Sunday Best: The 65th Emmy Awards

photo by Morio

We're taking a break from the list of Best Actors of All Time to talk about the Emmys

Tonight will be the 65th Emmys.  I am going to try to live tweet them again this year (@CatholicSkywalk), but I might not because:

a.  I still have a lot of work to do before tomorrow
b.  It airs the same time as the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad.


I know that I usually have more fanfare for the Oscars, but I find the Academy Awards more exciting than the Emmys.  I'm not sure why since I watch television as much as I watch movies.  Maybe its because movies only have one year to get nominated, but the categories in the Emmys are often populated with the same shows.

When David Hyde Pierce won his 3rd Emmy for playing Niles, I just shrugged my shoulders.  The problem is not that he didn't deserve it.  A good artist deserves recognition for good work.  But whereas  Brando only earned one Oscar for the Godfather, Bryan Cranston deserves every Emmy he gets for his consistantly amazing work in Breaking Bad.  Yet even though he deserves it, the freshness and excitment of the award loses its luster.

I'm not sure what to do about that.

Also, my wife and I watch a LOT of TV.  But so many of the shows we love don't get nominated.  In fact, of the 12 shows nominated for best comedy or drama, we only watch 4 of them.

Anyway, here are my choices for what I would like to win, and my predictions for what I think will win.

Category	MY CHOICE	MY PREDICTION
BEST DRAMA	Breaking Bad	Breaking Bad
BEST COMEDY	The Big Bang Theory	Girls
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA	Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)	Kevin Spacey (House of Lies)
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA	Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)	Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel)
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY	Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)	Jason Bateman (Arrested Development)
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY	Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)	Tina Fey (30 Rock)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA	Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)	Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA	Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)	Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY	NONE	Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY	Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)	Jane Lynch (Glee)
BEST VARIETY/MUSIC SHOW	Saturday Night Live	The Daily Show
BEST REALITY SHOW (COMPETITION)	The Amazing Race	Dancing with the Stars
BEST TV MOVIE or MINI-SERIES	The Bible	Behind the Candelabra
BEST ACTOR, TV MOVIE/MINI-SERIES	NONE	Michael Douglass (Behind the Candelabra)
BEST ACTRESS, TV MOVIE/MINI-SERIES	NONE	Elisabeth Moss (Top of the Lake)

What I find most interesting about this year is the number of major award nominations for shows on streaming like Netflix.  If they win, it will be a sign that Hollywood is embracing the new wave of streaming content.  And I think that is a good thing.

I am not very interested in any of the races except two:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR COMEDY
Jonathon Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut in Breaking Bad is outstanding.  He's an actor whose been around for years in classic movies like Beverly Hills Cop and Gremlins.  But now, decades later, is he finally given a chance to shine and show his talent.

Jim Carter once again brought in a solid performance as the stoic Carson in this year's Downton Abbey.

And Aaron Paul gets better and better with every season of Breaking Bad, showing a deeply layered performance.

But once again, I have to go with Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones.  As I stated at the beginning of this article, I would be fine with any of the above actors winning, but Dinklage brought in the best performance.  His wedding episode (not be confused with the Red Wedding), was one of the most heart-breakingly good performances I've seen on TV.  Tyrion keeps trying to do what is good and he keeps getting hurt by it in the unjust world of Westeros.  But Dinklage shows his deep conviction that stays with you.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS COMEDY

I used to watch Blossom.  I am not ashamed.

And her performance as Amy Farrah Fowler has not always been that good.  In fact it used to be very flat.  But as she and the writers found Amy's voice, she has been a constant source of laughs and some tears on The Big Bang Theory.  And the particular episode for which she is nominated has one of the funniest deliveries that season when Sheldon says that she has to be punished for lying to him (to clarify, it isn't the content of what is being said, it is how Bialik delivers those lines):

So those are the two categories I will be scrutinizing tonight.

What are your thoughts?