Tag Archives: Rachel Griffiths

July 13, 2009 · 4:18 pm

2009 Emmy Award Predictions: Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Emmy2009Title

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Predictions

There is no tougher category to predict than this one, where it is actually possible that all six nominees could come from only two shows, and chances are that no one could really argue about their quality.

Those two shows are Grey’s Anatomy and In Treatment. The former has Katherine Heigl back in the mix with some material (Terminal Illness! Ghost Sex!) that is definitely “good enough,” Chandra Wilson dealing with professional and personal struggles (always a winner), and Sandra Oh getting strangled by her PTSD boyfriend. The latter has last year’s winner Dianne Wiest, plus two new patients who made a big impact: cancer patient Alison Pill, and former patient turned lawyer turned patient Hope Davis. Any of these women could garner a nomination, although my money is on Heigl, Wilson, Wiest and Pill at the end of the day.

This only leaves a few spots available. In terms of old contenders, Rachel Griffiths is always a threat for her work on Brothers & Sisters (she’s another one getting nominated for never winning for another show, Six Feet Under), while Rose Byrne looks to make up for last year’s snub with another highly illogical supporting performance that’s clearly a lead. Plus, while she didn’t make the cut last year, Connie Britton continues to do amazing work on Friday Night Lights, and the voters actually picking up on this would make me extremely happy. However, with veteran Candice Bergen submitting for Boston Legal, that could all go up in flames.

There’s also an opportunity for Mad Men to break through here, as Christina Hendricks was a surprising top 10 choice last year and the show has only increased in buzz. Combine with a hugely impressive story arc, including a scene I simply can’t erase from my mind, and she should be a shoe-in – however, it’s hard to know whether she can compete with a huge number of big names, especially with Mad Men’s second season ending earlier than most back in the fall.

Elizabeth Mitchell, who has never managed to break the Top 10 for her work on Lost, put together some strong work, but ultimately is too far off Emmy’s radar to break through on popular vote, as Lost has never connected with voters outside of Supporting Actor and Drama Series. Her chance was in Season 3, I think, although I’d be mighty pleased to see her sneak in as a surprise.

The two big “newcomers” are enormously different. Marcia Gay Harden is an Oscar-winning actress who joined the cast of Damages as a head-strong lawyer who went head-to-head with Glenn Close. Anika Noni Rose, meanwhile, was not nominated for anything for her role in Dreamgirls but gets a showy role on No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency that’s very funny but also highly emotional. While I may be convinced that Hurt isn’t going to grab a nomination, I think Harden was more closely connected with Close and stands a better shot here.

Predictions for Supporting Actress in a Drama

Marcia Gay Harden (“Damages”)
Katherine Heigl (“Grey’s Anatomy”)
Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”)
Allison Pill (“In Treatment”)
Dianne Wiest (“In Treatment”)
Chandra Wilson (“Grey’s Anatomy”)

4 Comments

Filed under Emmy Awards

Tagged as Alison Pill, Anika Noni Rose, Candice Bergen, Chandra Wilson, Christina Hendricks, Connie Britton, Damages, Dianne Wiest, Elizabeth Mitchell, Emmys, Entertainment, Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, Hope Davis, In Treatment, Katherine Heigl, Lost, Mad Men, Marcia Gay Harden, Nominations, Predictions, Rachel Griffiths, Rose Byrne, Sandra Oh, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Television, TV

September 19, 2008 · 10:34 am

Cultural Learnings’ 2008 60th Primetime Emmy Awards Predictions

Last year, during this important period of the pre-Emmy festivities, I had a bit more time to really delve into some key issues. This year, things are busier, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to make some prognostications about the end results. I’m going to be discussing more themes and the like tomorrow in my Emmy Preview, but for now let’s get to what we really care about: predicting who is actually going to walk home with Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Drama Series

Boston Legal (ABC)
Damages (FX)
Dexter (Showtime)
House (FOX)
Lost (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)

