The Mad Professah Lectures

The Emmy Awards nominations for excellence in television were announced on Thursday and the nominees are:

Best drama series: Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Mad Men. 

Best comedy series: Modern Family, 30 Rock, Glee, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation.

Drama actress: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU; Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law; Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights and Mireille Enos, The Killing.

Comedy actor: Steve Carell, The Office; Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory;  Matt LeBlanc, Episodes, Louis C.K., Louie; Johnny Galecki, Big Bang Theory. 

Drama actor: Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Kyle Chandler,Friday Night Lights; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Hugh Laurie, House; Timothy Olyphant, Justified.

Comedy actress: Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation; Laura Linney, The Big C; Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly.

Supporting drama actor: Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age; John Slattery, Mad Men; Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Walton Goggins, Justified.

Supporting comedy actor: Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Ed O’Neill, Modern Family; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Chris Colfer, Glee.

Supporting comedy actress: Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Jane Lynch, Glee; Betty White, Hot in Cleveland; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock.

Supporting drama actress: Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire; Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Michelle Forbes, The Killing; Margo Martindale,Justified; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men.

The names highlighted in blue are the ones that I hope win while the other highlighted names are ones that I also like. I've only ever seen one episode of Mad Men in my life (on a plane) so I have no dog in that hunt. I just don;t get that show. I

According to Experian Simmons, a media research firm, there is no overlap between the most watched shows by Democrats and Republicans.

One of my students in my #CSP19: LGBT Rights in the Era of Obama and Google class pointed out  the list to me, and commented on the cognitive dissonance of the members of the anti-gay political party enjoying watching a show (Modern Family) which prominently features a gay white male couple raising a Vietnamese baby girl.

That's an interesting observation. What I notice from the list is that the shows which are in my DVR are Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Survivor, and 30 Rock. We just stopped watching Desperate Housewives, V and Damages this year. I have tuned into Countdown with Keith Olberman but prefer The Rachel Maddow Show.

Surprisingly, the shows that I prefer to watch live (or within 7 days of taping) are Modern Family and Survivor, which are on the Republican list. You can count me in the significant fraction (20%) of Californians who would "almost never consider" voting for a Republican candidate for any office.

So, clearly I exhibit some kind of partisan hybridity in television selection!

So, yesterday while I was at the Hollywood Bowl experiencing The Chemical Brothers throwdown, the Emmy Awards were being handed out a few miles away. Earlier in the day I made a bunch of predictions about who would win (mostly in the comedy categories). Here's the official list of winners:

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy -- Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy -- Modern Family

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy -- Jane Lynch, Glee

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy -- Glee

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy -- Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy -- Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program -- Top Chef

Outstanding Writing for a Drama -- Mad Men

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama -- Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama -- Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama -- Brian Cranston, Breaking Bad

Outstanding Directing in a Drama -- Dexter

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama -- Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding Drama Series -- Mad Men

Outstanding Comedy Series -- Modern Family

First of all, I nailed all the Comedy Acting Categories (Parsons, Falco, Lynch, Stonestreet) and I said that Modern Family should win but that Glee probably would. I'm happy that what I thought shoudl win, actually did. In the Drama category, I really wanted Lost to go out with a win but Mad Men pulled it off for the third year in a row.  I have never seen a single episode of that show (the whole 50's romanticism/nostalgia makes me ill) but isn't it peculiar how on BOTH of the winners for Best Series there is not a single African American major or minor character? Things that make you go "Hmmmmmm."

On a lighter note, I am very happy that Kyra Sedgwick won, The Closer is one of my secret pleasures every summer, (along with True Blood) and she is the best thing in a great ensemble cast. Also, Temple Grandin, an HBO made-for-TV starring an absolutely amazing Claire Danes cleaned up in the Miniseries or Television Movie categories by picking up 5 awards. It's an amazing true story about a woman diagnosed with autism in the 1950s who was able (through an excellent teacher and loving mother) to go to college and graduate school and become a designer of cattle slaughterhouses due to her affinity with animals. I highly recommend renting Temple Grandin.

The 2010 Emmy nominations were announced this morning and some of my favorite shows ended up with nominations.

OUTSTANDING COMEDY
Glee
Modern Family
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Nurse Jackie
30 Rock
The Office

OUTSTANDING DRAMA
Lost
Breaking Bad
Dexter
Mad Men
True Blood
The Good Wife

The shows in bold are the ones that I watch regularly. I've seen Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office (just took it out of the DVR this season) and watched the first 6 episodes of Nurse Jackie for the flight from London to Los Angeles this week. Glee doesn't need any more hype so I would vote for Modern Family.