Showing posts with label Big Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Love. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
"Big Love" series finale recap: "When Men and Mountains Meet"
Saturday, January 15, 2011
'Big Love' final season off to a solid, if depressing, start
Monday, March 8, 2010
"Big Love" season finale recap: "End of Days"
I know most people watched the Academy Awards last night, and might not yet have seen the (completely insane) season finale of "Big Love." Once you've seen it, feel free to click through for the recap.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Put a period on it: A plea to "Big Love"
Some months ago, I had been toying with the idea of doing a weekly recap on "Big Love," much like the ones I've done on "Mad Men," "Lost," and "True Blood." But I didn't, for a number of reasons. A) I didn't really have the time and B) there's just too much going on!
Yes, I realize that I write about "Lost," which is far twistier and more complex than "Big Love." But, while "Lost" is, in many ways, a messy show, it's a controlled mess. "Big Love," with its ever-growing web of plotlines and character relationships, is really starting to spiral out of control.
When it began, "Big Love" was about a man, Bill Hendrickson (Bill Paxton) with three wives (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Gennifer Godwin). The show was about how this unconventional family functioned, and how Bill balanced his many home responsibilities with running a business (a home improvement store) and engaging in power struggles with the local demigogue, Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton).
The show, from the beginning, had a lot of balls in the air. But that was OK. After all, this was the story of a man trying to take on too much. A little chaos in the story-telling was par for the course.
However, over its past few seasons, "Big Love" has kept adding stories and complications. In addition to the wives, the power struggle and the home improvement business, Bill's taken on running a casino and running for office. If that weren't enough, all the other characters have multiple plotlines as well.
We've seen Nikki (Sevigny) struggle with her identity, deal with the discovery of her long-lost daughter, confront waning feelings for Bill and learn that her widowed mother was marrying Nikki's ex-husband. Meanwhile, Margene (Godwin) is running a business, dealing with her feelings for Bill's eldest son, and still trying to claw out a place in Bill's family. And Barb -- look I don't even know what's going on with Barb this season.
In previous seasons, Barb has been a wise mother hen, full of love but also capable of manipulation. This season, however, she's become a bit of a dummy, incapable of handling her responsibilities at home or at the casino.
And don't even get me started on the storylines of the show's many, many supporting characters.
To make matters worse, last night the show added yet another plot thread -- the re-appearance of Ana, who was briefly Bill's fourth wife. Ana, as it turns out, is pregnant with Bill's baby. Sigh.
There's still a lot I love about this show, particularly the acting. The women are all good, with Sevigny a standout as the angry, damaged Nikki. The show also is capable of delivering strong moments, like the harrowing bit from a few weeks ago when Bill forced loyal sidekick Don to out himself as a polygamist for the good of Bill's campaign.
But the good stuff often gets lost in the midst of so many twists and turns. It needs to focus. And, in my view, there's no better way to do that than by setting an end date for the series. When the creative forces behind a show know they have a time limit, they're more likely to pull things together. Just look at "Lost." Look at how much more organized it became once it had an end date. Also, "The Shield," while always strong, had a particular clarity in its final season. And the main reason "The Sopranos" floundered in some of its later seasons was that David Chase and HBO kept delaying their end date.
When will the TV powers that be learn that putting a period on a show's run only helps it creatively? Wouldn't the TV powers that be rather guide still-excellent shows gently to their finish, instead of yanking them off the air when a dissatisfied public jumps ship?
Yes, I realize that I write about "Lost," which is far twistier and more complex than "Big Love." But, while "Lost" is, in many ways, a messy show, it's a controlled mess. "Big Love," with its ever-growing web of plotlines and character relationships, is really starting to spiral out of control.
When it began, "Big Love" was about a man, Bill Hendrickson (Bill Paxton) with three wives (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Gennifer Godwin). The show was about how this unconventional family functioned, and how Bill balanced his many home responsibilities with running a business (a home improvement store) and engaging in power struggles with the local demigogue, Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton).