There is some wiggle room here, as each some has something (Pedigree, viewership, buzz, etc.) that makes it stand out, but there is nothing on this list quite as emphatically received and, more importantly, different from your standard fare than Mad Men. I’ll discuss more of this tomorrow, but its combination of a small network, a small fanbase, fresh-faced actors and its attention to detail will be unstoppable.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

James Spader (Boston Legal)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment)

This is a category where only one thing is important: that James Spader finally loses. Either Hamm, C. Hall or Laurie are in a position to usurp last year’s winner, and I’ve got my money on Michael C. Hall. After getting snubbed here last year, and with his show in the big race, voters might choose to recognize his brave and fantastic performance even when the show itself loses them with its dark atmosphere. But, this is maybe the night’s most up in the air race.

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Holly Hunter (Saving Grace)
Glenn Close (Damages)
Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order: SVU)

This race, however, is not up in the air at all. Its highly serialized nature and red herring use might keep it from being the best drama series on television, but there is no way that Emmy Voters can ignore Close’s pedigree with such a richly portrayed character (even if I’d argue that character isn’t nearly as important as voters might think it is to the show’s success).

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under Emmy Awards

Tagged as 2008, 30 Rock, 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, Alec Baldwin, America Ferrera, Amy Poehler, Award Shows, Awards, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Candice Bergen, Chandra Wilson, Christina Applegate, Comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Damages, Dancing with the Stars, Dexter, Drama, Emmys, Entertainment, Entourage, Glenn Close, Grey's Anatomy, Heidi Klum, House, How I Met Your Mother, Hugh Laurie., In Treatment, James Spader, Jeff Probst, Jeremy Piven, John Slattery, Jon Hamm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin Dillon, Kristin Chenoweth, Lee Pace, Lost, Mad Men, Mary Louise-Parker, Michael C. Hall, Michael Emerson, Neil Patrick Harris, Predictions, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Rachel Griffiths, Rainn Wilson, Recount, Sally Field, Sandra Oh, Saturday Night Live, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Ted Danson, Television, The Amazing Race, The Colbert Report, The Office, The Wire, Tina Fey, Tom Bergeron, Tony Shahloub, Two and a Half Men, Ugly Betty, Vanessa Williams, Weeds, William Shatner, Zeljko Ivanek

July 14, 2008 · 8:00 am

Cultural Learnings’ 2008 60th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations Predictions

When I started my Emmys coverage for this year’s ceremony a while ago, I (as always) had a lot of plans: previews of every category (Got through a lot), reviews of every submitted episode (Almost got through those), and all sorts of other grand schemes that never come to fruition. This is the nature of being a television critic of sorts: you have a lot to say, but balancing it and the rest of your life (See: Watching Television, clearly) can be a bit of a challenge. Let it be known I took most of that free time doing my duty and finally watching shows like The Wire, Six Feet Under and Flight of the Conchords.

However, there’s no way I could possibly procrastinate on writing up my various predictions. Predictions are one of those things that I think about more than I write about (I tried writing more this year, and after a while it petered off). Great sites like AwardsHeaven or Coco at the Movies or TV with Abe keep detailed lists for weeks or months ahead of time updating when the Top 10s come out, but I tend to ruminate a bit more introspectively. We’ll see how that goes this time around, when our access to the Top 10 lists for various categories makes this task easier, yes, but also far more competitive. But, I’m not in it to win it, so to speak; I’m just an Emmy fanatic who enjoys the thrill of participation.

