The Emmy Award Nominations

Before you read this, you should familiarize yourself with this year’s Emmy Nominations.

Let’s talk about award shows. They’re kind of dumb. With so many of them out there they run the danger of becoming pandering, sponsor infested, self-congratulating love fests (the People’s Choice Awards anyone?). I often get excited about the big three (Oscars, Tony’s, and Emmys) but can’t remember the last time the actual show lived up to my excitement. The Oscars have fallen flat in the past couple years because there just aren’t as many great movies coming out. We didn’t know how good we had it way back in 2007. The Tony’s are a yawn because very few people have the time or money to see all of the shows that get nominated. On top of that, they gave out awards to big celebrities like Scarlett Johannson and Denzel Washington which alienated die hard theatre fans instead of attracting the fair-weather ones.

But then there’s the mysterious beast that is the Primetime Emmy Awards. There’s certainly no shortage of good programming on television and some form of TV is available to watch at virtually no charge to you, the American citizen. And yet, I find the Emmys to be the most boring of all. So what is the issue there? It is the voting academy’s refusal to recognize anybody new or interesting. I cite last year’s best supporting actor winner, Jon Cryer. Now I’m not the biggest Two and A Half Men fan. That is to say I would rather scratch off my own skin than watch an entire episode. BUT, I do recognize that it is a popular program and that it has a large following of fans. But to those fans, I ask, have you ever been watching that show, spied Mr. Cryer, and said to yourself “Get that man an award for acting”? If you have, I’d love to you hear your thoughts on Proust and Milton as well.

Compare him instead to his competitors in the category that year: Neil Patrick Harris for HIMYM, Rainn Wilson for The Office, Kevin Dillon for Entourage, and Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer for 30 Rock. Morgan and McBrayer steal every scene they’re in on 30 Rock. Maybe give it a rest on throwing statues at Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and recognize that show’s stellar supporting cast. Poor Kevin Dillon is probably the only person on Entourage that provides laughs anymore. That show is a comedy right? As the scores of rabid Neil Patrick Harris fans will tell you, NPH is one of the hardest working men in Hollywood and pumps out consistently good performances. And Dwight Mother Fucking Schrute…Need I say more?

I guess my thesis here is, let’s shake things up a bit. I’m not saying any of these awards should be given to someone who doesn’t deserve it. What I’m saying is that there are so MANY deserving people that it’s a shame to see the academy play it so safe. If the viewers start seeing their favorites take home awards, more will watch. If they can’t tell the difference between one year and the next, there’s no reason for them to come back.

But enough of my pessimistic ramblings…let’s get on with the predictions:

Supporting Actor in a Drama

Who I Want to Win: Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman for Breaking Bad. While I’m bummed his costar Dean Norris did not receive a nomination as well, I really hope Aaron Paul can take home the statue for his VERY troubled meth cooking apprentice on BB. Best stuff: Ep 3.7: One Minute and Ep 3.10: Fly.

Who Will Win: Honestly I think Paul has this one in the bag with John Slattery as Roger Sterling for Mad Men posing the only real threat. Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson from Lost are great don’t get me wrong but this was not their best season by any means. Martin Short for Damages is the under dog but the academy does love comedians taking dramatic turns...like Mr. Paul's costar, Bryan Cranston.

Supporting Actress in a Drama

Who I Want to Win: Honestly I don’t watch any of these shows regularly. So let’s say Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson for Mad Men because she was Zooey Bartlett.

Who Will Win: One of the girls from The Good Wife because it’s on CBS.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Who I Want to Win: Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel for Glee. This nomination was a welcome surprise. I have said time and again that Mr. Colfer is the best singer and actor on that show and his character constantly provides the most well thought out and realistic story lines. So I’ll be pulling for him. Best Stuff: Ep 1.3: Preggers and Ep 1.18: Laryngitis.

Who Will Win: Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson for How I Met Your Mother. Let’s face it, he’s due. It would be a welcome win, but good lord if they give it to Cryer again I might have to be put down.