The show, from the beginning, had a lot of balls in the air. But that was OK. After all, this was the story of a man trying to take on too much. A little chaos in the story-telling was par for the course.
However, over its past few seasons, "Big Love" has kept adding stories and complications. In addition to the wives, the power struggle and the home improvement business, Bill's taken on running a casino and running for office. If that weren't enough, all the other characters have multiple plotlines as well.
We've seen Nikki (Sevigny) struggle with her identity, deal with the discovery of her long-lost daughter, confront waning feelings for Bill and learn that her widowed mother was marrying Nikki's ex-husband. Meanwhile, Margene (Godwin) is running a business, dealing with her feelings for Bill's eldest son, and still trying to claw out a place in Bill's family. And Barb -- look I don't even know what's going on with Barb this season.
In previous seasons, Barb has been a wise mother hen, full of love but also capable of manipulation. This season, however, she's become a bit of a dummy, incapable of handling her responsibilities at home or at the casino.
And don't even get me started on the storylines of the show's many, many supporting characters.
To make matters worse, last night the show added yet another plot thread -- the re-appearance of Ana, who was briefly Bill's fourth wife. Ana, as it turns out, is pregnant with Bill's baby. Sigh.
There's still a lot I love about this show, particularly the acting. The women are all good, with Sevigny a standout as the angry, damaged Nikki. The show also is capable of delivering strong moments, like the harrowing bit from a few weeks ago when Bill forced loyal sidekick Don to out himself as a polygamist for the good of Bill's campaign.
But the good stuff often gets lost in the midst of so many twists and turns. It needs to focus. And, in my view, there's no better way to do that than by setting an end date for the series. When the creative forces behind a show know they have a time limit, they're more likely to pull things together. Just look at "Lost." Look at how much more organized it became once it had an end date. Also, "The Shield," while always strong, had a particular clarity in its final season. And the main reason "The Sopranos" floundered in some of its later seasons was that David Chase and HBO kept delaying their end date.
When will the TV powers that be learn that putting a period on a show's run only helps it creatively? Wouldn't the TV powers that be rather guide still-excellent shows gently to their finish, instead of yanking them off the air when a dissatisfied public jumps ship?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
"Big Love" recap: I just want to make you a BLT!
Yes, this is a criminally late recap of the fourth season premiere of HBO's "Big Love." But I totally have excuses for my tardiness -- excuses that involve a particularly wretched stomach flu and a fire in my apartment building.
Truth is, my "Dollhouse" recap Saturday kind of sapped me, and I haven't felt up to more blogging, until now. So, I didn't write a preview of the new episodes of "Big Love," and was tempted just to let the week pass by without commenting on it at all. But I couldn't let it slide, for two reasons.
Number one, I heard about the new credit sequence. Because my review screeners didn't include any credit sequences, I had no idea that the show had overhauled its opening credits until yesterday morning. No longer do we have the Hendrickson clan poignantly ice skating to the Beach Boys. Now, we have this:
Lovely, yes. But was it necessary? I loved the original sequence -- loved it so much in fact that my husband and I used "God Only Knows" as our wedding song. Why change it? I haven't seen any explanations yet. I assume it's merely the "Big Love" team wanting to shake things up a bit. That's fine, but it's going to take a lot of getting used to.
My second reason for wanting to write about this episode is (SPOILER ALERT) that I weirdly loved the screwball plot surrounding the dead body of Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton, whose character was murdered in last season's finale). I know a lot of critics don't like the Juniper Creek stories on the series and, I'm imagining, didn't care for this episode's "Weekend at Bernie's"/"Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" shenanigans with Roman's corpse. But it's just that insanity that makes me love the show. As soon as Adaleen (the peerless Mary Kay Place) screamingly urged daughter Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) to go down to the freezer to fetch some bacon, you kind of knew what was coming. But that didn't make it any less horrifying when Nicki entered the deep freeze to find her father's corpse. It was a moment both creepy and hilarious, as was the Hendrickson clan happening on Roman's body at their work site.
