YEAH, SURE... WHATEVER (EMMY AWARDS 2009)

Your humble servant is ill and I cannot do better than the fantastic "Baseball bat" coverage of the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards by Nikki Finke on Deadline.com.

The ceremony was hosted by the talented and funny Neil Patrick Harris (How I met your Mother).

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

Nominated: Big Love, Breaking Bad, Damages, Dexter, House, Lost, Mad Men.

Cable vs nets (House, Lost). Cable wins with Mad Men (AMC) but where is True Blood? House is basically Hugh Laurie telling dry jokes and upsetting people, if you want to watch a show about a grumpy misanthropist but lovable doctor watch Doc Martin with Martin Clunes.

And I've stopped watching Lost during Season 2, I hope the writers of FlashForward know where they're going... for their future viewers, I mean. The problem with these "serialized" shows is that they seem to be written during shooting.

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

Nominated: 30 Rock, Entourage, Family Guy, Flight of the Conchords, How I met your mother, Weeds.

30 Rock wins. I've tried to watch Entourage once and the tagline of this show should be: "30 minutes of your life are a terrible thing to waste". It's Seinfeld with private jokes strictly for Hollywoodland insiders (Hi, Nikki!) 30 Rock targets a wider audience, gets me indulgent laughs sometimes and there is Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Nominated: Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad, Michael C. Hall for Dexter, Hugh Laurie for House, Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment, Jon Hamm for Mad Men and Simon Baker for The Mentalist.

Like last year, Bryan Cranston wins for Breaking Bad. It's Deja Vu All Over Again, as remarks Nikki in her title.

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Nominated: Sally Field for Brothers and Sisters, Glenn Close for Damages, Mariska Hargitay for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Holly Hunter for Saving Grace, Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer, Elizabeth Moss for Mad Men.

Like last year, Glenn Close wins for Damages. « Great actress, great choice, great show » writes Nikki Finke, giving us a clue of who could play She Who Must Be Read, if they ever do a biopic. Glenn Close would be fantastic even reading the CNBC ticker but I find the show overestimated.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Nominated: William Shatner for Boston Legal, Christian Clemenson for Boston Legal, Aaron Paul for Breaking Bad, Michael Emerson for Lost, John Slattery for Mad Men, William Hurt for Damages.

Michael Emerson wins for Lost. I hope Stephen Tobolowsky will be nominated for Glee next year.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Nominated: Rose Byrne for Damages, Hope Davis for In Treatment, Chandra Wilson for Grey's Anatomy, Sandra Oh for Grey's Anatomy, Dianne Wiest for In Treatment, Cherry Jones for 24.

Cherry Jones wins for 24. With no disrespect for Cherry Jones I don't watch 24 anymore since season 4. Grey's Anatomy is Scrubs without humour.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Nominated: Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock, Tony Shalhoub for Monk, Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory, Steve Carell for The Office (US), Charlie Sheen for Two and a Half Men, Jermaine Clement for Flight of the Conchords.

Like previous year (!) Alec Baldwin wins for 30 Rock. « Potential movie leading man who never achieved superstar status, who used to be hot and now isn't, is enough of a sad story that his peers want to reward him » writes Nikki Finke. Ouch! Superstars come and go, actors last and Baldwin is an actor.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Nominated: Tina Fey for 30 Rock, Christina Applegate for Samantha Who?, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for The New Adventures of Old Christine, Sarah Silverman for The Sarah Silverman Program, Toni Colette for United States of Tara.

Toni Colette wins for United States of Tara. « I can't believe that Showtime won an Emmy. And without holding hostage the voters' firstborn or Chihuahua » snarks Nikki Finke so hilariously - I love the Chihuahua joke, is it a reference to ABC? I don't know United States of Tara but Nikki is absolutely right, Toni Collette is an excellent reason to watch something where she's in.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Nominated: Kevin Dillon for Entourage, Tracy Morgan for 30 Rock, Neil Patrick Harris for How I met your Mother, Rainn Wilson for The Office (US), Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men, Jack McBrayer for 30 Rock.

Jon Cryer wins for Two and a Half Men. I like this show and Cryer is good in it but Harris deserved to win.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Nominated: Jane Krakowski for 30 Rock, Kristin Chenoweth for Pushing Daisies, Kristen Wiig for Saturday Night Live, Amy Poehler for Saturday Night Live, Vanessa Williams for Ugly Betty, Elizabeth Perkins for Weeds.

Kristin Chenoweth wins for Pushing Daisies. A great show terribly missed.

OTHER CATEGORIES:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart wins in Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series. The classy 2008 BBC adaptation of Dickens' Little Dorrit wins in Outstanding miniseries vs Generation Kill - We should tell voters that Brit TV is more than period/costume drama. Grey Gardens (http://cathoderaytube.blogspot.com/2009/09/grey-gardens-hbo-dvd-review.html) wins in Outstanding Made for Television Movie. Brendan Gleeson wins in Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Into the Storm (2009) vs Sir Ian McKellen, or Kenneth Brannagh for the boring Wallander. Etc.

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/2009-emmy-winners-with-cynicism/