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Who I Want to Win: The Women of The Office. What’s that? NONE of them are nominated…again? Then I guess I’ll go with Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester for Glee. The woman is consistently hilarious on an otherwise laughless show while still nailing every single dramatic moment she is given. An actress of lesser talent would not have turned this character into the fan favorite she has become. Best Stuff: Ep 1.9: Wheels (that was just a really effing good episode) and Ep 1.22: Journey.

Who Will Win: Lynch has a great chance but Sofia Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett for Modern Family is the mainstream pick. Also, I’m happy to see Julie Bowen, an old favorite of mine from NBC’s Ed land a nod for Modern Family as well.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Who I Want to Win: While I love him and the show he stars on so much, I’d be a hypocrite if I said Bryan Cranston as Walter White for Breaking Bad for the third year running. In the spirit of shaking things up but giving it to someone equally deserving, I’m going to say Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor for Friday Night Lights. The show has been killed and saved so many times it’s fun to root for an underdog. Best Stuff: Ep 4.10: I Can’t.

Who Will Win: Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan for Dexter. He’s never won an Emmy for this role but he just came off a killer season. See what I did there?

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Who I Want to Win: DON’T CARE. Seriously, dramatic roles for women have been sucking across all media lately.

Who Will Win: Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick for The Good Wife. Leave a comment if you or anyone you know actually watches her show regularly. I’m curious if anyone does.

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Who I Want to Win: To be honest, Steve Carrell should have won this award for any of The Office’s previous 5 seasons. However I believe that Michael Scott was at his most shrill this year and didn’t delight me the way he used to. That being said, that’s not really Mr. Carrell’s fault so what the hell, give it to him. Best Stuff: Ep 6.9: Murder and Ep 6.20: Happy Hour. It would also be cool to see Larry David take the prize just because I’m really interested to see what a thank you speech from him sounds like.

Who Will Win: Probably Baldwin again.

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Who I Want to Win: Because they got completely snubbed everywhere else I want Amy Poehler to win it for the Parks & Rec team. She is the mother tree of a flawless ensemble cast that branches off of her.

Who Will Win: Probably Tina Fey or Toni Collette again at which point I will turn off the television.

Best Series – Comedy

Who I Want to Win: Curb Your Enthusiasm. In what was arguably its best season ever, Larry David and Co gave us a Seinfeld reunion, an amazing spoof of West Side Story of all things, the murder of a black swan, and some of the best skewering of classic sitcom tropes we’ll ever see. Who hasn’t taken two handicapped dates to the same party? Well no one. Except Larry. Best Eps: 7.5: Denise Handicapped, 7.7: The Black Swan, and 7.10: Seinfeld.

Who Will Win: Either Glee or 30 Rock. My money is on Glee because even though it is not the best show on TV it is the most popular and if it wins, viewers will indeed be satisfied like I said before.

Best Series – Drama

BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD

BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD BREAKING BAD

I defy you to come up with a show that performed as well on every level like this one did this season. Game. Set. Match.

Other surprises and disappointments:

-As I mentioned Parks & Rec got a raw deal but then again none of you are watching it ARE YOU?

-Community also got the old goose egg. I would’ve liked to see some writing nods for this show…let’s hope the SAG awards will find a way to recognize the amazing cast.

-No writing nods for Breaking Bad? Hm. Ok. It’s not like every script they produce is the most thought provoking and contextually layered writing to appear on basic cable TV ever.

-Very cool that Mike O’Malley snagged a nom for his guest appearances on Glee. The guy deserves it too. Never thought I’d see “Emmy Nominee Mike O’Malley” in print. Good for him.

-Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien got nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. A nice little “F U” to NBC. It’ll never be enough though.

-I’m sure I’ll have more to say after the Emmy’s so tune in for that.

