Emmy Noms and Bombs

As a dyed in the wool videophile, it pains me to admit that I always bomb at guessing who's going to win at the Emmy Awards. The terminal flaw in my precognitive skills seems to be that I always pick who I want to win, not who I think the academy will choose.

So this year I'm going to try something different and I'm going to include both picks. This way I might (might) just get a few right. Mind you, my picks will be from my favorite categories, so you'll have to argue amongst yourselves who'll win the Best Actor Emmy in a Dramatic Series (they're all downers as far as I'm concerned).

Dramatic Series: The show that I want to win is ABC's "LOST." This show is a twisting, turning, maddening mind trip. It eschews the usual formulas you typically find in dramatic series and really tries (and succeeds) to take us places we've never been before. The show that I think will win is AMC's "Breaking Bad." It's got drugs, cancer, violence and (very dark) humor. Personally, I find this show too painful to watch, but I suspect Academy voters can't get enough of it (last year it received four nominations and won two).

Comedy Series: The show I would really love to see win year is HBOs "Flight of the Conchords." This is the fictionalized story of a real comic-rock duo and their attempt to make it big in New York. These guys are the epitome of lovable losers, but their imaginative and hilarious songs shine an pleasurably painful beam on their (and our) human weaknesses. Of course, I think the Academy will choose NBC's "30 Rock" and I can't really blame them. It's leading this year with a whopping 22 nominations and it did (deservedly) win Best Comedy Series last year. This is the show that made NBCs Thursday night "must see TV" again, so I can't feel bad if they're rewarded for it.

Supporting Actor: My pick is Michael Emerson from ABC's "LOST." He plays the role of Benjamin Linus. And let me just say that after watching this character, and this actor's performance for three years, I still can't decide whether he's a good guy or a bad guy. If that's not Emmy-worthy, I don't know what is. However, I think the Academy just might choose William Shatner for his third win in this category. His characterization of Denny Crane on ABC's "Boston Legal" is truly riveting. And since the show is no longer on the air, this is their last chance to reward it.

Actor, Comedy Series: Oh please, let it be Jim Parsons from CBS's "Big Bang Theory." He plays Sheldon the "king of the nerds" on this hilarious show by the creators of the unwatchable 2-1/2 Men (I know, I know, people love that show, I just can't figure out why). "Big Bang Theory" makes up precisely 33% of all the shows I watch on CBS, so that's gotta count for something. That said, I think they're going to give it to Alec Baldwin of NBC's "30 Rock." And he deserves it. His razor sharp delivery is the icing on an already stellar cast.

Actress, Comedy Series: I have a tie here. I can't decide between Juia Louis-Dreyfus for CBS' "New Adventures of Old Christine" or Christina Applegate of ABC's "Samantha Who." On one hand, Julia carries that entire show with masterful skill and with hilarious results. On the other hand, Christina's "Samantha" was a refreshingly nice show about a bad girl trying to rebuild her life the right way - and she was canceled before her time. On the other-other hand, Tina Fey is going to win for "30 Rock," so my indecision is doesn't matter a fig.

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Now this time, I want a "30 Rock" actor to win. I think Tracy Morgan's maniacally self-absorbed performance is sheer genius. The more I watch him, the more I love him. Of course, I won't mind when the academy gives the award to Neil Patrick Harris for his role on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother." After all, he is hosting the Emmy Awards this year, and if they don't give it to him, he might just end the show there.

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: My pick for this category is Kristin Chenoweth for "Pushing Daisies" on ABC. She plays the love-lorn Olive Snook. One of the best parts about having this Broadway star on show show was that she'd occasionally break into glorious song. And again, this show was killed before its time so I hope the Academy shows ABC the error of its ways. But... no surprise here, I think they'll give it to Jane Krakowski of 30 Rock. Yeah, yeah, she's awesome. The cast is awesome. The show is awesome. I guess that's why I think the Academy is going to reward them with all the Emmys.

Okay, those are my picks. Who do you wish would win - and who do you think is going to win. And which show would you like to give a shout out to? You can school me in the comment section below.

The 61 Emmy Awards will air live on September 20th. See the complete List Of Emmy Nominations here.

The End of TV's Summer Dry Spell

Lets face it. With very few exceptions, Summer is a television wasteland. I guess they think we're supposed to go outside or something. As if.

Not that Summer was a complete loss. Fox's one episode of Glee and ABC's (balls ahoy!) Wipeout are great, but not nearly enough to hold me over until the Fall season begins. Well, we can all be thankful that the summer's heat is driving us back inside just in time for the networks to premier a whole slate of summer shows for us.

