By Lisa de Moraes
Thursday, July 3, 2008
In a harbinger-ish of things to come, basic-cable thespians are everywhere in contention for Primetime Emmy nominations this year, mostly at the expense of broadcast-TV thespians.
Sarah Silverman, for example, is being considered for an Emmy nomination, not for her groundbreaking "I'm extremely intimate with Matt Damon" performance on Jimmy Kimmel's ABC show, but for her Comedy Central series.
Silverman is among the top-10 contenders for one of five nominations in the best comedy actress contest -- marking the first time that Comedy Central has gotten this close to a nom in one of the glam acting categories, reports Tom O'Neil, the trophy-show wag who does the Gold Derby Web site run by the Los Angeles Times.
In the past, HBO and Showtime were the only cable networks whose on-air talent was nominated in this race. Now, Silverman doesn't yet have an actual nomination -- they will be announced July 17 -- but she's still a player, according to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences sources who report to O'Neil.
Likewise, last year only three of the 10 contenders for a nomination in the drama-series lead actress competition came from cable. This year only three are actresses in broadcast TV series.
Last week the TV Academy, for the first time, released the names of the top-10 contenders for best comedy series and best drama series. But late in the week, it announced it would not reveal the top-10 lists in the acting races. This did not go over well with O'Neil, who embarked on a 48-hour marathon to get the scoop on who's in the running in every acting category.
"I wanted to send a strong statement to the academy," he told The TV Column yesterday. "For the past two years I've leaked these lists, but it usually took me a couple of weeks. This year I wanted to strong-arm the academy into releasing the actors lists the week after they released the series lists. . . . I wanted to exert the maximum pressure, showing they can't keep these lists secret -- it's the Internet age."
For O'Neil, it was a crusade. "This is not just an award, this is the highest honor of the most powerful medium in the world -- arguably much more important than the Oscars," said O'Neil, who covers both.
"The Emmys saved 'Hill Street Blues,' . . . 'Cheers,' 'All in the Family.' They were all low-rated . . . in desperate need of support from the industry. . . . I think the Emmy is not only the most important show-business award but the most meaningful and the most noble and heroic," O'Neil said.
This year he decided to take up the cause in a big way, he explains, because so many basic cable programs were making the top-10 lists. "The Emmys are finally acknowledging a trend. . . . This is where the creative genius of television is emerging, and the fact that they are in the running is important."
And, concerning those contenders for best lead actress in a drama series, "if we end up with only two of the five final nominees being cable, at least we will have known that seven of the 10 were seriously considered, and that's important."
It wasn't really so hard to get the lists so quickly, he admits; academy members are "notorious blabbermouths."
Among the cable stars getting some TV Academy love is Bryan Cranston, who could never get any respect from the TV Academy when he played a crazy dad on "Malcolm in the Middle" but now is in the running for an Emmy nod for playing a seriously crazy dad on AMC's "Breaking Bad."
"This is an entry that's sure to bring joy to TV critics' hearts," O'Neil said. "This is a very low-rated show. Bryan Cranston was never nominated for 'Malcolm' even though he was appreciated by TV critics for a perfect-pitch comedic performance. So that's great news for the academy that Cranston is on the list. They need to shout that from the academy rooftop in North Hollywood instead of trying to hide it."
The obsessive fans of "Battlestar Galactica" will be silenced -- for a few blessed minutes, anyway -- when they hear Mary McDonnell is in the running for a nomination for best drama-series actress for her work on that Sci Fi network series. This particular tidbit comes to O'Neil from an unnamed source who reports his/her grandmother is voting in that category and therefore knows who's in the gene pool. Don't you love journalism in the Internet age?
Sadly, McDonnell faces a heady field: Jeanne Tripplehorn from "Big Love"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"; Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"; Holly Hunter, "Saving Grace"; Minnie Driver, "The Riches"; Glenn Close, "Damages"; Patricia Arquette, "Medium"; Sally Field, "Brothers & Sisters"; and Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
Silverman, on the other hand, is hoping to survive the culling of a list that also includes "Samantha Who" star Christina Applegate; "Desperate Housewives" stars Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria Parker; America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty"; Tina Fey, "30 Rock"; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"; Anna Friel, "Pushing Daisies"; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
In the best drama actor contest, Cranston faces Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment"; Denis Leary, "Rescue Me"; Eddie Izzard, "The Riches"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; James Spader, "Boston Legal"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; Patrick Dempsey -- really? -- for "Grey's Anatomy"; and Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights."
And, while we normally wouldn't bore you with talk about contenders for supporting acting races, we feel it's worth repeating -- as often as we can find the excuse -- that Katherine Heigl's name is not among those in contention for a nomination for best supporting actress in a drama, because she did not allow her name to be entered, because, she said, the material the writers gave her on "Grey's Anatomy" this past season just wasn't good enough.
On the other hand, we're pleased to report her co-star T.R. Knight, who was involved in many of those subpar-ly written scenes, did feel the material was par enough. And it's a good thing he did because his name is on the top-10 list for best supporting actor in a drama series.
Also among those who felt the material they had to work with was good enough to risk it are two more of Heigl's "Grey's Anatomy" colleagues, Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson. They graciously have stepped in to take Her Heiglness's place in the running for a nom for best supporting actress in a drama series.
They're joined by Jane Alexander, "Tell Me You Love Me"; Rose Byrne, "Damages"; Sharon Gless, "Burn Notice"; Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men"; Dianne Wiest, "In Treatment"; Candice Bergen, "Boston Legal"; Rachel Griffiths, "Brothers & Sisters"; S. Epatha Merkerson, "Law & Order"; and Jill Clayburgh, "Dirty Sexy Money." Yes, that's 11 contenders.
For supporting actor, Knight is joined by Bruce Dern, "Big Love"; Ted Danson and Zeljko Ivanek, "Damages"; John Slattery, "Mad Men"; Blair Underwood, "In Treatment"; Naveen Andrews and Michael Emerson, "Lost"; William Shatner and Christian Clemenson, "Boston Legal"; and Jake Weber, "Medium." Yes, 11 again.
And, we also can't resist mentioning that though the cast members of NBC late-night show "Saturday Night Live" this year are eligible to throw their names into the running for best comedy series supporting actor/actress, instead of best variety performer, none of the "SNL" guys is among the 10 finalists in that category. (What the guys couldn't manage to do, Amy Poehler did; the "SNL" cast member is among the finalists in the comedy supporting actress derby.
Jack McBrayer, who plays the page Kenneth on "30 Rock," is a contender, however. Heck, even Tracy Morgan from "30 Rock" is among the running -- and he's not even acting. Also in the crowd: Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men"; Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"; John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson, "The Office"; Fred Willard, "Back to You"; Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"; and Justin Kirk, "Weeds."
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