[As part of Cultural Learnings’ For Your Consideration Emmy Nominations Preview, the next two weeks will feature 7 Drama Series and 7 Comedy Series worthy of Emmy consideration. Check back daily for a different series, with drama and comedy alternating positions. For all of Cultural Learnings’ Emmy Coverage featuring Supporting and Lead Acting candidates, check out our For Your Consideration Index.]
Outstanding Drama Series
Brothers & Sisters(ABC)
If there was a success story in television this past year, I believe that it would have to be Greg Berlanti. After the unfortunate cancellation of Everwood last year, Berlanti was out of a job. However, there was a show in need of assistance: ABC’s Brothers & Sisters was spiraling out of control with showrunner Marti Noxon and they needed some help. Berlanti was asked to step in, and he took a show headed off the rails and turned it into one of the strongest dramas of the season. Jobless a year ago, Berlanti now has two pilots ordered by ABC and a returning drama series with a plum timeslot.
But let’s face it: he had a fairly good slate to work with here. If I had to pick up the pieces of a show in peril, I would like to have Sally Field sitting there waiting for a script to knock out of the park. And the supporting cast of this series has created a family of people that, although not perfect, have just enough charm to overcome their idiocy. Brothers & Sisters no longer has a shot at being nominated for an Emmy after failing to make the Top 10 shows in a popular vote, but that reality is unfortunate. The series came into its own to become a strong dramatic contender, and it is worthy of Emmy consideration.
Well, thanks to Tom O’Neill over at TheEnvelope.com, the Top 10 Drama and Comedy Series according to the popular voters of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences have been revealed. These 10 shows will then screen an episode each in front of blue ribbon panels, and the Top 5 with the two processes combined will be nominated. If they didn’t make this list, they’re screwed.
Top 10 Drama Series
Boston Legal
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
Heroes
House
Lost
Rome
The Sopranos
24
Biggest Surprise: I’m much happier about Friday Night Lights making it, but arguably Rome is the bigger surprise. The show had much less critical hype and aired such a short 2nd season that it was unexpected to get much attention. It appears that it got the period costume sex drama buzz as opposed to Showtime’s The Tudors.
Most Glaring Omission: Brothers & Sisters had good ratings, buzzworthy stars, but apparently voters didn’t feel the love. The aforementioned Tudors was also quite a shock considering how hard Showtime had pushed it, but Brothers & Sisters probably deserves one of those spots. And, even though it had no shot, Battlestar Galactica deserved better. Le sigh.
Network Breakdown: ABC leads with three series, while HBO, NBC and FOX all perform well with two a piece. Meanwhile, CBS is completely shut out while Showtime grabs the 10th spot.
Who Will Do Well: Lost and the Sopranos are riding the most buzz right now, and Grey’s and 24 both submitted strong episodes.
Who Won’t Do Well: Heroes, having submitted their pilot, will be EATEN ALIVE by these other shows. And Friday Night Lights, unfortunately, might have hit a roadblock against such tough competition. But it’s made it in, and that’s what matters.
Top 10 Comedy Series
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
Extras
My Name is Earl
The Office
Scrubs
Thirty Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds
Biggest Surprise: Eh, not much of one. We knew there were two spots up for grab, and it appears that voters liked British comedy (Extras) and American commercial success (Two and a Half Men) out of the remaining candidates.
For those who are unaware, every actor or actress or series submitting themselves for consideration for an Emmy Award submit a single episode that will, if they make the Top 10 in the Popular Vote, be screened to blue ribbon panels that will provide a ranking, resulting in 50% of the total score. Confused? Well, let’s put it this way: they have one chance, one episode, in which they can impress those judges.
And so, although it’s only worth 50% this year, a poor submission can destroy the chances for an actor or actress or for an entire series. And there are eight this year that could well take these contenders and make them into high-profile snubs on July 19th.
While this episode of The Office was certainly a funny one, it has one distinct problem: it’s more pathetic than it is funny. Dwight (Wilson), especially, comes across as a sad little puppy with no backbone in the episode, as opposed to the lovable weirdo that would play better with voters. The entire episode felt that way: like a cruel joke was being played on Dwight, and he wasn’t in on it. This makes the show out to be far more heartless than it actually is, and I do not believe it will play well with the panels.
