Every year the TV industry’s biggest, brightest, and most lavish ceremony is the Primetime Emmy Awards (and its supplemental show, the Creative Emmy’s) where the industry honors itself by picking the very best of the best. The ceremony is a sure fire way to broaden your viewership (sometimes) and a way for networks to powerfully market shows that have won awards.
However this hasn’t always been the case in recent years as the Emmy’s have turned into a popularity contest akin to the Oscars with only the Golden Globes holding out some shred of being more based on skill than who you know and who you can impress. Sure the voters have gotten it right before, bestowing the top comedy honor upon such worthy series as Arrested Development and 30 Rock and drama honors to the excellent and groundbreaking first season of Lost. However the perpetual nominations and wins for series and actors past their prime, such as Boston Legal, do their part to nullify the good that has been done.
With an ever changing TV landscape there’s always room for new blood to show up, yet the tried and true (call them “safe” choices) are always made. This year ending shows like The Wire were snubbed out of every major category and excellent shows like Battlestar Galactica were ostracized for their genre when deep down, there’s a great show if you can look past the setting and technology.
The death of the comedy on network television has really begun to show as you begin to scrap the bottom of the barrel just to fill out a category. Charlie Sheen for Two and Half Men is a great example of a highly rated, funny, yet not spectacular show and actor picking up a nom just because, frankly, there wasn’t much else the Emmy organizers could plug in there.
So how will the 2008 Emmy Awards fare in comparison to years past, while the nominations were mostly seen from a mile away, who will pick up that trophy on September 21 at the NOKIA Theater in Los Angeles (and broadcast on ABC)? Let’s take a look at the five major drama categories, who is most deserving, and who will snag the prize?
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
William Shatner (Boston Legal/ABC)
Ted Danson (Damages/FX)
Zeljko Ivanek (Damages/FX)
Michael Emerson (Lost/ABC)
John Slattery (Mad Men/AMC)
Who Should Win: While both Ivanek and Danson put excellent performances on the excellent FX drama Damages, the win here clearly needs to go to the hypnotizing Emerson on Lost who’s Benjamin Linus character embodies every mannerisms and big-eyed glare the actor is willing to dole out. Emerson lives the role so much that after not even existing in the first season of the show, the character has turned into one of the most fleshed out, yet mysterious in the entire big bunch.
Who Will Win: As with supporting comedy actor, Shatner has the inner line on taking home another trophy being a previous winner from a show the voters absolutely love, this one isn’t as concrete as you would think though with very strong performances from everyone, but the former Captain Kirk will walk away with another statue by the end of the night.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Candice Bergen (Boston Legal/ABC)
Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters/ABC)
Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy/ABC)
Dianne West (In Treatment/HBO)
Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy/ABC)
Who Should Win: Well my weakness with all of the show’s listed is going to come through here, I’m not familiar with any of the shows and only going on the actresses past work, Dianne West was pretty good on Law & Order, and, uh. Well I think there’s a good chance the ABC PR people will be crowing about something on Monday morning.
Who Will Win: The buzz is surrounding Grey’s Chandra Wilson, but I wouldn’t count out favoritism for Bergen who is a previous winner and on a show the voters seem to love like no other.
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment/HBO)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad/AMC)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter/Showtime)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men/AMC)
Hugh Laurie (House/FOX)
James Spader (Boston Legal/ABC)
Who Should Win: What a crowded field of worthy contenders in what is going to be easily the biggest and hardest to gauge category of the entire night. Everyone has one reason or another to be nominated but it may boil down to three of the contenders in a toss up, Hall, Hamm, and Laurie who has been criminally overlooked for years as Dr. Gregory House. Hamm and his compatriots in arms at AMC for Mad Men took the ceremony by storm and may very well end up with the award and Dexter’s buzz has been building for years. In the end, I think Laurie will end up with the award though.
Who Will Win: Knowing the voters it will come down to two, Spader, who has won numerous times to much praise and distain depending on your fandom status with Boston Legal or Hamm for the explosive Mad Men. Either one could take it home with one more deserving than the other.
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
Glenn Close (Damages/FX)
Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters/ABC)
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit/NBC)
Holly Hunter (Saving Grace/TNT)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer/TNT)
Who Should Win: Glenn Close for her excellent work on Damages as this is her award to lose. The other contenders in the field are all well respected actresses but Hargitay has won before and while the academy likes to award past winners, Close is a big time movie star on a cable network making huge waves. After her snub for the work on The Shield, it’s her time to be awarded this top honor.
Who Will Win: Realistically Close has this one locked up. Over the course of Damages' first season so many facets of the character were established and Close brought the character to life. From her ordering the killing of hapless dog, to her near indifference in her hand in the destruction of multiple lives all to win a case, the character was disturbing but at the same time you knew everything she was doing was for the greater good, at least in her mind. The only competition in this category is Sedgwick for The Closer, but it’s just too hard to pass up Glenn.
Outstanding Drama Series
Boston Legal (ABC)
Damages (FX)
Dexter (Showtime)
House (FOX)
Lost (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)
Which Show Should Win: Aside from lead actor in a drama series this award holds so much talent its nearly impossible to predict. With the exception of Boston Legal, which somehow gets nominated every year, each of the series has something to bring to the table to entice voters. Lost is the only nominee with a previous win (if we leave off Legal) and with a revitalized approach to the show’s narrative and strong performances throughout, it does pose a real threat in taking home a second trophy. Mad Men is the buzz leader to win the award, while House’s less than stellar critical reaction to the show’s 180 in season four may have hurt its chances significantly. Dexter has been building lots of buzz, and Damages sometimes convoluted but oh so rewarding premise and narrative puts up a real chance of taking home the prize. Our pick, it’s a 50/50 toss up between Mad Men and Damages.
Which Show Will Win: Mad Men, the voters like new things when everyone is talking about them non-stop and that’s the buzz that Men has generated over the last year, even if its second season has caused some frustration amongst viewers. There’s just too much to the bandwagon to stand in its way and deny the period piece a win.
