Bloodless Coup

What bugs you about the TV awards? Longford has been languishing on my DVR forever, so I can't speak to that, but the only one there that doesn't fit with what I know or what I saw, arguably, is Close in Damages. But in truth she probably deserves it as much as anyone; that the show was only high mediocre doesn't mean her performance wasn't difficult and persuasive -- it was. Ditto, Duchovny -- the show has its flaws and his character might become grating after another season, but it was very well executed notwithstanding its limitations.

I suppose I would have liked to see Sopranos in there somewhere, but Mad Men was pretty damned excellent. I'm also happy to see Tina Fey get the nod for her excellent work on 30 Rock.

Oh I don't disagree with the quality of the winners. I've barely seen any of them, so how could I? By "strange" I meant unexpected. Some winners weren't huge surprises (maybe Close, Morton, Fey), but some shows many expected to do better (like Pushing Daisies) didn't, and the near shut-out of network tv (Fey was the only non-cable winner) is remarkable.

well, the trend skewing awards toward cable channels has been going for years now, and having watched evidently some more of the offerings at issue in both milieu, i can confidently say that it's no accident or injustice that the cable shows took the bulk of the awards. network just can't seem to catch up . . . or catch on.

Just saw Atonement. And I can see it getting a movie nomination, and I can see Knightley getting an award. But for Atonement to win and James McAvoy even to get nominated is, as Cartman would say, weak. Was there nothing better? Maybe the screenwriters shouldn't come back. And best score? Are they kidding? That typing musical montage was okay the first time, the second time, maybe grating, at best, the rest of the time. But playing the same theme over and over only works if it's, you know, good.