As a matter of fact, there are 29 shows premiering this month. But even yours truly can't manage to watch 29 new shows this month (I do have a life, you know), so here's my pick for the most promising new shows and returning favorites for July.

July 12: Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime)

A "spirtited" comedy about ditzy model who returns to earth to inhabit the body of a plus-sized attorney. Starring Brooke Elliott and co-starring the super snarky Margaret Cho as her loyal assistant (Cho's the real reason I'll be checking this show out).

July 15: Michael and Michael Have Issues (Comedy Central)

Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black (both of the hilarious but short-lived series Stella) combine ironic commentary and comedy sketches on pop culture and hot-button topics. These guys are dark and dry and can't keep a show on the air - so check them out while you can.

July 19: Ace of Cakes (Food Network)

It's season seven (can you believe it?) for Chef Duff and his quirky troupe of cake decorators. This reality series follows the crew each week as they create the most amazing custom cakes you've ever seen. Yes, it's food porn - but with a plot.

July 19: HGTVs Design Star (HGTV)

What makes this design competition so entertaining is watching the the competitors take identical rooms and challenges and seeing the totally different vignettes they create. Oh yeah, and the super bitchy melt-downs.

July 21: Hell's Kitchen (Fox)

British chef Gordon Ramsey turns up the heat on his already hot temper and foul mouth to forge a winning chef. This show is at its best when Chef Ramsey loses it and just rips these (often arrogant) wannabe chefs a new pie hole.

August 9: Joan Rivers Celebrity Roast (Comedy Central)

The queen of the D-List, Kathy Griffin hosts the Comedy Central roast of comic legend and plastic-surgery addict Joan Rivers. If you haven't seen these roasts yet, be warned, the roasters are filthy, ruthless and balls-out hilarious.

Check back soon for the upcoming August premiers. And if there's a new show premiering you think I should check out, be sure to leave a comment below.

Cancelation is Hereby Canceled

Thanks to our fascination with movies, TV and all things celebrity-related, most of us know how the TV production process works. Based a strong pitch or pilot episode, a network agrees to buy a certain number of episodes which they promote, air and sell commercial time for. And as is often the case, a show can have a rabid fan base and be a critics darling, but if it doesn't stack up in the ratings (the measurement used to show viewership and decide how much commercial time costs) it's canceled by the network and disappears forever. Or does it? 

Syndication often brings new life and invigorated audiences to canceled shows. That's precisely how Star Trek evolved from a poorly rated TV sci-fi series to 11 motion pictures, 5 new televisions shows (including a Saturday morning cartoon) thousands of books, magazines and comics. Now the combination of reruns and DVD sales are showing networks that "cult classics" can deliver an audience given time and exposure.

Family Guy was the first series to have been given a second life based on DVD sales. FOX first canceled the poorly rated series in 2000. It brought it back briefly only to cancel it again in 2002. Then it was given a third life in 2005. Now with new episodes airing on FOX, syndicated runs on multiple networks and DVD sales, the show that could not find an audience won't go away.

Futurama was Matt Groening's follow up to his hit, The Simpsons. But due to FOX's penchant for pre-emting the show, moving it in the schedule and airing new episodes erratically, its ratings dropped from 19 million viewers to 6.5 over three years. Is there a lesson to be learned here? Not by any network I know. Presciently, Groening began shopping the series around before FOX finally dropped the ax. In 2002 the episodes were picked up by Cartoon Network for it's late night Adult Swim program block.  In 2005 Comedy Central boldly purchased the syndication rights to the series to begin running after Cartoon Networks contract expired in 2008. They also began producing three straight to DVD films. Now Comedy Central has announced that it has purchased 26 new episodes of Futurama to begin airing in 2010. Now that's what I call network support!

So, the next time your favorite critically acclaimed ratings victim gets canceled (you hear me Pushing Daisies and Samantha Who?) just keep your hopes high and your eyes open. Because these days, cancelation does not necessarily mean the end.

Insider's Look at the Emmy Awards

Get a special behind-the-scenes look at the 46th Annual Northwest Emmy Awards. Join me on the red carpet, on the stage and behind the scenes as Jones Advertising attends the glittering event. How tongue-tied did I get on stage? See for yourself in the latest episode of Watch It! TV. 

Sure It's A Hit. But Is It Star Trek?

