Emmy Reading This Correctly?

I'm not sure anything I've watched during the past season toyed with my emotions the way reading this year's list of Emmy nominees did earlier today. It was like my brain was playing Twister with me, calling out one new color after another before I could possibly get my left hand on green.

First there was anticipation: would Lost - after last year's snub - get its due this year with a nomination for Outstanding Drama? Then there was curiosity: there's an Outstanding Choreography category? That was followed by a sense of 'who knew?': there's an Outstanding Commercial category. Next there was self-doubt: "Am I reading this correctly? I must have missed the mentions of Planet Earth." (I did, it picked up 7 nominations). Then the fireworks began, starting with a feeling of satisfaction: 10 nominations for 30 Rock, 9 for The Office; which quickly turned into tempered indignation: Lost getting only 4 nods, but in the right categories and for the right reasons; and finally downright contempt when, after I finished the list, I realized Elizabeth Mitchell's name was nowhere to be found.

Now, I'm grounded enough to know that none of this is really that important. After all, more often than not its nothing more than self-congratulatory Hollywood nonsense. But the same could be said of any industry's awards. Does anyone outside the field really care who the best plumbing supplier in greater Montpelier is in any given year? No, but the pipe pushers in Vermont do, and while I don't get to see how good those guys are at hawking hose I do spend an inordinate amount of time watching television. I have some favorite shows - and guilty pleasures - as well as some absolute must-not-watchers (Grey's Anatomy) and I am able to recognize quality work when it is put in front of me. In that context, I don't feel so ridiculous in my reactions to this morning's announcement.

A second look at the nominees reveals some well deserved recognition as well as some head-scratchers. Among the highlights and lowlights:

It was great to see both Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn (Ben and Locke respectively) of Lost get nods for Outstanding Actor, albeit in the supporting category. I think a case could be made for either or both of them to have landed a lead spot, perhaps taking Keifer Sutherland's place in that category. While Sutherland's work is usually pretty compelling, this iteration of 24 left him very little to work with and he felt like more of a supporting character in the last two-thirds of the season.

It was good to see Heroes get some respect - 8 nominations including Outstanding Drama - though it may be a little undeserved. A good show, but very uneven in it's first season, it started to coalesce into something greater than its parts just before it completely imploded with a disastrously disappointing finale. I agree with the suggestions that this nomination may be lip service to those of us who like serialized dramas. Mark Harris has a great article about this and other aspects of the nominating process at EW.com.

Top Chef is in the running for Outstanding Reality Competition, though it will have trouble against perennial favorite The Amazing Race and another Bravo standout, Project Runway.

Alec Baldwin is up against Steve Carell in the Lead Actor - Comedy category. Though I love Carell's continually oblivious performance, Baldwin was a major reason the audience kept watching 30 Rock until the show eventually found its footing and established itself as the best new comedy of the season.

Not to drift too close to fanboydom, but most of my discontent stems from how Lost was treated by those who do the nominating. It was a stellar season (yes, from start to finish) and the second best ep of the season, "Through the Looking Glass", rightly received nominations for writing and directing. How the series didn't make the cut for Outstanding Drama however boggles one's mind, especially in light of the fact that the season finale was quite possibly two of the best hours of primetime television I have ever seen. I like Heroes, but Lost is a far better enterprise. Though maybe both should be in the final list, at the expense of the glorified soap opera that is Grey's Anatomy.

Additionally, I am gobsmacked that Elizabeth Mitchell's portrayal of Juliet on the series was completely overlooked. She should have at least gotten a nod for Supporting Actress if not Lead. Her work was simply fantastic. In each episode she appeared she was asked to play a range of emotions in order to conceal the fact that she is at least a triple agent whose sole allegiance in the end is probably only to herself. I can't imagine anyone who voted for this category seeing any of her performances and not putting her at the top of the list. It's criminal to say the least.

At least, as viewers, we have the next two months to regain our composure. At which time the polka dotted plastic rug will reappear to remind us that the voting process makes no sense, and more often than not seems to be based more on soundbites and hype (read Harris's article) rather than merit. Well, merit wins the technical categories, but we don't get to see those. They apparently don't make good television. Oh the irony!

An Amazing Race With A Disappointing Finish

I was a little disappointed with the outcome of last night's Amazing Race finale. The show itself was great, and the challenges exceedingly challenging. I especially loved the final Newlywed Game-type challenge where one team member needed to complete questions using a numbered list of possible answers. The answers formed a four-digit code that was used to lock an electronic safe holding the final clue. Then teammates switched and if the second team member came up with the same answers they could open the safe; if not they had ten excruciating minutes to keep trying, after which they were given the code and the clue. Only one team got out before the ten minute limit, and they went on to win the race.

That couple, and the root of my aforementioned disappointment: Danielle and Eric (aka Big Boobs and Sir Whines-A-Lot). To be fair, they were pretty decent competitors, overcoming several setbacks throughout the season. However, I just can't get past how much of a whiner Eric was whenever things didn't go his way, especially his ridiculously misguided feelings of betrayal after the yield episode a couple weeks back.

