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.
No Emmy nomination for Rebecca Romijn and here’s why
The Emmy nominations won’t be announced until July 17, but we can tell you right now without a doubt that Ugly Betty’s Rebecca Romijn will not be among the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy category at the Emmys. No, we’re not psychic. It’s just that her spokesman has confirmed that her name was never actually submitted. DOH! And why was that, you wonder. No good reason, said her rep, “It was an oversight.”
According to L.A. Times’ Tom O’Neil, this isn’t really that far-fetched an occurrence. Tim Allen, at the height of his Home Improvement success, missed a chance for an Emmy nomination when somebody fumbled the ball. The next year, his paperwork was hand-delivered, accompanied by the University of Southern California marching band.
Romijn’s omission — on the surface — looks like a mistake. Yes, it’s true that her status on the show is going from series regular to recurring, but I don’t believe she purposely kept her name out of the running to in some way act out in protest against the show. It makes no sense? How is she hurting Ugly Betty by not getting an Emmy nomination? No, this was a screw up, nothing more.
There are some other names who have already chosen not to submit. TV previously wrote about Lindsay Lohan (also for Ugly Betty) and Katherine Heigel for Grey’s Anatomy. Everybody Hates Chris lead Tyler James Williams has also decided not to submit, probably because the Emmys have consistently dissed his show despite the love it receives from critics.
Two multi-Emmy award winning actresses are also staying out of the race in 2008. Laurie Metcalf, a four-time Emmy winner for Roseanne, and a nominee as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 1999, 2006 and 2007, chose not to throw her name in the hopper for her guest stint on Big Bang Theory as Sheldon’s mom; and Valerie Harper (also a four-time Emmy winner for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda) is not going to be nominated for her role as Barbara on ’Til Death.
When you’ve been as fortunate as Metcalf and Harper to already have been recognized and won the Emmy — more than once — I choose to believe that they submit their names for consideration when they do work they deem truly worthy, as opposed to just tossing your name out there for a nomination based on your reputation. Metcalf, for instance, really gave a great performance on Desperate Housewives in 2006. She was scary good as Alma. She deserved an Emmy nomination. To be honest, on Big Bang Theory, her performance was good, but not Emmy stuff.
How the strike helped House
Even as fear grips the business that there’ll be another strike that will lead to a work stoppage, there are some who can look back on the Writer’s Strike and actually find a silver lining in that dark cloud. At a recent at the ArcLight Cinemas, sponsored by the L.A. Times, the folks who bring us House, including creator David Shore and director Katie Jacobs, revealed that the strike actually was beneficial for them in a strange way.
Since Fox had the Super Bowl last season, House had been given the plum spot following the game. That always means a huge audience will be watching, and even a show as successful as House wouldn’t mind a boost in the ratings.
Shore and company plotted to use that primetime space for a powerhouse episode, ’Wilson’s Heart’. Yes, the same ’Wilson’s Heart’ that was the season-ending, two-part episode that Jen reviewed last May 20, with the opening line, “The season finale of House packed a wallop.” That was putting it mildly.
Well, it turns out that the strike gave the House team an unexpected gift, time. “It worked out very nicely. It gave us more time to establish the Amber-Wilson relationship,” said David Shore.
Katie Jacobs, who directed the two episodes, credited Fox for deciding “to slow down production.” A different episode aired after the Super Bowl, a very good one with Mira Sorvino as a guest. Remember, she was psychiatrist who was in the South Pole and only House could treat her via webcam?
Anyway, long story short, thanks to the frakking strike, the writers had more time to develop the romance between Wilson and Amber — especially how it effects House — making the impact of the finale even greater.
Questions were asked, by the way, about what’s going to happen next on House. Wilson has lost his love and House was to blame. Really, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and Amber’s blood is on his hands. Will Wilson ever forgive him? Shore’s not say, but he did offer, “In some ways it’s not a medical show to us. The meat of it is the human relationships.”
Damages: What's to Come in Season Two?
Last night the Olay Emmy Screening series continued with a Damages panel, moderated by my friend Kate Aurthur (if you have a chance, check her out at the L.A. Times’ Showtracker blog).
Since many of you have been asking what’s ahead for season two (launching in January on FX), I caught up with Damages creators Daniel Zelman and Todd Kessler to find out when production begins, where to look for new characters and the future of Ellen vs. Patty…
Daniel Zelman, executive producer
In the first season there were a lot of deaths, so I have to imagine there are new characters coming in?
There will definitely be two or three new characters. Patty will be taking on a new case at some point, and there will be an attorney she’s up against at some point. Not all of the new characters will necessarily be in the first episode, but they will be introduced in the first few episodes.
Are we getting some characters on the FBI side of things now that we’re kind of digging into Patty’s investigation?
The FBI characters we saw last year will be back. Eventually, we may see more of their world, not immediately, but eventually.
Is there any chance of seeing Ray Fiske again or of seeing David Connor again?
Definitely. Nothing on our show is impossible. I wouldn’t rule out any of them.
What do you think the fans will be excited about in season two?
The thing to be excited about is the dynamic between Patty and Ellen. It’s so completely different; it’s been turned upside down. Ellen’s working for the feds and is an informant. When the season begins she’s trying to take Patty down and that creates a totally different theme from last season.
So, is Patty going to find out this season that Ellen’s…
We’ll see. That’s going to be a season-long theme. There are two questions at the beginning of the second season: Is Ellen going to be successful in taking Patty down? And, Is Patty going to find out she’s trying to?
Todd Kessler, executive producer
What can you tell us about season two?
We start production in three weeks. Patty will have a new case this season, which will potentially feel like two cases. There’ll be different entry points for an audience, so it’s not going to be like if you don’t watch it from the first episode, you shouldn’t watch it until you get the DVD. It’ll be more easily accessible.
Any guest stars you would just love to have on the show?
That’s a good question. Yeah, there are a lot of great actors in New York, and we’re talking to many of them to come on the show. Probably in the next 10 days there will be an announcement about who’s joining us for the season.
What are some of the elements that come into bringing Patty down?
It plays off the questions of does Patty know Ellen’s an informant? Does Ellen think that Patty is suspicious of her? There’s a lot of inherent drama in that because part of the world of being an informant is always being paranoid. Did I screw up? They looked at me, or they asked me what I did last night. What do they know?
Will anyone else know she’s an informant?
That’s something that we can’t quite talk about yet.
—Additional reporting by Natalie Abrams