So, without further adieu, my predictions for the nominations for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Drama Series

Boston Legal (ABC)
Damages (FX)
House (FOX)
Lost (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)

This is a very hard category to call, and admittedly I’m following my own interests here: there’s every chance of Grey’s Anatomy replacing Lost on this list based on its popularity alone, but something tells me that Lost’s episode submission (The fantastic “The Constant”) will elevate them through. Mad Men and Damages represent the new crop of summer cable hits, while Boston Legal and House should ride baity submission and Hugh Laurie, respectively, to nods.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

James Spader (Boston Legal)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)

The first four are pretty much locks: while his show is too bloody to make it into major categories, Hall’s Emmy pedigree and the fantastic nature of his performance should get him the nomination he deserved last year. Meanwhile, “should have won before” Laurie and newcomer and Golden Globe winner Hamm will try to dethrone undefeated Emmy king Spader, and that last slot is up for grabs. I’ve gone with Bryan Cranston’s brave performance in the AMC series, one I need to finish watching at some point (Only got through the opening two episodes). Gabriel Byrne is the other option, but I believe that if Cranston made the Top 10 people were watching, and he would have performed well on the panels.

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters)
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
Holly Hunter (Saving Grace)
Glenn Close (Damages)
Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica)

Those following the Emmy race will sigh at that last name – while the first four are more or less locks based on name recognition and showy performances, the fifth candidate in this category is somewhat more open. However, with previous nominees like Mariska Hargitay and Minnie Driver waiting in the wings, the chances of an actress from a science fiction series breaking through are slim. However, frak that kind of logical thinking: I want to have hope, for once, that they’ll see through the Science Fiction and discover a tremendous performance that is worthy of consideration.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Emmy Awards

Tagged as 2008, 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin, America Ferrera, Amy Poehler, Battlestar Galactica, Blair Underwood, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Cat Deeley, Christina Applegate, Damages, Dexter, Emmy Awards, Emmys, Entertainment, Entourage, Glenn Close, Grey's Anatomy, House, How I Met Your Mother, Hugh Laurie., James Spader, Jeff Probst, Jenna Fischer, Jeremy Piven, John Krasinski, Kristin Chenoweth, Lost, Mad Men, Mary Louise-Parker, Mary McDonnell, Michael C. Hall, Michael Emerson, Neil Patrick Harris, Nominations, Predictions, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Rachel Griffiths, Rainn Wilson, Rose Byrne, Sally Field, Samantha Who?, Sandra Oh, So You Think You Can Dance, Steve Carell, Survivor, Ted Danson, Television, The Amazing Race, The Office, Tina Fey, Two and a Half Men, Ugly Betty, Vanessa Williams, Weeds, William Shatner, Zeljko Ivanek

June 12, 2008 · 1:58 pm

60th Primetime Emmy Awards Preview: Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

The biggest news to emerge from the depths of the Emmy obsessed into mainstream media this year is certainly the news that last year’s winner in this category, Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy, is not in the running. That itself is a surprise, but it was her reasoning that has sent shockwaves through Hollywood. As she first told TheEnvelope.com’s Tom O’Neill, after GoldDerby reader KellyClarksonFan discovered the omission:

“I am truly grateful for the honor that the Academy bestowed upon me last year. I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the Academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.”

Now, the AP amongst others have taken this to its logical location: it’s a clear slap in the face to the show’s writers, and yet another moment where Heigl’s mouth has made more headlines than her acting ability. For the record, I think she’s right on the money in terms of the material she was given, but this is still a bit much. However, I choose to look at the positive side of this: with last year’s (arguably undeserving) winner gone, there’s more room for some of the fantastic candidates in this category.

And there are fantastic candidates: you have multiple candidates who are due for an Emmy win after numerous nominations, a few dark horses who won’t make the Top 10 but deserve recognition, one or two who might slip in based on series hype, and plenty of room for surprises at the top. And with Heigl gone, more of these deserving contenders have a shot.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Emmy Awards

Tagged as Battlestar Galactica, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Chandra Wilson, Connie Britton, Damages, Emmys, Entertainment, Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, January Jones, Lost, Mad Men, Nominations, Predictions, Rachel Griffiths, Rose Byrne, Sandra Oh, Submissions, Television, Videos