Yes, it was over the top. But it still worked -- mainly because Roman was always such an over the top character. It makes total sense that his corpse would literally turn up to haunt his daughter and her family.
It also worked because other elements of the show weren't quite as over the top. Margene's struggle to grow her jewelry-selling business was, for example, realistic and compelling, as was Nicki's struggle over her feelings for Bill. However, I didn't really buy Barb being wackily at sea with the casino business. The Barb I know is usually good under pressure. Yes, I know she's been thrown off by her excommunication -- and by the lack of respect given her by Bill's business partners -- but I don't think that would make her act like such a maniac. I felt much better when she gained control of the situation by the end of the episode.
I'm also not totally on board with Bill running for office. I feel the show already has too many balls up in the air, story wise, and this might be one more plot than it can handle.
What did you think of the premiere?
Saturday, December 19, 2009
IScreen's Top 10 Shows of 2009
Putting together a list of this year's top 10 shows proved harder than I anticipated. While last year was a relatively spotty year for TV (with the exception of excellent final seasons for "The Shield" and "The Wire"), 2009 offered a lot of reasons to love the boob tube. Several returning shows had particularly strong seasons and there were some truly smart and imaginative new offerings.
To accommodate all the year's notable programming, I present not only the traditional top 10 list, but also an honorable mention and a list of runners up. Do you have a problem with that?
I didn't think so. On to the list.
1. "Breaking Bad," AMC: After a strong, but uneven, first season, AMC's wrenching drama "Breaking Bad" blossomed into a devastating, much-watch series in its sophomore outing. With the initial exposition out of the way, the tale of drug-dealing chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston, whose brilliance goes without saying at this point) and his slightly more seasoned sidekick Jesse (Aaron Paul) went into overdrive. The guys got deeper and deeper into the drug biz. They built up a crew, acquired a lawyer (the excellent Bob Odenkirk) and unleashed a whole lot of hell. At its best, "Breaking Bad" is smart, darkly funny and deeply unsettling. It's the year's best show and, along with "Mad Men," cements AMC's reputation as the new home for great drama.
2. "Lost," ABC: Yes, I know the new conventional wisdom is that cable is king and broadcast is yesterday's news. But this year, the networks offered a lot of top-notch programming, including the best season yet of ABC's fascinating sci-fi drama "Lost." This was the show's penultimate season, and it was a doozy. We had time travel, the surprisingly touching romance of Juliet and Sawyer and perhaps the year's most shocking finale. What if, it proposed, everything we'd been watching these five seasons could be undone? The show's final season will, presumably, provide the answer. I can't wait. In the meantime, check out one of the season's funniest moments here.
3. "Big Love," HBO: How does "Big Love" do it? How does it manage to make a drama about a polygamist family seem like just another family drama (albeit an incredibly well-acted and well-written one)? Three seasons in and I'm more hooked than ever on the story of Bill Hendrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives, played wonderfully by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin. This season, everyone shone but Sevigny was a particular highlight as her increasingly unstable Nikki Grant battled her daddy issues, her insecurities and a host of secrets.
4. "Mad Men," AMC: Granted, this season of the period drama "Mad Men" was a little slow. There were too many episodes focusing on adman Don Draper's (Jon Hamm) home life, particularly his increasingly dreary wife Betty (January Jones). But the season's best episodes were so phenomenal, they made up for any lags. How can you deny the brilliance of "My Old Kentucky Home," which includes the now-classic line "My name is Peggy Olson, and I want to smoke some marijuana?" Or the visceral shock of the lawn mower scene from "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency?" Or the devastating genius of this scene, in which Don finally reveals the truth about his past?
It all led up to the unforgettable, game-changing finale, "Shut the Door, Have a Seat," in which the "Mad Men" world we knew unraveled, and morphed into something new and exciting. Truth is, I'm willing to put up with this show's slow spots, because it delivers the goods more often than not. And when it delivers the goods, few shows are better.