Ugly Betty’s pilot lacks a majority of its best qualities. Its diverse cast is pushed into stereotypical roles, its colour palette is extremely muted, and outside of some comic acting from America Ferrera the show’s heart is almost entirely missing. This is a show that gained momentum along the way, and showing the Pilot removes that level of growth from the panel. They want to see charming television, and the Pilot is actually perhaps the show’s least charming episode.
[In Week Four of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actress awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our fifth and final set of candidates. For complete listings for all Supporting and Lead Actor candidates from the past four weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]
Lead Actress in a Drama
Connie Britton (Tami Taylor)
Friday Night Lights
There is something about Friday Night Lights that needs to be made extremely clear, if it wasn’t already: this is not just a show about football, and it is not just a show about teenagers being teenagers. Although it contains both of those elements, one of its most heartfelt dynamics is that of family. While there are plenty of examples of this theme throughout the show, none is more powerful than the trio of Taylors. Being the Coach’s family is not easy, and this is most abundantly clear for Tami Taylor, his less-than-doting wife. She loves him with all of her heart, don’t get me wrong, but she will not take any of his shit and will not back down when he wants her to. What Connie Britton brings to this role is that sense of Southern toughness combined with an absolutely charming exterior. Watching her put on the charm (begrudgingly) is like watching a real woman dealing with real nutjobs like Buddy Garrity on a regular basis. Whether as the school’s guidance counselor, or as a mother and wife, Tami Taylor exists as one of the most realistic and relevant women on television today. Connie Britton brings her to life with grace, and her performance is deserving of Emmy consideration.
Tami’s life changed forever when her husband became coach of the Dillon Panthers. Suddenly, she was expected to host parties, deal with the townsfolk, and get swept up in all of the madness that high school football in Dillon entails. This was a strain on her relationship with her husband, sure, but it was more of a surface tension than anything else. Tami found her own passion by assisting the students of Dillon as their guidance counselor, and she had to deal with raising her blossoming daughter in the process. There has been some talk that she perhaps belongs in supporting categories, but I think this is a mistake: Briton’s performance, much like Tami’s, cannot be overlooked or marginalized because of her more feature co-star/husband. Much as the wives of likely many coaches and other professionals are often left behind, so too was Tami often forgotten.
But how can she be forgotten when people see her relationship with her husband, perhaps the season’s finest. As the season ended, and she presented her husband with an ultimatum that would have been a moment of betrayal for any other relationship…but here it was different, loving if perhaps contrary. While Chandler certain held up to his end of the bargain at all times, I think that a lot of his performance was made that much better by Britton’s reactions, quips and charm. Without her, Friday Night Lights would not be the same: and although not as “featured” as other Leads, she more than deserves to be considered in this category.
Episode Selection: “I Think We Should Have Sex” (Aired February 21st, 2007)
There were episodes that featured Britton giving more lead-style performances, but this episode was selected because it features Britton dealing with her daughter, Julie, deciding that she is ready to have sex with her boyfriend. Tami’s reaction is both natural and more intense than I could possibly imagine. I remember watching this episode and realizing how important Connie Britton was to this show. In dealing with what could be an after school special, producers and performers need to keep things simple while maintaining the dramatic elements. Britton could have just been an overprotective mother in this episode, but she was something more: she was a scared mother, a shaken mother, and a strong mother all at the same time. And it is an Emmy worthy performance.
I didn’t want to include two housewives here, and tried desperately to find a fifth candidate…but there was nothing to be had. Now, this is not to say that there aren’t contenders (Julia-Louis Dreyfus won last year, after all), but I just haven’t seen enough of their work. The thing about Marcia Cross is that there wasn’t much of her work this season: her pregnancy-based hiatus from Desperate Housewives made her a non-entity, out of the country in storyline terms for a large part of the season. However, Emmy voters won’t know this, and I think that it actually might benefit her: you see, we missed her. I only sporadically tuned into Desperate Housewives this season, but Bree was always still a highlight. Her humour is of a different brand from the wacky Susan or the frantic Lynette: her dignified ways are everything to her, and when they are questioned or challenged the results are both dramatic and comic. She has been shut out from major awards in past years by Hatcher and Huffman, but perhaps she might finally get her time to shine. And so, despite being absent for much of it, I can’t help but consider Marcia Cross an Emmy contender for her work on Desperate Housewives this season.
