliffhanger... but still it was nice for the show to return to the scene of the crime (literally).  I suspect Emmy nods for Jason Lee and, if there is any justice in this world, Jamie Pressly.

Scrubs - Going into the finale, I knew about the "surprise" new pregnancies.  But props to my other half for almost immediately suspecting that JD is the not the father of the baby.  Makes total sense... storyline-wise it would not be such a great thing... and personally, I didn't quite warm up to Dr. Kim.

Will & Grace - While I think the show was clearly in decline, I still was not as down on it as many other folks.  That said, the series finale was a disappointment and most certainly paled to the hilarious series retrospective.  I just didn't like that they had Will and Grace "break up." I hate when "drama" infiltrates a sitcom (this happened before on W&G... with the classic blunder being Mad About You).  But I think it was just totally untrue to the characters, that they would let anything get between/separate them for far too long, let alone decades!  And the whole having their kids meet and marry was just insane.  I know its fiction, but they coulda done better.

The Office - Again, I knew about "the kiss"... but my-oh-my, it was whole other thing to see how it all played out between Jim and Pam.  Contradicting myself, this was a wonderful dramatic sit-com moment... I know it made me gasp... kudos to the always terrific (adorable! loveable!) Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski... achingly perfect.  Now, my worry... what happens next?  Word to creative team of The Office... Please. Don't. Screw. This. Up!!

Steve Carell Golden Globe Acceptance Speech

I have been deluged with (okay, maybe had a couple dozen!) search hits for Steve Carell's very funny acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for The Office at last week's Golden Globes.  I did mention it (along with many others) in this entry, but of course did not take the time to write it all down (along with many others).

I have not seen a transcript of Carell's (btw, one thing I learned during all this and screwed up myself... Steve's last name has one "r" and two "l"'s) speech anywhere on the Web, so when I saw that Bravo was re-airng the Globes this past weekend I decided to TiVo it again and meet the demand by getting it down in print.

So here it is... apologies for not getting the names Carell mentioned towards the end of the speech right.  Carell's asides (those "not written" by wife Nancy) are in italics:

Wow, I really did not expect this... so I did not write anything, however my wife did and handed me something.

[Carell holds up piece of paper]

I'd like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for this great honor. I would also like to thank my wife Nancy for her constant support and for being so beautiful tonight...

That's true

Thanks also to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for creating such a wonderful groundbreaking piece of television and to Greg Daniels for his talent, courage, and sheer audacity.

This is good.. thank you

Also, to my wife for giving me two wonderful children as painful as her labor might have been.  Thanks also to an excellent cast, crew, and writing staff all of whom I am indebted to ... if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here right now.

Hmmm... I don't know about that

Steve Salor, Michele Bowen, Matthew Lavon, Holly Burrell.... Nancy, my precious wife, who put her career on hold in support of mine and who sometimes wishes I would let her know when I'm going to be home late so she can schedule her life, which is no less important than mine.

To my parents, for not making me go to law school... and finally, to the love of my life, my wife Nancy.

Thank you very much.

Googlemania (see also):
steve carell acceptance speech
steve carrell acceptance speech
steve carell golden globes transcript
steve carrell's acceptance speech
carrell globe speech
steve carrell's golden globe speech transcript
steve carrell's globes speech transcript

Update: Thanks to The Very Unofficial Steve Carell Site for providing a link to this post!

UPDATE!  A whole year later I am getting a bunch of search hits all over again for Steve's Golden Globe speech (guess it's thanks to those NBC commercials promoting this year's telecast).  Of course, the acceptance speech is on YouTube and here it is:

UPDATE #3 (2/15/07):  Due to the Viacom copyright claim... the video of the acceptance speech is no longer available on You Tube.