5. "Friday Night Lights," NBC/DirecTV 101 network: Sadly, many people still haven't seen any of the fourth season of the wonderful drama "Friday Night Lights." That's because you can only watch it on DirecTV's 101 channel. The season won't air on the show's other home, NBC, until the summer. That's a shame, because this is possibly the show's best season since its first. The series reinvigorated itself with a brilliant story about Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) being forced to helm the football team at East Dillon High, a hardscrabble school far less well-off than his former home, Dillon High. The show has also successfully introduced new characters and started to close out stories for some of its returning characters. These include tortured good guy Matt (Zach Gilford), whose character has been through the ringer this season. It's disappointing that this series has to fight to be noticed (to even be seen, in fact), because it's easily one of the most moving, intelligent shows on TV.
6."The Good Wife," CBS: 2009 presented a bunch of promising candidates for best new show, but CBS's "The Good Wife" gets my vote. "ER" vet Julianna Margulies plays a familiar type -- the betrayed wife of a scandalized politician. Left behind to raise her family after a dalliance with a prostitute lands hubby in jail, Margulies's Alicia Florrick returns to her legal career -- as a junior associate. Turns out, she's pretty good at her job. The show manages to be both procedural and compelling character drama, with Margulies giving a brave, powerful performance. Bonus: the husband, played by Chris Noth, is portrayed not as a complete jerk, but as a flawed guy who still loves his angry wife. Good, adult entertainment.
7. "Nurse Jackie," Showtime: The next best new show of the season, "Nurse Jackie" stars Edie Falco as the title character, an excellent nurse who is also a philanderer, drug addict and general rule-breaker. But you kind of love her anyway, thanks to Falco's spot-on performance. Bonus: Merritt Wever's performance as newbie nurse Zoe, maybe the year's funniest new character.
8. "True Blood," HBO: A surprise hit in its first season, HBO's vampire soap "True Blood" got even better in its second season, thanks to some truly insane plotlines, the deepening of several characters and LOTS of sex. Yes, the storyline involving Michelle Forbes's quasi-demoness Maryann was uneven, but it was never boring. And all the show's supporting characters were in top form this season, especially Alexander Skarsgard's Eric, Ryan Kwanten's Jason and Chris Bauer's hilarious Andy Bellefleur (I chuckle every time I think of Bauer's reading of the word "pizazz"). With so many elements clicking, there's only one thing I can say: bloody good show!
9. "Modern Family," ABC: Imagine if the Bluth family of "Arrested Development" was made entirely of well-meaning, decent people instead of self-centered brats. It sounds awful, doesn't it? Well, ABC's new sitcom "Modern Family" isn't awful. Not even a little bit. The show has the dry wit, wacky characters and mockumentary format of "Arrested," but has something else, too: a heart. This family isn't stabbing each other in the back. They love each other. And you know what? Loving families can be funny, too. Especially if the family members are played by deft performers like Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Ty Burrell and Eric Stonestreet. Don't believe me? Take a look at this.
10. "Dollhouse," Fox: Yes, I know that Geek Nation is up in arms because Fox didn't renew its challenging sci-fi series "Dollhouse" for a third season. But come on! It's a show that deals with heady topics such as personal identity, exploitation and our culture's growing dependence on technology. We should be happy it even got two seasons. Particularly since the show's second season has been nothing short of excellent. The show centers on a company that imprints mind-wiped humans, or "dolls," with new identities to meet the needs of clients. This season, doll Echo (Eliza Dushku), has developed a personality and free will. Other characters have deepened as well, including Dollhouse tech Topher (Fran Kranz) who has gone from a smarmy geek to a truly complex, compelling part of the show. So yeah, I'm sad this is the last season. But I'm glad we got to see "Dollhouse" at all.
Honorable Mention -- ESPN's "30 for 30": Technically, this isn't a TV series but a series of occasional specials ESPN is running to celebrate the network's 30th year on the air. But it's too good not to mention. Each special focuses on a different story or personality in sports history. Each is helmed by a different director (Peter Berg and Barry Levinson are among the contributors). And each provides a truly fascinating look at the world of sports. Well-worth watching.