After last week gave us a glimpse into the life of Will Traveler, which opened the series up to new areas of investigation, ABC’s Traveler is heading towards its finale. First and foremost, we are now following yet another story line in full detail. This is good, since Jay and Tyler have been somewhat repetitive in past weeks, and something fresh is needed. With the FBI always one step behind the “suspects,” that formula is shaken up slightly by Traveler’s introduction back into our core narrative. However, the problem is that it didn’t really ignite the show’s storytelling beyond its other elements. There was some decent advancement on a few levels, but the structure of the series didn’t advance much further. Still, the show is moving along at its usual breakneck pace, and the drama between Tyler and Jay has served to add a bit more suspense to the show’s conclusion. Is Tyler the trader for turning on Jay, or is his father the trader for selling out his own son? I’m personally thinking it’s the latter.
[In Week Four of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actress awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our third set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting and Lead Actor candidates from the past four weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera (Betty)
Ugly Betty
There isn’t much that hasn’t already been said about America Ferrera’s breakthrough performance as Betty Suarez on ABC’s hit dramedy. Ferrera waltzed away with the Golden Globe earlier this year, and chances are good that she’ll walk away with an Emmy in hand in September as well. It would be easy, then, to take her actual performance for granted: her nomination is so assured at this point that people have stopped even speculating about it. Delving deeper, however, you do find a quality comic performance beneath the hype. Betty is a character we need to believe as both hopelessly awkward and yet a good-hearted, intelligent, smart individual. Ferrera, despiting being made “ugly” for the role, never appears less than radiant as Betty. She goes to extreme lengths to display Betty’s inner beauty, and it never feels clichéd. There is something about Betty that makes her a worthwhile star in the series; as the season progressed and her character became less picked upon, Betty became a complex and intriguing character capable of supporting physical comedy, romantic comedy, drama and just about everything else in between. And that diversity is the work of America Ferrera, and it is work worthy of Emmy consideration.
Beginning the series as a walking fashion disaster working for a fashion magazine, Betty is immediately a sympathetic character. However, she was not yet a sympathetic heroine, and it was Ferrera who really allowed that to blossom. I think that it is a result of how much responsibility lies on Betty’s shoulders: she had to balance supporting her family emotionally and financially, her strange and awkward boyfriend, her new job, her mean co-workers, and in the process she always kept a smile on her face. However, I found Ferrera best when that smile was wiped off and we saw her either at her lowest or at her most resilient. Those moments where Betty could have quit, could have been run down, could have given up; those were the times when Ferrera’s acting shone. Every time I see the show’s opening title, with braces-laden Betty smiling awkwardly, I am annoyed; really, Betty isn’t that cliché and showing her as such does the series little good. Ferrera is at her best when just plain happy, not happy in spite of others.
Episode Selection: “Pilot” (Aired September 28th, 2006)
I am resisting changing this selection because it is a strong performance from Ferrera and is perhaps her most comic. And, let’s face it, it won her a Golden Globe. However, I have serious issues with the Ugly Betty pilot on the whole, and they extend to Betty herself.
The pilot spends too much time attacking Betty for comic value: in fact, it got so played out that it basically stopped after the show’s third episode. Producers realized, much as I did, that doing so would only make everyone else look like complete assholes compared to Betty, which won’t sustain an entire series.
And I like Ferrera more when she is interacting with those new co-workers on a non-confrontational basis. I’d actually be tempted, then, to highlight one of those episodes. However, the “buzz” worthy elements of her character are how she has bad fashion sense and smiles through it all, so the Pilot highlights what voters will be looking for…but I don’t think it does her true acting ability justice.
I believe that President Laura Roslin is perhaps one of the best characters to rise out of the 2004 reimagining of Battlestar Galactica, which is saying a lot considering the amount of great ones that have been part of the series. What I love about Mary McDonnell’s portrayal of the character is that, without fail, you are always rooting for Laura Roslin to succeed except for those moments where she is clearly wrong. In those cases, McDonnell makes you want to see Roslin get let down as easily as possible, in order to ensure that she isn’t too damaged in the process. After becoming President from the lowly position of Secretary of Education, Laura Roslin had to learn the ropes and find her own middle ground on a variety of issues. This year has really been one where she had to face the consequences of those actions, and one where she was forced to deal with the growing problems facing the people under her command. All the while, her own personal demons came back to haunt her, and her journey forward into the show’s final season is perhaps its most interesting. Through it all, Mary McDonnell has delivered a subtle, visceral performance that is certainly to be considered for an Emmy nomination.
