Emmy Passes Up Britney for… Actresses
Ted and Barney weren’t the only ones to give Abby the receptionist the brushoff.
Britney Spears’ hyped two-episode appearance on How I Met Your Mother didn’t catch the eye of Emmy voters, who left her off their list of semifinalists for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, per the latest round of Emmy scoopage from the L.A. Times’ Gold Derby blog.
Spears shouldn’t feel too snubbed, thoughfellow twentysomething Mary-Kate Olsen, who played a pot-dealing proselytizer on Weeds, didn’t make the cut, either. And she’s been acting all her life!
But this year, only two under-40 thesps made the first cut, the relative young’uns being Sarah Silverman, who could be a two-time Emmy nominee thanks to her turn as a psycho fan on Monk, and Oscar nominee Amy Ryan, who made quite the impression as the Michael-liking “new Toby” on The Office.
In addition to needing way more experience, it also probably would have helped if Spears and Olsen had guest-starred on 30 Rock or Desperate Housewives. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences singled out three seasoned stars apiece from eachEdie Falco, Elaine Stritch and Carrie Fisher for shaking things up at NBC and elder Housewives Polly Bergen, Shirley Knight and Kathryn Joosten, the last of whom also won the Emmy in 2005 for her role as Lynette’s neighbor, Mrs. McClusky.
Also well-served by their sharp comedic chops were Christopher Guest regular Jane Lynch, who appeared in Two and a Half Men, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Vivica A. Fox and Ugly Betty’s Annie Potts.
On the masculine side of things, there’s a lot to like about the short list for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy, despite the pitiful absence of Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie, any of the dudes from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Entourage’s Jeremy Piven…
Kidding! Of course Piven has the chance to win his third Emmy in a row for playing Ari Gold. The Office’s Rainn Wilson, Two and a Half Men’s Jon Cryer, How I Met Your Mother’s Neil Patrick Harris and Piven’s Entourage costar Kevin Dillon have their second shot in a row for a trophy, as well, but they’ll face some stiff competition from, among others, everyone’s favorite NBC page.
Jack McBrayer, who plays the infectiously funny Kenneth on 30 Rock is facing off against costar Tracy Morgan, as well as The Office’s John Krasinski, Weed’s Justin Kirk and Back to You’s Fred Willard, whose performance looks to be the only one the Academy singled out from the already canceled Fox sitcom.
On a more serious note, House’s Hugh Laurie, Rescue Me’s Denis Leary and defending champ James Spader of Boston Legal are back in the hunt for Lead Actor in a Drama, where they join Golden Globe winner Don Hamm of Mad Men, Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey of Grey’s Anatomy and a host of captivatingly conflicted charactersDexter’s Michael C. Hall, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, The Riches’ Eddie Izzard and In Treatment’s Gabriel Byrne.
Holding down the fort for the woefully underwatched Friday Night Lights is best actor possibility Kyle Chandler, who proves that nice guys don’t have to finish last.
Speaking of overlooked, the fate of Battlestar Galactica (its Emmy fate, anyway) might really rest on President Roslin’s shoulders.
It’s not confirmed at the moment, but a tipster has indicated to Gold Derby that Mary McDonnell is a semifinalist for best actress in a drama…finally.
In all likelihood, her fellow competitors will be past winners Sally Field of Brothers & Sisters, Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order: SVU and Patricia Arquette of Medium; The Riches’ Minnie Driver and The Closer’s Kyra Sedgwick, both nominees last year; Damages’ Glenn Close, Big Love’s Jeanne Tripplehorn (seeing as she’s Wife No. 1 and all), Saving Grace’s Holly Hunter and, possibly, Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men.
The blog has also confirmed seven of the semifinalists for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy (again nothing shocking here): 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin, The Office’s Steve Carell, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David, Golden Globe winner David Duchovny of Californication, Pushing Daisy’s Lee Pace, Monk’s Tony Shalhoub and Two and a Half Men’s Charlie Sheen.
More info on Edie Falco’s new Showtime series
Remember back in February when we told you that Edie Falco was signed for a new dark situation comedy from Showtime about a harried nurse?
Well, they’ve started filming the show in New York and given it a tentative title, Nurse Jackie. What’s more, the cast surrounding Edie includes some familiar faces.
Nurse Jackie will have a boyfriend and he will be played by Paul Schulze. The name may not be familiar, but the face sure is. Paul was Father Phil on The Sopranos, the priest who spent a lot of time with Carmella and had her thinking they were going to replay The Thornebirds.
On this Showtime series, he’s Eddie and he works in the hospital in the pharmacy. That’s important because reportedly Edie’s character has a problem with drugs.
What’s this, she’s a female House? Could she be popping Vicodin as prodigiously as he does? Could anyone?
Other actors in the pilot are West Wing veteran Anna Deavere Smith as a hospital administrator, Mrs. Akalitus, Merritt Wever (NCIS) as Zoey, a young nurse working with Jackie, and Haaz Sleiman (Veronica Mars) a gay Muslim nurse.
The original scoop compared this comedy to Weeds, in particular, the way it’s going to be filmed and the satiric tone. The latest bit also includes more about Jackie’s character, saying that she “has an almost-clairvoyant ability to figure out what’s wrong with her patients even before doctors can — making her a much-sought-after commodity in the ER.”
Caryn Mandabach, an experienced, Emmy-award winning showrunner, is executive producing. Her credits include Grounded for Life, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That ’70s Show and The Cosby Show.
If Showtime likes what they produce, Nurse Jackie — or whatever it’s finally called — could be on the air in Spring 2009, maybe sooner. Considering the quality of the talent, I think we’ll see it sooner rather than later.
Lindsay Not Asking for Your Consideration
Edie Falco, Elaine Stritch, Carrie Fisher, Vivica A. Fox, Sarah Silverman and the 35 other women who were good for a hearty laugh over the last year can rest easy.
Lindsay Lohan has decided not to submit herself for consideration at the upcoming 60th Annual Emmy Awards, despite being eligible for an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series trophy for the not-quite-60 seconds she spent on screen in the season finale of Ugly Betty.
“The appearance was brief,” Lohan’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, told the Los Angeles Times’ Gold Derby blog. “We made a decision to wait.”
To be fair, Lohan’s Betty-tormenting character will have at least five episodes to strut her stuff next season, so no one can say for certain that the comebacking actress won’t leave an Emmy-worthy comedic footprint on the ABC comedy in the future.
Also in the running in 2008 after submitting their names to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences are Mary-Kate Olsen, Jenny McCarthy, Alyssa Milano, Sherri Shepherd, Heather Locklear and, speaking of much-needed positive moments in the spotlight, Britney Spears.
A couple days ago, Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl said she didn’t give herself a chance for a Supporting Actress Emmy repeat this year because of her character’s lack of meaty material this season.
Edie Falco Doubles Her Brood
After being a mother of two on TV for so long, Edie Falco must have figured it would be worth trying in real life.
The Sopranos matriarch adopted a baby girl from Florida in February, Falco's manager, Richie Jackson, tells People.
Macy joins brother Anderson, 3, who Falco adopted in December 2004.
"Everybody is thrilled and doing great," Jackson said.
Next up for Falco, who was born and bred and houses her brood in New York, is an as-yet untitled Showtime comedy in which she plays a seasoned ER nurse.