Runners up:
1. "Dexter," Showtime: For John Lithgow's awesome performance as the season's chief villain, Arthur Mitchell.
2. "White Collar," USA: For being one of TV's most entertaining new shows, and providing a star-making role for the charming Matthew Bomer.
3. "The Closer," TNT: For being one of the few procedural dramas with a sense of humor that goes beyond darkly comic puns about body parts.
4. "30 Rock," NBC: For Alec Baldwin's continually great performance as Jack Donaghy
5. "Glee," Fox: For proving that a scripted series with musical numbers can work (take that, "Cop Rock!"). Also for Jane Lynch.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Some quick Emmy impressions...
So, as you might know, today the nominations for the 61st annual Primetime Emmys were announced. I don't have a lot of time to write about it, but here are some of my initial impressions on the noms. I promise to have a longer piece in tomorrow.
"The Shield" gets The Shaft: Can I tell you how mad I was that FX's brilliant drama "The Shield" got NO major nominations for its insanely fantastic final season? No best series nod. No nod for lead actor Michael Chiklis. And, most incredibly NO NOMINATION FOR WALTON GOGGINS. That was the one nomination I was pulling for, more than any other. I am beside myself. For real.
Some "Big Love" love, but not enough: Here's what made me happy -- a best drama nomination for HBO's wonderful "Big Love," which arguably had its best season this year. Here's what made me sad: No nominations for any of "Big Love's" actresses, even Chloe Sevigny, whose work this year was simply astounding. But not to Emmy apparently.
"Conchords" takes flight: Looks like HBO's quirky comedy "Flight of the Conchords" just got one step closer to being picked up for a third season. The show earned a best comedy nomination, and one of its two stars -- the wonderfully sly Jemaine Clement -- get a best actor nod. While I think this season wasn't as strong as its first, I was happy to see this show get some recognition.
More doses of happy: In my longer post, I'll get more into which nominations made me happy, but let say quickly that I was glad to see Elisabeth Moss get recognized for her lacerating work on the second season of "Mad Men" and Aaron Paul get a nod for his wonderful work on this season of "Breaking Bad."
Also, feel free to read my piece from June in which I pushed some potential dark horse nominees. That will give you a clearer a idea of which nominations/omissions pleased/upset me.
"The Shield" gets The Shaft: Can I tell you how mad I was that FX's brilliant drama "The Shield" got NO major nominations for its insanely fantastic final season? No best series nod. No nod for lead actor Michael Chiklis. And, most incredibly NO NOMINATION FOR WALTON GOGGINS. That was the one nomination I was pulling for, more than any other. I am beside myself. For real.
Some "Big Love" love, but not enough: Here's what made me happy -- a best drama nomination for HBO's wonderful "Big Love," which arguably had its best season this year. Here's what made me sad: No nominations for any of "Big Love's" actresses, even Chloe Sevigny, whose work this year was simply astounding. But not to Emmy apparently.
"Conchords" takes flight: Looks like HBO's quirky comedy "Flight of the Conchords" just got one step closer to being picked up for a third season. The show earned a best comedy nomination, and one of its two stars -- the wonderfully sly Jemaine Clement -- get a best actor nod. While I think this season wasn't as strong as its first, I was happy to see this show get some recognition.
More doses of happy: In my longer post, I'll get more into which nominations made me happy, but let say quickly that I was glad to see Elisabeth Moss get recognized for her lacerating work on the second season of "Mad Men" and Aaron Paul get a nod for his wonderful work on this season of "Breaking Bad."
Also, feel free to read my piece from June in which I pushed some potential dark horse nominees. That will give you a clearer a idea of which nominations/omissions pleased/upset me.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
For your consideration...