[In Week Four of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actress awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our second set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting and Lead Actor candidates from the past four weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Tina Fey (Liz Lemon)
30 Rock
Saturday Night Live was a great stepping stone for Tina Fey, there’s no doubt about it; it provided her the opportunity to make a hit film (Mean Girls) and eventually to develop a successful television project in the form of 30 Rock. However, Saturday Night Live never really gave her much of a chance to stretch her acting abilities, although a small role in Mean Girls showed some potential. So, when it came time for her to take a starring role in her own series, there were of course questions to be had. And yet, there shouldn’t have been: Fey’s brilliant delivery on Weekend Update was no fluke, and she has proven more than able to transfer that comic timing into a half-hour comedy format. Liz is a funny, engaging, likable lead that is able to anchor both the fictional The Girlie Show and 30 Rock in the realm of sane human beings. Baldwin might provide the quips, Morgan might provide the insanity, but Fey is the one who either has to weather the insanity or response to the quips. That role is a difficult one, and while perhaps not a seasoned performer Fey is the perfect person for the job. Liz Lemon is the heart of 30 Rock, and Tina Fey’s portrayal of the at least semi-autobiographical character is worthy of Emmy consideration.
The hallmark of a strong female comedy lead is their ability to balance the show’s different elements. Fey seems right at home sparring with Alec Baldwin, replying to his verbal jabs in funny, honest ways. Similarly, she seems the voice of reason with Jenna and Tracy, each crazy in their own way. Even outside of that workplace environment, Fey is able to handle Liz’s romantic exploits. Whether it is with pager salesman Dennis (Who hilariously appeared on “To Catch a Predator”) or with late season beau Floyd, it never dragged down the show’s comedy. Even when the show’s material got a little bit nuts (The Source Awards, as an example), Fey’s reaction was always exactly how it should have been: Liz would have been freaked out, and so was Fey. By allowing her character to have realistic emotions that didn’t feel like “acting”, the show never felt like it was falling off the rails. As a writer and producer, Tina Fey obviously held a lot of responsibility on the show at a conceptual level; however, without her performance as Liz Lemon, that concept would have gone out the window. And that makes her deserving of an Emmy nomination.
Episode Selection:“The Head and the Hair” (Aired January 18th, 2007)
Now, Tina Fey did not submit this episode: she submitted “Up All Night” which has a charming scene or two featuring her character. What she should have submitted is this episode, which is about one of her unfortunate romantic exploits. After a guy working at MSNBC asks her out on a date, Liz finds herself awkwardly struggling to fit in while being served oxygen by talking about Heroes. The entire episode, like most Fey wrote, is full of Star Wars and other geek references. This is Liz at her most charming: as the guy eventually becomes interested, everything is going completely great for Liz…until she realizes that he is her third cousin or so.
It shows a lot of comic range, some great comic timing, and comes to a funny and satisfying conclusion. While she also wrote the episode she submitted, this one just felt like a stronger episode for her character (And I think it’s a stronger episode overall as well). Nevertheless, regardless, her performances over the course of the season are worthy of consideration. And you’ll have to see one of them here, since YouTube isn’t being helpful.
There’s a lot of talk right now about Sally Field and her co-star Calista Flockhart regarding their Emmy chances. Since both are likely to make the Top 10, voters will basically get to see two episodes worth of material from them. While I’m sure this will benefit Flockhart, I want to focus more on Field for the fact that, well, she is absolutely stunning in this series. This series could exist without Flockhart: while not terrible by any means, she doesn’t seem necessary in a way. Field, however, has crafted a matriarch so damaged, so haunted, so powerful that you can’t turn away. Nora is a character capable of being wildly comic (Smoking up in the back of a car) and powerfully dramatic (Just about every single episode). It is hard to imagine the show without her, but she was actually a post-pickup addition to the series. That decision was perhaps the smartest one made this television season, and the result was a tremendous performance from a veteran actress. And Sally Field’s work is more than deserving of Emmy consideration.
[In Week Four of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actress awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our first set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting and Lead Actor candidates from the past four weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Lauren Graham (Lorelai)
Gilmore Girls
There is little question that Lauren Graham is perhaps the individual most snubbed by the Emmys over the past decade. In an awards show dominated by the big four networks, and one where even cable champions like HBO have struggled to win the big trophies, there was little place for a lowly network like The WB. As a result, the deft handling of rapid fire dialogue and fabulous mother/daughter interaction being delivered by the Gilmore Girls star was basically left unnoticed. Not even last year’s rule changes allowed Graham a chance to sneak into the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category. And, well, chances are that this year she won’t make it either, being on a different network and in a different category. However, nonetheless, I cannot possibly ignore her performance. I shall stand on the side of optimism every year when it comes to Lauren Graham. Even next year, when the show is off the air? I’ll still sing her praises. Because her lack of recognition is one of the Academy’s biggest mistakes, and it is with no hesitation that I consider her worthy of an Emmy nomination.