Hope you care,

Danny

Breaking Bad - "Full Measures"

“Don’t do it Jesse. Don’t do it…oh my God.” I’ve only talked out loud to fictional characters two other times in my life and they were both on Lost. Tonight added a third as I begged Jesse not to kill Gale. But let’s back up…

The teaser this week on BB was a pretty cruel irony. It depicted a flashback of Walt (Hey look! It’s the dad from Malcolm in the Middle!) and Skyler taking a tour of the house they currently live in. We see that, even then, Walt always believed he was entitled to more. He talks to Skyler about how they should dream big and stretch their budget. “For us, there’s nowhere to go but up.” I’m always amazed at how skillfully crafted each episode on this show really is. Of course we all know that these characters can only go further down into the depths of a world they never saw themselves being a part of. Walt seems to realize it himself. “It’s all contaminated,” he said, a few weeks back in “Fly”.

One could argue, however, that last week when Walt looked a man in the face and then shot him in that same face, he was hitting rock bottom. He was no longer breaking bad, but had officially baptized himself by fire and been reborn into a new world. That was his turning point. So you could say he can only go up from there, but the ladder he’s climbing is a lot different than the one he fell down. If he keeps going on that path, it’s only a matter of time before he’s just another Mike the cleaner.

Mike is a very interesting character, and in these last two weeks we’ve learned more about him than we have in the entire series. We’ve known about his granddaughter since season two, but tonight we got to see just how different his two lives are. A great moment when he gives his granddaughter three aluminum balloons, saying that he needs the other 10; smash cut to him using the balloons to kill the power at a warehouse and going all Jason Bourne on the asses of some new cartel people that are inside. This guy isn’t just a cleaner; he also knows how to make a goddamned mess.

The scene served a nice purpose…it showed us exactly who Walt is dealing with now that he has royally pissed off Gus and his men. Surely Walt is in way over his head…right? Oh ho ho, but he has a few tricks up his sleeve. I loved how this episode had us viewing Walt from Mike’s perspective for the first half hour or so. We didn’t know anything about what was really going on because we were on the outside looking in. I thought Saul really did give Jesse up that easily. I thought Walt really believed he had solved the problem with his “Option A, Option B” speech. And I thought he was really oblivious to Gale’s new agenda to learn the trade secrets before Gus gives the order. But that would’ve been what to expect from “pre-face-shooting-Walt”. This new, full measure Walt is the man with the plan. In that awesome scene in the arcade, we learn that Saul is far more loyal to the boys than I ever thought was possible for him and that Walt realizes he needs job security BIG TIME. His plan is to kill Gale so that he will still be the only one that knows the 11 herbs and spices required to make Kentucky Fried Blue Meth. Jesse doesn’t like it, but all he has to do is find out where Gale lives. Walt will pull the trigger.

So Jesse does find out, but a little too late. Victor shows up at Walt’s house before he can go do the deed and takes him to the laundry where Mike is waiting. Walt suddenly goes into little bitch mode and begs for his life. Note the disgusted look in Mike’s eyes when Walt offers to give up Jesse. When he calls Jesse to “set up meet” as he tells Mike, he pulls a 180 and tells Jesse “it has to be you. They’re going to kill me”. Mike demands to know what he just did, and Walt simply gives Gale’s address. Note the shocked, “oh shit, but kind of impressed” look in Mike’s eyes when he puts together what Walt has ordered Jesse to do. Victor takes off to try and protect Gale.

Poor Gale. He doesn’t belong in this world. He’s an incorruptible man working in the most corrupt of businesses. He sings opera to his plants, he dances alone in his apartment, he knows exactly what temperature his tea should be (and finds out with his doofy laser-thermometer). So when Jesse shows up with a gun in his hand, he doesn’t even understand what is going on. He pleads for Jesse not to kill him in a quiet heartbreaking voice. Jesse’s eyes are red and misty as the barrel of the gun comes into focus. “Don’t do it Jesse. Don’t do it…oh my God”. And the episode ends with a gunshot.