Dear Academy of Television Arts & Sciences members,
I noticed that you've received your Emmy ballot and that, over the next few weeks, you'll be charged with selecting the nominees for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards. First off, let me say that I've looked at the ballot and I owe you all an apology. I'm always ranting and raving about how you nominate the same people year after year and omit a lot of worthy candidates. But now that I've seen the ballot, I see the difficult job you face. Nearly every actor and show on TV is eligible for nomination. I mean, you could nominate pretty much the entire cast of "Rules of Engagement" if you wanted to (by the way, thanks for never doing that). With so much information, I can see how you'd get overwhelmed.
So, I thought I'd help you out.
Below is a list of worthy candidates in each category. Most would be first-time nominees and all have done excellent, award-worthy work. All I ask is that you take a look and at least CONSIDER nominating them. OK? Let's get started.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Until a few months ago, I barely knew who Danny McBride was. I was aware he was a protegee of Will Farrell, and that he'd made a well-received low-budget movie called "The Foot Fist Way" (which I'd never seen), but that was about it. Then HBO debuted the new comedy "Eastbound and Down," on which McBride played angry, foul-mouthed ex-pitcher Kenny Powers. Though it took me a few episodes to figure it out, I eventually realized that McBride is the real deal. Funny, fearless and a good actor, McBride is a talent worth watching...and worth nominating.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Let's be honest -- this is a category that rewards flash. Yes, Hugh Laurie, James Gandolfini, Bryan Cranston and other past nominees and winners are talented. But I imagine most actors could do good things with complicated, juicy characters like Dr. House, Tony Soprano and Walter White. It's much harder to be memorable when playing the calm, reasonable center of a series. And that's just what Kyle Chandler does every week on "Friday Night Lights." With just a twitch of his jaw, or a cloud of thought floating over his eyes, Chandler reaches deep into the soul of high school football coach Eric Taylor. It's a rich, lived-in performance and it's crazy that, three seasons into this show, Chandler has yet to score a nomination.
Also worth nominating: Jeffrey Donovan, who, in the most recent season of "Burn Notice," found some rich emotional layers in slick ex-spy Michael Westen.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: I only saw half of the first season of Showtime's new sitcom "The United States of Tara," but I did like Toni Collette's warm, brave, funny performance as a mom juggling work, family and multiple personalities.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: OK, I won't waste much time pushing this one, because I know there's almost zero chance this will ever happen, but I must say that Leighton Meester is a revelation as Blair Waldorf on "Gossip Girl." Don't laugh! She's funny, vulnerable and gives unexpected depth to this pampered princess. The show lives or dies on Meester, and that's what makes her Emmy-worthy. OK, speech over. Let's discuss some other worthy candidates for this category. Regina King is in her first season over on NBC's promising cop drama "Southland," and she's already created a three-dimensional character out of tough but sensitive police Detective Lydia Adams. Plus, she's always been one of my favorite actresses (it's hard to steal a scene from Tom Cruise, Renee Zelleweger and Cuba Gooding, Jr., but she did just that in "Jerry Maguire"). And, no discussion of this category would be complete without a healthy push for Elisabeth Moss, who is nothing short of spectacular as Peggy Olson on "Mad Men." I wish that character was my best friend, that's how vibrant and convincing Moss is.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series: Look, I love Bret and Jemaine, the wacky tunesmiths at the heart of HBO's "Flight of the Conchords," but without Rhys Darby as their sensible yet dense manager Murray, it would definitely lose something. Darby's dry delivery and great, deadpan reaction shots are as essential to this show as the songs and shtick. The guys wouldn't be as funny without him.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: OK, you can ignore ALL my other suggestions as long as you heed this one -- you absolutely MUST nominate Walton Goggins for his uniformly exceptional work as troubled, doomed Detective Shane Vendrell on "The Shield." Goggins' is one of the best supporting performances of the best decade and he's a huge part of the reason why Shane was one of the show's best characters. Check out the series finale, in which Shane makes a terrible, terrible choice and struggles with every minute of it. Phenomenal.