This season has been a dramatic one for Graham, so it is perhaps fitting that she is submitting in drama this year (The show has submitted in comedy for the past number of years). After sleeping with Christopher, she basically screwed up what she had going for herself with Luke, and spiraled a tiny bit out of control in the process. She married Christopher and found herself swept up in wedding parties, family dinners, and realizing that Christopher doesn’t actually fit into her life. And that her life was about her daughter, about her family, about her friends in Stars Hollow. After being mired in a bit of a funk (Which coincided with new showrunner David S. Rosenthal finding his legs with the show’s dialogue), Graham hit her stride in the second half of the season. After breaking things off with Christopher and finding her feet again, her character’s journey of self-reflection brought her back to her daughter and to Luke…but not easily.
And that’s the thing: much like the show’s dialogue, Lorelai’s life was never simple. Financially, well, things were fine; but her complicated relationship with everyone around her was something very different. Graham always managed to balance the comedy and the drama in a way that always portrayed Lorelai as someone who could at any moment spin out of control. That balanced, intricate performance has been, is, and will be deserving of Emmy Awards consideration.
Episode Selection: “Farewell My Pet” (Aired February 13th, 2007)
Now, I am of two minds with this selection: on the one hand, I did not like this episode all that much. It was actually kind of borderline annoying, and did not feature many of the elements that I enjoy most about the show.
However, on the other hand, it is that final moment where Lorelai realizes that her marriage with Christopher is never going to work. As she has to balance holding a memorial for Michel’s deceased dog Chin-Chin, Lorelai slowly comes to terms with her reality, and the hard decision she has to make. When she ends her marriage at the end of the episode, it is an emotional moment no matter whether you’ve watched the season or not. I think she’s better in the finale, to be honest, but it’s much more of a fan-friendly as opposed to voter-friendly episode.
And this final scene is, perhaps, one of her strongest of the season. And it will likely give her one last shot at her nomination.
While someone like Lauren Graham might be fighting for her spot, Felicity Huffman is in pretty good shape thanks to a number of factors outside of her own control. However, no matter what people may say about Desperate Housewives’ drop in quality, I honestly believe that Felicity Huffman has never stopped being an absolutely fabulous actress in the process. While her character may, at times, be infuriating, I think that Huffman always captures those problems without trying to cover them up. When Lynette says or does something insensitive, Huffman does it as well without making it over the top or trying to hides its true meaning. She is a flawed character, and yet Huffman allows that to happen in a way that always feels right. Over the span of a season I pretty well want to strangle Lynette, but within individual episodes it is hard not to sympathize with her. With Marcia Cross not around much this season, and with Teri Hatcher as annoying as ever, I think that this is Felicity Huffman’s year to be considered for an Emmy nomination.
Switching gears from high-action chase sequence to a match of wits between Will and Kate, someone who works for Will’s mysterious organization, this week’s episode of Traveler allowed us a glimpse further into what exactly it is Will did during that period, while Tyler and Jay continue to make more headway than expected in their quest to find their friend. And in the end, it’s all about the Tells: Jay and Tyler never saw Will’s apparent purpose in their interactions with him, Will saw the organization’s mistrust in him with the 2nd man at the Drexler, and Kate saw Will’s tells during her interrogation…or thought she did.
On the whole the episode was a nice change of pace for the series. While Tyler and Jay are still traveling around the Northeast U.S. as if every state is minutes apart, I think that the brisk pace keeps the show from being bogged down at any one point. However, it was still nice to be able to stop and rest on Will’s story for a change. This character has been pretty well left behind over the past four weeks, other than in flashback, and gaining new insight into his character was important. By learning that he really did become friends with his targets, and that he didn’t really know the endgame until the very end, Will becomes an immediately more sympathetic character. After murdering Kate and sending their people to the wrong location (An exploding one at that), Will is out on his own and fighting for survival…but now we’re on his side.