Anyone who's known me for more than five minutes knows that I'm a big Star Trek fan. Truth be told, my devotion to the sci-fi classic isn't just overblown, it's downright Shatneresque. 

So when my friends heard that there was a new Star Trek movie coming out they asked, was I excited to see it? Did I think it was going to be good? Was I going to be first in line? I didn't know how to answer any of these questions because frankly, I was scared. And I had plenty of reasons.

I had heard rumors that director J.J. Abrams was not a Star Trek fan, was not following established canon and was intending to update the movie for a wider audience (meaning 13 year old boys). Great. So he was planning to "fix" my all-time favorite show the same way like-minded directors fixed other cult classics like Lost In Space, Wild Wild West, Bewitched, The Avengers and of course, Transformers. Now I know, the Transformers movie was a huge hit and made a ka-jillion dollars. That doesn't mean it wasn't a steaming pile of crap characters, tired plot-points and blurry computer graphics (and I'm trying to be nice here).

I stalled almost two weeks after Star Trek came out before seeing it. In that time I read every review, grilled friends and scanned the message boards (yes, I visit Star Trek message boards - I'm not proud). Finally, I was ready to see it for myself. And... hey Mikey, I liked it! But is it Star Trek? Well, maybe not exactly, but J.J. came pretty darn close.

**Spoilers follow**

The first thing they did right was to create an alternate timeline. Me (and my fellow nerds) know James T. Kirk and crew inside and out. We've devoured TV, movies, books, comics and cartoons. We know their past, their future, their favorite foods and tastes in women. Creating a new timeline allows for a Star Trek that's both familiar and new at the same time.

They also did a good job selecting and directing the actors. Most of them look enough like the original actors to satisfy true fans. But more importantly they all understood and conveyed the spirit of the characters. 

Best of all, J.J. remembered that Star Trek isn't about space. It's about the human condition (as viewed from space). The story (like all good Star Trek) uses external crises to force our characters to confront their own internal conflicts and flaws.

One thing J.J. didn't seem to understand is that Kirk and Spock aren't a duo and McCoy shouldn't be demoted to irascible sidekick. The three men are parts of a greater whole. Kirk's courage and determination need Spock's logical mind and McCoy's deep feelings to function as a commander. (J.J., you use OZ reference all the time. Courage-heart-brain, get it?). McCoy had some nice character moments in the movie, but I don't think he served his character's true purpose.

The only other negative I feel worth mentioning is the Enterprise. The exterior was okay (yes, just okay), but the bridge looked an overly-lit hair salon and the engineering deck looked like a crummy old factory (which is exactly where they filmed it). 

Okay, one other thing. J.J., can you back off on the lens flares a little? It's one thing to give a movie a distinctive look, but not every scene needs to have bands of light splitting them in two.

See? That wasn't so bad. All in all a good film adaptation of a beloved TV classic. And let's face it. Even if it had stunk I'd still buy a ticket, a DVD, a Blu-Ray copy, pick up the comics, magazine and see the sequels. After all, I'm just your average nit-picking, detail-obsessed, line-quoting lunatic... in other words, a Star Trek fan.

What did you think? Did J.J. and crew make the best Trek ever or did he miss the target? Leave a comment and let me know.

TV's Guiltiest Pleasures

There's plenty of mind-rotting, cringe-inducing trash on TV. Outwardly, we deride and scorn it. But like everything that's truly bad for us, we can't get enough of it. Sure we hate ourselves a little more after each viewing, but what's a little guilt compared to hours of diversion and escape? Since I'm too far gone to feel guilt over television, I asked a few friends what their favorite guilty pleasures were. What did I learn? That my friends are just shameless and depraved as I am.

#3 The Real Housewives of New York

What's wrong with this show? Let’s start with the title. First, the word real. These women are about as “real” as can be manufactured out of silicon, botox, hair-extensions, lip-plumper and spray-on tans. Some day, science may develop a more lifelike model, but until then, these are fairly reasonable facsimiles. Now, housewives. You know, cooking, cleaning raising the children. It’s pretty clear these “housewives” would never do any of these lowly chores for fear of chipping an acrylic nail. After all, that’s what menials are for, right? I will admit that they are wives and they do live in (very, very large) houses, but the resemblance ends there. Finally, New York. Okay, I’ll give ‘em that one.

So, what's so great about this show? I think we love it because it makes us feel equal parts envy and revulsion. The same bipolar rollercoaster we felt watching the bitchy, pretty clique from high school. Sure we detested that group of vapid, soulless, Barbies and Kens. We also desperately wanted to be in that group. Now, not only do we get to travel in their inner circle, we still get to make fun of it. 

