Emmy nominations

I guess I'll be the flag bearer for 2.5 Men.

It may not be as smart a comedy as Scrubs or The Office, but it is a very solid sitcom. Good for several laughs an epsiode. Considering the dreck that passes for comedy these days, 2.5 Men is easily one of the top five on TV.

 

The sign of network TV praise: "It's the best of the dreck!"

This list is like a rundown of the worst: Lisa Kudrow. Charlie Sheen. Two and A Half Men.

 

I didn't say it was the best of the dreck. I was saying most of the comedies on TV today are dreck. There's a difference.

But, if 2.5 Men was on say 5-10 years ago, it'd be a middle of the road comedy.

 

1) I think Will Arnett is better than Piven

2) I'm with JR on Hugh Laurie (last year's winner) getting screwed.

3) I'm not sure Jaime Pressly is doing any 'acting.'

 

1. Yes. Yes. Absolutely, yes.

2. I don't watch the show, but ok, I'm on board.

3. Yes.

 

dog, it's all subjective, I guess.

I rank shows by the criteria "If I could watch only one show this week, what would it be?" On your list, the only show this season I would have picked over WW is the bolded one.

And Grey's deservedly got nominated, but if the producers aren't careful, it is this close to jumping the shark. The move to Thursdays will, I fear, create a "wow-factor" desire among the writers; judging by the post-Super Bowl episode and the season finale, that's not a good thing.

Rescue Me -- The presence of the lovely Callie Thorne should have drawn me in, but I didn't like Leary when he was shilling for MTV and Nike in the early '90s, and I don't like him now.

 

Hey, you like what you like. I'm not trying to change that. It's just that I watch a shitload of TV so I can compare almost all of these shows season by season. Does that make me some expert? Hell no. I'm just like you -- a guy watching TV and giving my opinion. But in the grand scheme of things, this past season of The West Wing, while thoroughly enjoyable, was far and away worse than the first three seasons of the show and it didn't measure up with many other dramas on TV today. That doesn't mean it's a bad show and it doesn't mean I'm questioning your intelligence or taste for watching it and liking it. We've just got differing opinions. It happens.

Rescue Me has been building every season. Last season was the best. This season appears as if it'll blow it away. It's much more than Leary, though he's no doubt the lead. But the cast interaction is superb and the writing is upbeat, hilarious and still manages more than a touch of realism. They don't go for the big, oh-my-God episodes. They stick, for the most part, with shit that could happen to any of us and turn it inside-out. It's hurt because it's not on one of the major networks or HBO. If Rescue Me or The Shield were on HBO, each of them would have multiple Emmy nominations and probably multiple wins by now. But they're on FX, and as you can see from the voting here, the selection committee obviously isn't straying very far outside the network/HBO realm.

I'm with you on Grey's. I really enjoy the show, but it's dangerously close to slipping away.

I'd like to point out one other thing here: While the criticism of Hollywood and the absolutely shitty movies being produced these days is thoroughly warranted, TV has gone the opposite direction. There's a load of absolutely outstanding TV shows out there now. They're original, they're entertaining and they're well-written. Not a lot of really good comedies at the moment, but there are a few and some damn fine possibilities coming up this fall.

 

Even Stockard Channing herself must think it's bullshit that she got nominated for best actress in a comedy. Out of Practice was a cookie-cutter little sitcom that she undoubtedly did just for the paycheck. And for that, they snub Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls. Just criminal.

And Christopher Meloni, who plays a character we've seen on 1,000 cop shows, was better than Hugh Laurie, James Gandolfini and James Spader, all of whom play roles that you can't imagine anyone else playing? In what universe?

I give them credit for Lisa Kudrow in The Comeback, though. The show didn't really work as a whole, but she was outstanding. Funny and sad at the same time.

 

Why is there no love for Mary Louise Parker in Weeds?

 

Leary's I-m-a-good-old-bluecollar-schmoe-who-dares-to-call-7/11-clerks-ragheads persona grates on me, too, but he's awfully good in that show. I might vote for him.

 

Fenian thinks Meet the Press got the shaft.

 

Forest Whitaker wuz robbed.