[In Week Three of Cultural Learnings’ 59th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations Preview, we’re looking at possible contenders for the Lead Actor awards in both drama and comedy. Today, we present our sixth set of candidates. For complete listings for the Supporting candidates from the past two weeks, check out our For Your Consideration index]
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Steve Carell (Michael Scott)
The Office
I don’t really know what to say about Steve Carell that hasn’t already been said. The fact that he didn’t win this award last year was a travesty, as his loss to Tony Shalhoub should have never happened. I wrote about Rainn Wilson two weeks ago that The Office really wouldn’t work without him, and I stand by that statement…but Dwight wouldn’t really work without Michael, and I don’t think that much of the show’s comedy would be as funny if the uncool, trying to be cool boss wasn’t around. What makes Carell so great in this role is his ability to throw everything into his comic performance, but then be able to bring it all back together to appear as a real human being. Without that quality, Carell would be a loose cannon on a show where all firearms must be precision weapons designed to entertain. However, although often giving the appearance of being entirely unstable, Michael Scott is a human being first and foremost, capable of love and loss and friendship and emotions. And with a deft comic hand and a sense of who his character really is, Steve Carell delivers a consistently Emmy worthy performance.
This season has allowed Carell a lot of movement within Michael’s character. He continued to go through relationship drama, struggled to relate to his co-workers as per usual, and had to deal with a convict and a gay man in his office (He didn’t do so well with either of them). And I have to commend him for managing to go through all of this (especially “Gay Witch Hunt”, which I found more disturbing than funny) while maintaining some level of sanity within Michael’s character. At the end of the season as he finds himself caring for a rapidly falling apart Jan and wondering how he got stuck in this mess, we relate to him and his situation. Carell can go through from hapless to empathetic in about two second flat, and he did so admirably throughout the season. While he doesn’t always get the same types of “gags” as Dwight or Jim, I think that his comedy is all in the setup. And this season saw a wide range of setups, and Carell’s performance within them is worthy of Emmy consideration.
Episode Selection:“Business School” (Aired February 15th, 2007)
I’m skipping forward to this section quicker than I might usually because I want to explain that this is where Carell lost the Emmy last year. His submitted episode, where he burnt his food on his George Foreman grill, was Michael at his most annoying. There was no heart, no caring within his character. This wasn’t Michael as an innocent, it was Michael as an ungracious jerk. So, this season he needed an episode that showcased that.
And he bloody well found it. Business School is a great episode for Carell because he is forced to face reality straight in the face, and his emotional side is showcased in the action’s coda. As he speaks to Ryan’s business class, he realizes that people believe he is irrelevant, that he has no future. He finds himself being attacked, and responds with throwing candy bars and ripping apart textbooks. But he is visibly angry at the end, frustrated with his place in his job. And then, at episode’s end, he visits Pam’s art show and proudly hangs the photo of their office up on the wall. It is poignant, it is funny, and it is great television. This is the episode that could win him an Emmy.
YouTube – “Business School”
And another of the episode’s coda, which wasn’t set to Edward Scissorhands or mashed with it in real life, but it makes it even more dramatic.
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Matthew Fox (Jack)
Lost
Matthew Fox has the rather unfortunate reputation as being someone who fans of Lost don’t really care about. Locke is the badass, Hurley’s the comic relief, Ben is the villain, Sawyer’s the rebel, and Jack is just kind of there. It didn’t help that this season we had to sit through one of the series’ most pointless backstories, a muddled mess of crazy tattoos and other such things from Jack’s past. “Stranger in a Strange Land”, and all of this talk of Jack lacking a hook needs to be put to rest, however. What makes Matthew Fox’s performance so strong as Jack is that, believe it or not, he’s all lies. He was on this island as a man damaged by his past, but he had to become a hero. Becoming a hero basically neutered Jack as a character, which is why there are very few who claim him as their favourite. However, there needs to be recognition for those who step up and who are conflicted heroes struggling to keep it together. Jack Shepherd is one of those characters, and Matthew Fox’s portrayal of him is worthy of Emmy consideration.
If there was a success story in television this past year, I believe that it would have to be Greg Berlanti. After the unfortunate cancellation of Everwood last year, Berlanti was out of a job. However, there was a show in need of assistance: ABC’s Brothers & Sisters was spiraling out of control with showrunner Marti Noxon and they needed some help. Berlanti was asked to step in, and he took a show headed off the rails and turned it into one of the strongest dramas of the season. Jobless a year ago, Berlanti now has two pilots ordered by ABC and a returning drama series with a plum timeslot.
Lead Actress in a Drama
Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Cultural Learnings 