The best of the rest (since Friday Night Lights wasn't included)

I wasn't going to blog about the Emmys this year, mostly because the fact that Friday Night Lights didn't receive any major nominations makes the show seem a total joke. But I decided to watch, and when the nominees for the second award were announced, I was compelled to grab my computer.

Why? The award was Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. The nominees: Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn for Lost, Michael Imperioli for The Sopranos, Masi Oka from Heroes, T.R. Knight for Grey's Anatomy and William Shatner for Boston Legal.

William Shatner for Boston Legal?!?! Does this make any sense? Does anyone consider Boston Legal a legitimate show? Does anyone consider Shatner on Boston Legal a legitimate actor? No one from Friday Night Lights was nominated and William Shatner is up for Boston Legal?! And for that matter...T.R. Knight? Is Grey's Anatomy still considered worthy of major awards at this point? Didn't last season pretty much suck? Weren't Knight's "serious" scenes when George's father died difficult to watch not because his pain was so real but because it was so overdramatized? Luckily, O'Quinn won, and he would have been my choice.

But apparently Grey's is worthy of major awards, because Katherine Heigl won as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. I could have accepted Sandra Oh winning, because she really is the best thing about that show, but basically every time Heigl was "emotional" this season, I cringed. But the Emmy voters waste two nominations on Heigl and Chandra Wilson (I know she's popular, but I just don't think she's that good) while actresses like Connie Britton are overlooked?

And what is the definition of a "guest actor?" Among the nominees this year was Elizabeth Reaser, who played amnesiac Ava on Grey's Anatomy. But she was on the show for eleven episodes. That's not too many to be considered a guest actor? And IMDB tells me Judith Light, another nominee, was on Ugly Betty for 16 episodes.

Wow. All of this is kind of showing me something I hadn't realized, which is how much I have come to dislike Grey's. I rarely give up on shows, but as I lay out all of these complaints and so many are related to one show, I'm thinking maybe it's time I say goodbye. Perhaps I should just wait for Sandra Oh's next vehicle.

Other (non-Grey's) thoughts:

I don't blame Judi Davis for not showing to receive her award for The Starter Wife. The entire show was kind of embarassing, as is the fact that she won an award for it.

The tribute to The Sopranos was just strange. First a montage that the viewers barely got to watch (because we were watching The Jersey Boys as they sang along) and then the cast came out, stood on the stage, and...nothing. Just odd.

And speaking of The Sopranos, how does James Spader beat out James Gandolfini for Best Actor in a Drama? Unlike Shatner, his character on Boston Legal isn't a total joke, but it doesn't come close to Gandolfini's portrayal of Tony Soprano. I watched Spader play the same character on The Practice and it's pretty much a strange guy playing a strange guy. Sure, he has some internal conflicts, but it's not very complex. Whereas complex is probably the first word most think of when it comes to Gandolfini's performance as Tony Soprano.

Which leads us to my final comment--Outstanding Drama Series. Nominees: Boston Legal, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House and The Sopranos. The winner is as it should have been: The Sopranos. And I know I am now a broken record, but Boston Legal and Grey's Anatomy were contenders while Friday Night Lights wasn't? I admit that I don't really watch Boston Legal, but Gobo does, and here's his take: "it's a show that doesn't take itself seriously, it has some laughs, and basically consists of a bunch of actors who have been successful in the past playing their typical roles--Candace Bergen, William Shatner, James Spader--and a bunch of cliches." As for Grey's Anatomy, not once did I watch that show last season and think "this could be one of the best hours of television I ever watch." But that's exactly what I thought after the final episode of Friday Night Lights.

So basically, the Emmys suck. Oh, and so did Ryan Seacrest as host. Fraggle. Out.