The other two teams in the top three were just as annoying in their own ways, so it was hard to really root for anyone. With the beauty queens being somewhat ethically challenged, I was kind of pulling for Charla and Mirna, despite their complete condescension to every foreigner they met.

I've written earlier that this was my first season watching this show. I'll be back when it returns. Not only for the show itself, but also for Josh Wolk's consistently hilarious recaps at EW.com. If you take the time to check them out, start with these two:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20037230,00.html
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20036297,00.html

Of Amazing Races, Bogus Award Shows, and Other Random Viewing Experiences

YIELD TO THE POWER OF THE AMAZING RACE
I'm a newcomer to The Amazing Race, but I'm hooked. I like this show because it doesn't get caught up in all the usual reality show melodrama; well, at least it doesn't most of the time. Eric and Danielle got yielded again this week, a perfectly legal tactic used by one team to slow another team down. As the two stood stewing and spewing, I sat scratching my head as to why they, and Eric in particular, took it so personally. It's almost as if he thinks all the teams are in this together. Dude, it's a competition, of course people are going to do what they can to win. It's like considering someone a traitor because they skipped you in "Uno". Does this guy sit at a poker table and cry foul when the other players don't show him their cards?


ONLY IN TV-LAND
In the past I've mocked the whole idea of the TV-Land awards as just another ridiculous self-congratulatory way to drum up viewers. However, this year I figured I should at least try to watch since I started blogging about television and all. Wow! I didn't even make it past Kelly Ripa's monologue.


STUPID AGENT MAN
Again last night 24 went the Alias route of making the hero(es) do stupid things in order to fill a plot hole or try to cover bad writing. Luckily, though the whole night wasn't a loss, and in a way it would have been interesting if the whole season focused on the "fallout" of the day's events. Have the nuke go off during the premier, catch the guy by hour five and spend the rest of the day cleaning up the mess.


HEROIC RESTRAINT
Last night I chose to watch 24 instead of Heroes. I did record it though so I hope to watch tonight. The couple seconds I did see however looked pretty fantastic.

And The Kenmore Pro Kitchen Goes To...

For some reason, last night's season finale of Top Chef felt a little anticlimactic. Perhaps it was because my pick for winner, Sam, was relegated to a line cook. Or maybe it was because there didn't seem to be enough analysis from the judges, neither during the meal nor at the judges table later. While it was a little underwhelming, it was nonetheless still compelling, due in no small part to the extremely gratifying opportunity to see Marcel squirm when Ilan was announced as the winner. His expression and post-game interview after his loss made my night. The only thing that would have made that moment better is if Padma had announced the winner by saying " Marcel...congratulate Ilan on being the Top Chef."

Enough with the petty personal politics though. That's not what this show is about, and it's for that reason that it is one of the only reality shows that I can actually stomach. Mostly, this is because it actually focuses on the competition rather than on the personalities. It also functions the way similar situations really would in a working kitchen. Frank Bruni, the New York Times restaurant critic, speaks to all of this and more in a piece from yesterday's issue:

No, Mr. Vigneron, 26, and Mr. Hall, 24, aren’t the most likable of the 15 chefs who participated in the competition. Could it be that they’re the last two standing because they’re actually the most talented? It’s possible. Definitely possible.

And that’s a big part of why “Top Chef” works so well and why so many food lovers will tune in to the season finale tonight on Bravo.

For all its generically hyped-up drama, cheesy gimmickry and abject fealty to the tropes of reality television, “Top Chef” really is about cooking: what goes into it; what comes out of it; what reliably succeeds in the kitchen and on the plate; what predictably doesn’t.

It’s not just “The Apprentice” with the chef Tom Colicchio subbing for the emperor Donald Trump, not just “America’s Next Top Model” with a much higher calorie count. It’s a look at the imagination, desperation, judgment and serendipity that inform any great meal.

Bruni's whole article is definitely worth a read as he breaks down all the reasons to like this show.

After thoroughly (and surprisingly) enjoying season one, I was a little afraid Top Chef in its second season might fall into the trap that a lot of these reality competitions do: changing focus to the interpersonal relationships rather than the contest. It's for that reason that I stopped watching The Apprentice after its first season and conversely is why it should be no wonder The Amazing Race wins Best Reality Emmy every year. They focus on the competition primarily, and not the adolescent relationship crap that is the ultimate legacy of The Real World.

Regardless, my fears were unfounded. Not only was the cooking at the forefront of each episode this season, but you could tell by head judge Tom Colicchio's expressions when confronted with whining from the contestants that he wants nothing to do with petty carping and relationship counseling. He simply wants to see these folks cook. You cold almost sense his exasperation in the second to last episode when Elia and Ilan tried to peg Marcel as a cheater. After sending someone home for cheating in one episode, not sending someone home for the same reason in another, and having to send yet another home for a non-competition rules violation, he seemed pretty happy in the finale to be focused solely on judging cooking.

That sort of centeredness is a major reason why I will be tuning in when season three hits the airwaves.