emmy nominations 2008

Finally, the official 2008 Emmy ballot has arrived. Some thoughts...

* Two and a Half Men for Best Comedy? Seriously? And why did the potential list have so much more potential? Where's New Adventures of Old Christine? And I thought Curb Your Enthusiasm went off the air years ago. How can it be nominated?

* The Best Lead Actor in a Drama category has newcomers Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment, Jon Hamm (Mad Men), and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), but my vote still goes for Michael C. Hall's Dexter. He makes loving a serial murder so easy! But how in the world is Charlie Sheen nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy? He's the new John Travolta. Completely creepy and has overstayed his welcome. And, speaking of creepy, Michael Emerson better win Best Supporting Actor in a Drama. I seem to get crushes on creepy characters... like Leoben Conoy.

* Amy Pohler is nominated for SNL in the Supporting Actress for a Comedy? That seems like cheating, simply because SNL is a variety show. Pohler gets to play multiple characters, whereas other actresses must work with one character. I love her to death (and am super excited about her possibly joining The Office spin-off), but I want Kristin Chenowith to win for Pushing Daisies, and since Pohler left SNL, her chances of winning are increased. Also, I would love to see Will Arnett and Carrie Fisher win for Guest Actors for 30 Rock. In fact, 30 Rock should also win for Outstanding Cast. And where is Tracey Morgan's name on this list?

* Recount should win for anything it's nominated for. Namely, Kevin Spacey should win Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, and Denis Leary's performance trumps any of the multiple John Adams actors. He was fantastic! It should also win Outstanding Television Movie, Best Casting, Outstanding Directing, and, of course, Danny Strong's script should win for Best Writing.

* I'm still confused as to why the Extras finale counts as a miniseries or movie, but I would love to see Ashley Jensen take home the prize for Supporting Actress. Although, Laura Dern as Katherine Harris in Recount was also a great caricature... Also, Kathy Griffin should win another emmy for My Life on the D-List. Her standup his hit-or-miss (depends if you like celebrity gossip), but her casual everyday interactions with people are some of the funniest moments I've ever seen. She is whip-smart and always has a clever anecdote.

* Jon Stewart should win it all. Forget Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (which is where SNL belongs). He should win Best Actress, Best Actor (he did play a convincing Guantanamo Elmo), and Guest Actor.

* Project Runway should win Best Reality Series. Like those other options even exist...

* And if Battlestar doesn't win for Cinematography, I will... be upset.

* Why are the Writing categories all the way down at the bottom of the list? After stunt coordination, sound mixing, and hairstyling? At least Diablo Cody put screenwriters back on the map, but come on, these shows wouldn't exist without the writers and we'd all be stuck with mind-numbingly bad reality programs. Writers should be just as important as the actors... so maybe if the writers punched up their speeches and made them shorter (why do writers insist on being long-winded and wordy?), then people will start to pay attention. They should take notes from Hugh Laurie. He should win just so he can give more speeches.

And if anyone's interested, E! Online wrote a statistical surprises breakdown of the list, calling Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lily the "Ellen Pompeos of Lost" (having never been nominated) and noting that 30 has a record 17 nominations for a comedy series.