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
It would have been impossible for Lost to answer every lingering question and appease everyone in its final season, but for those hoping for closure for the characters they had grown to know and love, it was an extremely satisfying season. Yes, it’s easy to go after things like the “Heart of the Island,” but there were so many moments, especially in the FlashSideways, that tugged at the heartstrings. Ultimately, the last season of Lost reminded us that the reason the show succeeded while the knockoffs failed because it had characters we wanted to be happy, and in that regard, the ending was a complete success. (M)
If there’s one thing Treme was not, it’s The Wire 2. Viewers looking for Omar and Hamsterdam and “Where’s Wallace” type scenes were bound for disappointment. Those who stuck around, however, were rewarded with a series of rich, warm character portraits. Featuring one of the best casts on TV (including standouts Melissa Leo, Khandi Alexander, Clarke Peters among others), the show felt more alive and more human than anything else currently airing. Even if some of the plot points didn’t quite gel the way we might have hoped (Sonny), the show itself made for a promising start from one of TV’s brightest visionaries. (J)
Community makes it easy to focus on the gadget episodes and pop culture awareness by being so good at it. Episodes like “Modern Warfare” and “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” Community has made a name for itself with some of the smartest parody episodes ever on TV. But what makes Community a truly outstanding show is the measure of heart and empathy it displays for each one of it’s off-beat characters. From a smarmy lawyer to a high-strung overachiever, the characters on Community have transcended their simply types and become a rich collection of people. (J)
HBO has always been successful at creating full realized worlds within their shows, but Boardwalk Empire takes that to a whole new level. With stunning sets and visuals and top notch acting, the Prohibition Era drama is the successor to The Sopranos the network has been searching for. Steve Buschemi shines as Nuckie Thompson, owning the role completely, and the supporting cast is absolutely phenomenal all around. The first season of Boardwalk Empire ushered in a new era for cable dramas, one in which no idea is too big to put on the small screen. (M)
The people who solve crimes on TV don’t look and act like Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James. They don’t worry about how to make rent or take cases for a bank manager just to try to secure a loan. And their cases don’t involve women who pretend to have affairs at their husband’s insistence or helping wealthy landowners rob themselves. But Terriers wasn’t like other shows. It had a shaggy, easy-going energy that blended perfectly with its noir elements and some of the best performances on TV. Terriers could regularly punch you in the gut in a way no other TV show did and TV is a flatter place without it. (J)
After a tepid first season, Parks and Recreation emerged in its second season as one of the best shows on network television. The show finally emerged from the shadow of its older brother, The Office, consistently being the funniest show in NBC’s strong Thrusday night lineup. Parks and Rec learned to play up the strengths of its phenomenal cast, with Amy Pohler leading the way, but with Aziz Ansari, Nic Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Pratt adding just as many fantastic moments. With the late additions of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott, Parks and Rec looks like it will continue its greatness when it returns in early 2011. (M)
At the end of its third season, Mad Men liberated Don and Betty Draper from their suffocating, destructive marriage, and then spent the fourth season teaching them to beware what they wished for. This season structured itself like a series of interlocking short stories, giving the audience an even more intimate look at the show’s characters than in years’ past. And, in the end, it made all too much sense to see Don fall back into his same pattern, proposing out of nowhere to his pretty secretary while casting aside his intellectual and professional equal Faye. In the end, this season of Mad Men was about what every season of Mad Men is about: the more things change the more they stay the same. (J)
It’s a shame that the best comedy of 2010 was one of the least watched or heard of shows of the same year, yet it seems fitting for a show about characters seemingly doomed for failure. The show didn’t miss a beat all season, and actually added more depth to their characters by taking them out of the parties they catered in episodes like “Steve Gutenberg’s Birthday” or “Party Down Company Picnic.” Ken Marino was once again the show’s MVP as perpetual loser Ron Donald, but I could go on and on how good the rest of the cast was. If you missed out on Party Down, you’re not the only one, but do yourself a favor and correct that. You won’t be sorry. (M)
I meant to recap this season of Breaking Bad, but I just couldn’t do it, at least not without watching each episode three or four times. One week, Breaking Bad could deliver episodes loaded with tension to the point of explosion and then follow them with softer hours that put a close-up focus on the people at the show’s core. Breaking Bad doesn’t let its characters out of making difficult decisions, it doesn’t go gentle on the audience, and it doesn’t play by the rules. From the compelling men at its center – Walter White and Jesse Pinkman – the fascinating characters in their orbit and even people at the periphery, Breaking Bad has created and depicted a world that is fully realized and detailed. (J)
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