Last week, I think I made the mistake of believing that Walt killed those two dealers in order to A.) stop Jesse from getting killed and B.) stop him from becoming a killer. I realize now, that part B wasn’t really his intent at all if he was so willing was to just have Jesse step in and take care of the Gale situation. “There’s got to be another way,” Jesse said in the arcade. He wanted no part of Gale’s murder and ended up pulling the trigger. “We’re not killers,” he said last week. Oops. Now you both are. I know this may sound ridiculous but Walt’s murder and Jesse’s murder were totally different. To protect Jesse, Walt killed two dealers that had murdered Combo and an 11-year-old boy. To protect Walt, Jesse killed a lonely, incorruptible man, who was only doing his job. Walt used Jesse to save himself. Jesse never asked Walt to save him. I have a feeling Jesse is going to be a little bitter when we see him next.

So there it is. What a season from Mr. Gilligan. Leave some comments with your own opinions below. I’ll end this with some other stray thoughts.

Hope you care,

Danny

-We as viewers should keep in mind for season 4 (oh how far away it seems) that the cartel is not dead and they are trying to move back in on Gus’s turf. Is it just me or does Gus seem to have less and less control over his business?

-Other than that teaser, no Skyler or any other “non-meth” characters this week. Of course, on Breaking Bad every decision has real consequences…can’t wait to see how the proceedings of the last two eps affect Walt’s loved ones.

-I wish Mike were my grandpa. Loved the “Do you have anything you want to tell me?” line.

-Ok so Walt has ensured that he will be kept alive for a little longer, but there are things worse than death. Like torture. Torture kind of sucks. So that has me worried. I think that might be the part of his plan that he’s overlooked.

-Interesting how the episode is called “Full Measures” but killing Gale seems to me like a pretty temporary solution to very non-temporary problem. Extreme? Yes. Full? Not quite. “There has to be another way.”

-Hurry back Breaking Bad. I miss you already.

The Wire – Episodes 1 – 3

Despite being a self-proclaimed pop culture nerd, there are a lot shows or movies out there that I have not gotten around to seeing that are just inexcusable. Still haven’t seen American Beauty or This is Spinal Tap. I’ve never watched an episode of The Sopranos or Mad Men all the way through and I just saw Fight Club for the first time last week (but like fuck Fight Club, right?). My favorite shows before college were Alias, Lost, The West Wing...uh…Batman The Animated Series. Ok that last one still is my favorite. Now these shows are all great, but a little mainstream. After beginning my pursuit of a college degree in television, however, I made a lot of friends that were all way more into good TV than I was.

And so they turned me on to Dexter and Six Feet Under and Breaking Bad…all of which floored me with their productions values, character development, and ability to never have a bad episode evereverever (respectively). But the one show that I kept hearing about over and over was The Wire. Every time I’d go back to my friends and say “I just watched the best episode of ____” and they’d say “Oh man, YOU would LOVE The Wire. There is a joke out there in the world of pop-nerds that fans of The Wire are the most dedicated and loyal fans in the world, and that they will try to insert it into conversations whenever possible. Those fans will also tell you that it is the greatest show of all time. If that was true, then me missing out on it any longer was inexcusable.

The Wire was an HBO series that ran from 2002-2008 and was created by David Simon (who is currently writing/producing/awesoming HBO’s Treme). The story follows both the Police and criminals that do their work in the more shady parts of Baltimore (see: Baltimore). So I queued the first season up on Netflix and the disc one came last night. With nothing else to do after work I popped it in my laptop and began to watch. The word “devoured” doesn’t adequately describe my viewing experience of these first three eps.

The first and most impressive thing I noticed about this show is that it doesn’t make any introductions for its main characters. Simon doesn’t hold your hand through the pilot. Hell, the pilot feels like the 4^th episode of season 2. It can be a little overwhelming at times…in just these three episodes we’ve already met D’Angelo, Avon, the two kid drug dealers, and Charles from The Office on the drug dealer side of things. On the police side, we’ve met Det. McNulty, Det. Burke, Officer Lesbian, Major Asshole, Major Dumb, the deputy, a bunch of guys on the task force, Bubs, and Lieutenant That Scary Black Guy from Lost. But I don’t find myself confused at all…on the contrary, I find myself intrigued.