#2 COPS

Recognize this? Bad boys, bad boys. What cha gonna do? What cha gonna do when they come for you? Of course you do. We all do. COPS has been on for an amazing 20 years and has graced us with over 750 episodes. If it's been on this long, it must be good, right? Sure, there’s action, mystery, suspense, heroic men in blue and often, very real danger. What’s not to love?

Okay, but why do we REALLY love it? I think it's because we can’t help but feel elated as we watch some drunken, shirtless hick kissing asphault and trying to explain his way out of an arrest. We all knew that jackass and take real pleasure from seeing him finally get hauled away. Knew him? Hell, some of us dated him. Is it really wrong to take so much pleasure from such blatant schadenfreude? If it is, I don't want to be right.

#1 Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew

What makes this show my top pick for Guilty Pleasure? Easy. If you feel pleasure watching this show, you SHOULD feel guilty. This show takes celebrities in the throws of drug and alcohol addition and parades their most private and painful moments for our "education." Just how educational is it? Well, considering it's broadcast on VH1 along side such thought-provoking fare as Rock of Love, Breaking Bonaduce and Hogan Knows Best, you should get college credits just for tuning in.

In season one, celebrities like Brigitte Nielsen, Daniel Baldwin and Jeff Conaway experienced stomach-churning withdrawls, battled their inner-demons and honestly struggled for sobriety. Did appearing on the show help them? Well, out of 9 celebrities, one left after four episodes, six relapsed and one (Jeff Conaway) came back even worse for season two. This has got to be television at its ugliest. So why can't we stop watching? 

We want to believe that these people are sincere in their desire to get better. And they do show the very real dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. We know there are a hundred other places that these people should go for help before a TV show. And we can't deny that most of them are not going to make it. So when one of them makes a breakthrough or even a small victory you really feel their joy - and for at least a while - some hope. And maybe that's where the pleasure of watching really comes from. Learning that as long as we're willing to keep trying, there is always hope.

But what will we learn from next season's Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew? I shudder to think.

The Emmy Awards: It's an Honor Just To Be Nominated.

I can tell you from experience, it really is an honor to be nominated for an Emmy Award (it sure beats the hell out of not being nominated), but it doesn't hold a candle to actually winning. Jones Advertising has had that honor too (and we're currently nominated for 6 more). But before you say, "well, they must just give them to anyone." I must respond, "au contraire, mon frère."

Perhaps most famously, Angela Lansbury has been nominated an amazing 18 times and has yet to bring an Emmy home (that's the same number of nominations Susan Lucci had before her famous win, so there's still hope, Angela).

As Malcolm in the Middle's harried mom, Jane Kaczmarek was nominated 7 times in a row and went home empty-handed each year. Well, they always said motherhood is a thankless job.

Sienfeld's Jason Alexander was nominated 8 times with no wins (he did win 3 Screen Actor's Guild Awards in a row, so maybe that soothed the pain).

Even Happy Day's Marion Ross was turned away from the Emmy-winner's circle 5 times. What kind of monster could say no to "Mrs. C." five times? Perhaps Chuck (Richie's seldom seen big brother) finally got his revenge for being written off the show. 

Of course, their disappointment must be small compared to the television icons who never even received a nomination. 

Creator, producer, writer and star of the longest running live action sit-com ever, Ozzie Nelson never received a single Emmy nomination in 14 years.

Desi Arnaz was the only I Love Lucy star not to get nominated for an Emmy. Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance and William Frawley each received at least 4 nominations. Somebody's got some s'plainin' to do.

Michael Landon, Heather Locklear, Barbara Eden, Buddy Ebsen and Penny Marshall are all members of the golden goose-egg club. Well, there's always the TV Land Awards. Ugh.

Now I'm not trying to say that our regional Emmy Awards hold the same cache as the "big time" Emmys. And truth be told, if they hadn't added an Advertising category we might never had gotten that golden lady to stand so regally on our shelves. But the did and we did, so there.

As for this year's awards? We won't find out until May 30th. Until then (all together now), it's an honor just to be nominated.

To check out Jones Advertising's Emmy-nominated spots, follow the links below.

Break Room: Rescue Pest Control (Single Spot)

Not A Game: DSHS (PSA Campaign)

Daily Access: MSN/Diet Coke (Nominated in 2 new media categories)

Stay Sharp on Internet Safety: Microsoft (Nominated in 2 new media categories)