Also worth mentioning: Dean Norris and Aaron Paul of "Breaking Bad," Ken Leung and Jeremy Davies of "Lost" and John Scurti of "Rescue Me" would all be solid additions to this category. But putting Goggins in the running should be your priority.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: This was a good year for funny ladies. "SNL" mainstay Amy Poehler got her own series. Tina Fey was a smash on both "30 Rock" and "SNL." But I can think of at least two hilarious women who are constantly ignored by award-granting institutions: Kristen Schaal of "Flight of the Conchords" and Kaitlin Olson of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Both women hold their own on male-dominated shows. Both add dimension to truly weird, fairly unsympathetic characters. And both are pee-your-pants hysterical. Recognize!
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Remember what I said about Walton Goggins? I feel the same way about Chloe Sevigny on "Big Love." She's always been great as mercurial, damaged polygamist Nikki Grant, but this was her strongest season yet. In nearly every single episode, she had at least one amazing, scene-stealing moment. In the season finale, she had two: the scene where she met her abandoned daughter, and her breakdown in the car with Jeanne Tripplehorn's Barb. All the actresses on this show are outstanding, but Sevigny was this season's gem.
Also worth mentioning: I don't know if anyone else is going to plug Michele Hicks' work as Shane's wife Mara on "The Shield," but let me put in my two cents. Hicks was so raw and vulnerable, she made us feel bad for a character that was nearly impossible to like. Well done.
Outstanding Comedy Series: This could very well be the last season for HBO's "Flight of the Conchords." While it wasn't as good as last season, this is still one of the funniest shows on TV. How about a little love?
Outstanding Drama Series: Yes, "The Shield" won a Golden Globe for best drama years ago, and has been nominated in the past. But this is its last season. Please show this fantastic series the appreciation that its devastating final season deserved.
So, those are more thoughts. Again, these are only suggestions, and I hope you'll at least consider them. Except Goggins and Sevigny. Their nominations are non-negotiable. I mean it.
Yours,
I Screen You Screen
I noticed that you've received your Emmy ballot and that, over the next few weeks, you'll be charged with selecting the nominees for this year's Primetime Emmy Awards. First off, let me say that I've looked at the ballot and I owe you all an apology. I'm always ranting and raving about how you nominate the same people year after year and omit a lot of worthy candidates. But now that I've seen the ballot, I see the difficult job you face. Nearly every actor and show on TV is eligible for nomination. I mean, you could nominate pretty much the entire cast of "Rules of Engagement" if you wanted to (by the way, thanks for never doing that). With so much information, I can see how you'd get overwhelmed.
So, I thought I'd help you out.
Below is a list of worthy candidates in each category. Most would be first-time nominees and all have done excellent, award-worthy work. All I ask is that you take a look and at least CONSIDER nominating them. OK? Let's get started.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Until a few months ago, I barely knew who Danny McBride was. I was aware he was a protegee of Will Farrell, and that he'd made a well-received low-budget movie called "The Foot Fist Way" (which I'd never seen), but that was about it. Then HBO debuted the new comedy "Eastbound and Down," on which McBride played angry, foul-mouthed ex-pitcher Kenny Powers. Though it took me a few episodes to figure it out, I eventually realized that McBride is the real deal. Funny, fearless and a good actor, McBride is a talent worth watching...and worth nominating.
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Let's be honest -- this is a category that rewards flash. Yes, Hugh Laurie, James Gandolfini, Bryan Cranston and other past nominees and winners are talented. But I imagine most actors could do good things with complicated, juicy characters like Dr. House, Tony Soprano and Walter White. It's much harder to be memorable when playing the calm, reasonable center of a series. And that's just what Kyle Chandler does every week on "Friday Night Lights." With just a twitch of his jaw, or a cloud of thought floating over his eyes, Chandler reaches deep into the soul of high school football coach Eric Taylor. It's a rich, lived-in performance and it's crazy that, three seasons into this show, Chandler has yet to score a nomination.