Even though I only know half of these people’s names and have little to no understanding of how drug enforcement works, I find myself wanting to know everything about these people. They all appear to be so layered and dimensional. Some of the cops piss you off and some of the drug dealers tug at your heartstrings. This isn’t just a “cop show”…to call it that would be an insult. This is a character study of the lawmen and the criminals in a city that could use a character study of its own. So I’m strapping myself in and going along for the ride, because I trust the fans when they say, “This is going to be the best show you’ll ever watch”. I’ll let you know.

Hope you care,

Danny

Glee - Thoughts On Its First Season

Let me make something clear. I’m not a Glee hater. The last thing I want to do is just sit here and just rant about the little things on the show that annoy me. No I’d call myself a Glee reformist. Throughout its rocky first season we have seen glimmers of truly magnificent TV show. We especially saw those glimmers in last night’s finale. There have been moments in the first season that give me absolute chills; moments that I honestly consider to be groundbreaking television. These moments are almost enough to make us forget about the really, REALLY terrible things they’ve done on this program…like singing to a fetus or a bunch of pregnant girls dancing and crying about it after. The problem with jumping from big moment to big moment is when an episode let’s us down (like “Funk” last week), it let’s us down HARD.

Those who know me and my feelings towards the show have heard me say time and again that Glee has problems with its tone. I won’t spend too much time talking about this but in as few words as possible, the show is constantly bouncing between campy fantasy, romantic comedy, and melodramatic after-school special. Campy fantasy is the one that works the best for it because it simultaneously allows them to be ridiculous (which they love) and removes the need to explain away the musical numbers. There have been so many episodes where the kids sit in the choir room and listen to a character ramble on about why they’re singing a certain song and then (spoiler alert) they sing the song. Wee. But take for example a few weeks back when Kurt sang “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy. He just broke out singing right in the middle of the hallway but we were able to glean (gleen) everything he was feeling just from Chris Colfer’s acting and the lyrics of the song. Not only that but the number friggan kicked ass…and I don’t even like Gypsy. But did anyone say to themselves, “I sure wish they gave an overly expositional explanation as to why he sang that song. I’m bored, let’s watch The Good Wife.”? I doubt it.

So those are the big problems: tone and the show runners’ desperate death grip on realism. Stop it. Sometimes the songs CAN work in the “real world” and the lyrics don’t always have to directly relate to what’s going on in order to still develop character (a la “Poker Face”). But for the love of god someone needs to tell the writers to stop doing this “assignment of the week” BS they’ve been doing for the 2^nd half of the season. Lose that, and the show will have more time to tell a story as opposed to just having the kids run around trying to “find their voices” or “proving that they’re powerful” or “giving them-“ ugh I’m already bored.

The show has the potential to be the greatest show on TV instead of just the most profitable. The Beatles were the most profitable band in the world at one time and their fans were far more rabid than any gleek could be. So when their loud fans showed up at a concert and screamed the entire time and didn’t even listen to the music, The Beatles said, “Well, guess we’re not touring anymore”. They weren’t content just being profitable; they wanted to be proud of what they were doing. They then went on to better themselves as musicians as well as create the best songs of their career and in the history of music. My beef with Glee is that it seems perfectly happy to just exist as is instead of striving to better itself. I don’t want just glimmers, I want the show to shine damn it. You have the attention of millions of American viewers Ryan Murphy. Do something amazing for them. Don’t just let them scream.

Hope you care.

Danny.

Welcome to Danny Likes TV

Hey guys! My name is Danny Gendron and a friend recently pointed out to me that I like to talk. A lot. I also noticed that I watch TV. A lot. "So why don't you start talking about TV you big dungus?" said this imaginary friend of mine. Great idea Salazaar. So, at his suggestion I will be blogging my thoughts on various episodes of TV that I find to be particularly memorable.

They might be brand new episodes or some thoughts on series long past. Either, I hope it will be insightful, funny, or even just readable. And keep an eye out for guest posts from my good friends Mikey Heller and David Reynolds. (Psst, Dave and Mikey...you guys wanna do some posts?)

Tune in for my recap on the finale of "glee" and my thoughts on the show's first season.

Hope you care.

Danny