The Shallow End of the Pool

A few weeks back, after this year's Emmy Awards Nominations were announced, I mentioned that there were quite a few surprising omissions and promised to talk about it more when the awards got closer. Well, the damned awards snuck up on me; the show is this Sunday already so I'd better get cracking. I've decided to not bother trying to predict who's going to win (I'm notoriously bad at it, anyway-go pick up Entertainment Weekly if you want predictions). Instead, I'm going to run through the major categories and tell you who I WANT to win, plus who I thought should have been nominated that got left out.

One note: I'm not a TV critic and I make no claim to watch everything on television. This is just one man's opinion based on what I watch regularly.

LEAD ACTOR - COMEDY
No contest for me. Steve Carell for "The Office." Out of the other nominees, only Larry David deserved his nomination. Kevin James, Tony Shalhoub, and Charlie Sheen (!) should have been left out. In their spots should have been Jason Bateman for "Arrested Development" (R.I.P.); Jason Lee, who was positively brilliant this past year on "My Name Is Earl"; and Josh Radnor, from the criminally over-looked "How I Met Your Mother."

LEAD ACTRESS - COMEDY
To paraphrase Apu Nahasapimapetilon, "OK, I have seen none of these." For the record, the nominees are Stockard Channing, Jane Kaczmarek, Lisa Kudrow, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, and Debra Messing. It wouldn't be fair to pick a winner in a category I don't give two shits about and, quite frankly, all my favorite female comedic performances this year were in supporting roles, so: no comment. Sorry. Get your refunds at the front desk.

SUPPORTING ACTOR - COMEDY
REALLY tough call on this one, as both Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") and Jeremy Piven ("Entourage") are both deserving. But Piven's Ari Gold is so off the charts, I have to go with him on this one. The other folks-Bryan Cranston, Jon Cryer, and Sean Hayes- should have made room for Neil Patrick Harris (the role of a lifetime on "How I Met Your Mother"; John Krasinski (whose impeccable comic timing and interplay with Jenna Fischer on "The Office" is the highlight of that show every week); and, for a wild card, how about Robert Ben Garant from "Reno 911!"? Deputy Travis Junior kicks ass.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS - COMEDY
Another easy call. Jaime Pressly was a revelation this year on "My Name Is Earl," and I really hope she wins. I would dump all of the other nominees (Cheryl Hines, Megan Mullally, Elizabeth Perkins, and Alfre Woodard), as there were much better candidates that got ripped off. As mentioned above, Jenna Fischer on "The Office" is fantastic. My #3 pick would have to be Alyson Hannigan ("How I Met Your Mother"), and I swear it has nothing to do with my love for all things associated with Buffy. The last two spots should have been taken up by Jessica Walter, who was fabulous on "Arrested Development," and Alia Shawkat, ditto.

COMEDY SERIES
Another close one, but I give it to "The Office"- just barely- over "Arrested Development." Nothing against "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "Scrubs," both of which are fine shows, but I'd put "The Simpsons" and "My Name Is Earl" in those spots. Sure, you could argue that "The Simpsons" isn't as funny as it used to be, but "The Simpsons" at 75% strength is still a hell of a lot funnier than most of the shit being passed off by the networks these days. As for the 5th spot (it should go without saying that "Two and a Half Men" isn't staying there, at least not on my watch), I say "Entourage." If you don't have HBO, it's worth it just for this show. And just because it's my blog, I'm creating a 6th slot and giving it to "How I Met Your Mother," because it deserves to be here.

That's enough for one day, I think. Check back later this week and I'll tackle the Drama categories.