Also worth nominating: Jeffrey Donovan, who, in the most recent season of "Burn Notice," found some rich emotional layers in slick ex-spy Michael Westen.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: I only saw half of the first season of Showtime's new sitcom "The United States of Tara," but I did like Toni Collette's warm, brave, funny performance as a mom juggling work, family and multiple personalities.
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: OK, I won't waste much time pushing this one, because I know there's almost zero chance this will ever happen, but I must say that Leighton Meester is a revelation as Blair Waldorf on "Gossip Girl." Don't laugh! She's funny, vulnerable and gives unexpected depth to this pampered princess. The show lives or dies on Meester, and that's what makes her Emmy-worthy. OK, speech over. Let's discuss some other worthy candidates for this category. Regina King is in her first season over on NBC's promising cop drama "Southland," and she's already created a three-dimensional character out of tough but sensitive police Detective Lydia Adams. Plus, she's always been one of my favorite actresses (it's hard to steal a scene from Tom Cruise, Renee Zelleweger and Cuba Gooding, Jr., but she did just that in "Jerry Maguire"). And, no discussion of this category would be complete without a healthy push for Elisabeth Moss, who is nothing short of spectacular as Peggy Olson on "Mad Men." I wish that character was my best friend, that's how vibrant and convincing Moss is.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series: Look, I love Bret and Jemaine, the wacky tunesmiths at the heart of HBO's "Flight of the Conchords," but without Rhys Darby as their sensible yet dense manager Murray, it would definitely lose something. Darby's dry delivery and great, deadpan reaction shots are as essential to this show as the songs and shtick. The guys wouldn't be as funny without him.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: OK, you can ignore ALL my other suggestions as long as you heed this one -- you absolutely MUST nominate Walton Goggins for his uniformly exceptional work as troubled, doomed Detective Shane Vendrell on "The Shield." Goggins' is one of the best supporting performances of the best decade and he's a huge part of the reason why Shane was one of the show's best characters. Check out the series finale, in which Shane makes a terrible, terrible choice and struggles with every minute of it. Phenomenal.
Also worth mentioning: Dean Norris and Aaron Paul of "Breaking Bad," Ken Leung and Jeremy Davies of "Lost" and John Scurti of "Rescue Me" would all be solid additions to this category. But putting Goggins in the running should be your priority.
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: This was a good year for funny ladies. "SNL" mainstay Amy Poehler got her own series. Tina Fey was a smash on both "30 Rock" and "SNL." But I can think of at least two hilarious women who are constantly ignored by award-granting institutions: Kristen Schaal of "Flight of the Conchords" and Kaitlin Olson of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Both women hold their own on male-dominated shows. Both add dimension to truly weird, fairly unsympathetic characters. And both are pee-your-pants hysterical. Recognize!
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Remember what I said about Walton Goggins? I feel the same way about Chloe Sevigny on "Big Love." She's always been great as mercurial, damaged polygamist Nikki Grant, but this was her strongest season yet. In nearly every single episode, she had at least one amazing, scene-stealing moment. In the season finale, she had two: the scene where she met her abandoned daughter, and her breakdown in the car with Jeanne Tripplehorn's Barb. All the actresses on this show are outstanding, but Sevigny was this season's gem.
Also worth mentioning: I don't know if anyone else is going to plug Michele Hicks' work as Shane's wife Mara on "The Shield," but let me put in my two cents. Hicks was so raw and vulnerable, she made us feel bad for a character that was nearly impossible to like. Well done.
Outstanding Comedy Series: This could very well be the last season for HBO's "Flight of the Conchords." While it wasn't as good as last season, this is still one of the funniest shows on TV. How about a little love?
Outstanding Drama Series: Yes, "The Shield" won a Golden Globe for best drama years ago, and has been nominated in the past. But this is its last season. Please show this fantastic series the appreciation that its devastating final season deserved.
So, those are more thoughts. Again, these are only suggestions, and I hope you'll at least consider them. Except Goggins and Sevigny. Their nominations are non-negotiable. I mean it.
Yours,
I Screen You Screen
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